Even though I'm north of age 40, I still enjoy seeing live
music. I don't make it to that many shows per year, but I will
try to give an honest review of the few shows I do attend. I
haven't done many reviews so far from the shows I've seen, but here's what I've got.
Note: This review contains setlist spoilers. Please be
aware that if you are going to see this tour and do not want to
know what songs will be played, you probably won’t want to read
this review until after you’ve seen the show.
It was a hot Saturday evening in Orlando, with skies that
threatened rain. It would be humid, and crowded beyond belief,
with horrible traffic downtown. I really wanted no part of
leaving the house for this. But hey, Tears for Fears would be
playing a free concert, so we just HAD to go! Right?
Well, I’m glad we did. My wife and I made
our way into downtown Orlando on Aug. 28 to see Tears for Fears
performing as part of the ongoing WMMO Free Downtown Concert
Series. This is a band that I had wanted to see for some time,
and although I knew the venue would be far from ideal, I decided
that there really was no excuse to miss them performing for free
just 20 minutes from my house. My wife seemed into the idea, so
I gladly brought her along to share the experience.
After arriving downtown and finding a spot
at the top of one of the parking garages, we made our way down
to street level , merged with the arriving throngs and made our
way into City Hall Plaza. A local cover band called Switch was
already in full steam, performing mediocre covers of 80s hits.
It was hot, but not as hot as I’d feared, as we slid and bumped
our way through the crowded plaza like cattle in a pen. We made
our way as far forward as we could, eventually reaching a spot
about 50 yards from the stage, which was about as far as we
could go without being either a “listener VIP” or a “sponsor
VIP.” Even for free concerts, there are haves and have-nots, it
seems. We found the best vantage point we could and hoped for
the best.
Switch closed their set with a particularly
awful set of early rap, including the dreadful “Bust a Move.”
It seemed an odd choice to close with, considering the
headliners are known for their melodic sensibilities. The Switch
set came to a merciful close and we waited out the interval for
Tears for Fears. Suddenly, an area I thought could not possibly
hold any more humanity was more crowded than ever. Clearly, this
was going to be an endurance test. Unfortunately, I found the
rude, drunk and self-entitled to outnumber the considerate,
lucid and accommodating people by about a 2-1 margin. But these
are the things you put up with at a free show, I suppose.
Tears for Fears took the stage just after
8:30 pm and the crowd roared its approval. The sound wasn’t
quite loud enough for where we were standing, though I’m sure it
was fine up in the “VIP” sections, but it was clear and
seemingly well-mixed. It was about as good a sound as we were
likely to hope for in such a venue. The band opened with a
short, atmospheric version of “Mad World” and then launched into
one of their biggest hits, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”
from one of their most successful albums, Songs from the Big
Chair. I felt the smile spread across my face and I was
unable to keep from singing along (my apologies to those within
earshot!).
The crowd cooled a bit with the less
familiar “Secret World” from the 2004 release, Everybody
Loves a Happy Ending, but I enjoyed it quite a bit, and the
fans rebounded when the band followed with “Sowing the Seeds of
Love.” Staying with the Seeds of Love album, Tears for
Fears backed up the title track with “Advice for the Young at
Heart,” then did “Call Me Mellow” from Happy Ending.
It should be mentioned here that the band
were top notch. Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal can both still
sing wonderfully. The music was performed brilliantly by very
competent musicians who seemed to be enjoying themselves,
despite the hot, humid conditions.
Next would come two tracks that served as
personal highlights of the show. The band did the full album
version of “Mad World” and then performed “Memories Fade,” two
of my favorite tracks from my all-time favorite TFF album,
The Hurting. To this day, I absolutely love that album. It’s
one of the best releases of the 1980s. While both songs
delivered in spades, at this point in the concert I was having
to find creative positions in which to stand and be able to see
through several men in front of me who were not only taller than
I was, but also holding their children on their shoulders. As
they swayed, I had to counter-sway, in order to keep a line of
sight on the band in the cracks between them. I can’t say it
didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the show, but it is through
no fault of the band.
After the two excellent tracks from their
1983 debut album, the band revisited the Happy Ending
album with “Quiet Ones” and then performed a studio bonus track
from their Secret World Live in Paris album, “Floating
Down the River.” I wasn’t familiar with this latter tune at all,
but I liked it. It seemed to have all the hallmarks of a great
Tears for Fears song, and I look forward to picking it up so I
can give it a proper listen.
The title track to Everybody Loves a
Happy Ending followed, and got a pretty good ovation for a
song that most of the crowd probably had never heard before. At
the same time, some of the folks who had been out in the heat
for several hours started leaving to beat the traffic, having
not heard a song familiar to them in at least half an hour. This
suited me just fine, as it gave me more room to maneuver to a
place I could see, and more breathing room.
“Seven of Sundays,” a solo song by Smith
from his Halfway, pleased release, was a pleasant
surprise, for me. I haven’t heard any of Curt’s solo material,
so this was a moment of concentration for me, as I tried to tune
out the crowd around me and focus on the material. Another
surprise followed with a slow, haunting cover of Michael
Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” The way TFF performed it, the song
became almost menacing. Very interesting cover, though it wasn’t
really my thing in the end.
The band redeemed itself nicely with “Pale
Shelter” from The Hurting. Another of my favorite
all-time TFF songs, “Pale Shelter” was another sing-along moment
for me (again, sorry). It would prove to be just the first of
three songs that provided an incredible highlight to close out
the show (pre-encore, that is). A personal favorite followed, as
TFF launched into “Break It Down Again,” the only song they
would perform from the 1993 Elemental album, before
returning to Songs From the Big Chair with a rousing
version of “Head Over Heels,” that had the crowd in full song.
A brief wait for the encore proved more
than worthwhile, despite a large exodus to beat the traffic.
“Woman in Chains” from The Seeds of Love and crowd
favorite “Shout” from Big Chair brought the house down –
or would have done, if there were a house to bring down.
It’s hard to find fault with the setlist. I
would have liked to have heard “Change” from The Hurting,
as it is the first song I ever heard from the band, and still
one of my very favorite tracks. And it would have been nice to
have heard “Falling Down” from 1995’s Raoul and the Kings of
Spain, one of two albums that was completely overlooked in
the setlist – the other being the 1996 release, Saturnine
Martial & Lunatic, an album that I must admit I’m entirely
ignorant about. With a catalog like that of Tears for Fears, it
is understandable that the band was not able to perform every
song I wanted to hear, but in the end they chose a very nice
cross-section of their career, with the exception of the two
albums in the mid-90s.
I would recommend an excursion to see this
band to anyone. They perform well, they can still sing and they
deliver an entertaining show. Roland and Curt have a dry humor
about them that translates well into between-song stage banter.
They don’t tour often, so get out and see them whenever you get
a chance. Don’t wait, because who knows how many more chances
you’ll get. Despite the fact that I knew I’d hate the venue, I
am very glad I went.
Setlist
Mad World (Intro)
Everybody Wants to Rule the
World
Secret World
Sowing the Seeds of Love
Advice for the Young at
Heart
Call Me Mellow
Mad World
Memories Fade
Quiet Ones
Floating Down the River
Everybody Loves a Happy
Ending
Seven of Sundays
Billie Jean
Pale Shelter
Break it Down Again
Head Over Heels
Encore:
Woman in Chains
Shout
