If you don’t celebrate Tears for Fears‘ entire catalog of genius and the fact that they pretty much led the second British Invasion of the ’80s, they you clearly don’t appreciate extremely well crafted pop music. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith founded Tears for Fears back in 1981 and last week the duo graced the Bay Area with a fantastic night of classic hits, and brilliant musicianship, all served up with a huge helping of nostalgic fun. The capacity crowd at the Fox Theater was a mix of aging hipsters and Silicon Valley elitists alongside a whole new generation of fans, and they were all treated to a show for the ages.
Their six studio albums have sold over 30 million copies worldwide and produced some of the most recognized songs from the New Wave movement. Tears for Fears’ phenomenal 10-million-selling second album Songs from the Big Chair marked a transition in the band’s sound and catapulted them to international superstardom. The setlist that night would prove that this album is truly a timeless classic that sounds just as amazing as it did when the world first heard it back in 1985. (Jesus, has it been that long? Yes it has.)
There are rumors swirling about that Orzabal and Smith aren’t getting along as well as they used to, but if that’s the case then they certainly fooled me. They were perfectly in sync on the stage together and I caught them smiling away at one another several times as they genuinely seemed to be enjoying playing together and the crowd ate it up.
Highlights from the set included one of my all-time favorites, “Sowing the Seeds of Love,” the Donnie Darko masterpiece, “Mad World,” and of course the major hits from Songs.
A few sparklers were strategically placed in the set as well including a stunning version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and a remarkable cover of Arcade Fire’s “Ready to Start.” All along the way the duo looked great and their voices were just as powerful as ever before.
The stunning Carina Round opened the show with a stellar set of acoustic gems that showcased both her personality and her incredibly refined vocals.
She mentioned that she had played on this stage before when she toured with Puscifer a couple of years earlier. Round is not only a successful solo artist, but she’s the weapon of choice for Maynard Keenan’s eclectic side project, as she’s been on several of the records and toured extensively with the band. I believe she was flirting with my camera a little bit during her incredible performance, which was perfectly OK with me as she is just stunning on stage.
On Monday Tears for Fears made a major announcement that their biggest-selling album, Songs from the Big Chair, will be released in its most spectacular format on November 4, 2014, via Universal Music Enterprises.
The album, which spawned the classics “Everybody Wants To Rule the World,” “Mother’s Talk,” “Shout” and “Head over Heels,” will be available in five formats, including a six-disc deluxe edition box set featuring previously unreleased material and in a first for a pop album, a 5.1 surround sound mix by Steven Wilson. This is the most comprehensive reissue of Songs from the Big Chair and of course it is coming on vinyl as well.
CARINA ROUND
Tears for Fears are currently in the studio working on their first album in nearly a decade, with a release tentatively slated for 2015.
Check out the hi-res photos from the show in the gallery.
