Tears for Fears were ‘Gold’ Live

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Twenty five years … a quarter of a century … that’s a long time for anyone to wait to see one of their beloved bands ! But that’s how long it had been between drinks for Tears For Fears to return to Australia.
The only drawback on the night was that their set was only for fifty minutes as they were the support act to Spandau Ballet ?  Yeah, I know, sounds weird heh.  And with Jack Jones warming the crowd at the start of the night …  a strange bill, but somehow it seemed to work.  However I must say, I’ve never heard such a response from a crowd for a support band - and rightly so - they were awesome.

To open with their classic; ‘Mad World’ was just magnificent. If you haven’t caught their more recent version of this song (following Gary Jules’ slower remake of it) then have a look at the clip below from only a few years ago. They might not have been able to bring the orchestra or choir with them on this tour but they did record that performance and brought the experience to this show with Curt joining in live - a fantastic opener. And then to launch straight into ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ was met with an eruption from the crowd, even if we were still catching our breaths.

A few more songs in and yes, could it be the unmistakeable opening to ‘Sowing The Seeds Of Love’ - live ! Obviously a song that couldn’t be heard twenty five years ago. The production on this complicated number was simply amazing. We sang every word. What could possibly follow ? Another gem from their debut album “The Hurting”; it was ‘Pale Shelter’. A song which I didn’t expect to hear. ‘Break It Down Again’ translated extremely well live, but the song that stole the show was when Michael Wainwright, their supporting vocalist, was somehow “channeling” Oleta Adams during ‘Woman In Chains’ - I kid you not !
If you have read this far and don’t do anything else you just simply have to witness this for yourself and view the clip below from the gig - utterly “unbelievable” as best said by Roland himself. But wait, it’s not quite over just yet - how about ‘Head Over Heels’ to keep the sense of euphoria going and the crowd on their feet (not bad for a support act!) followed up with the finale anthem ‘Shout’ - with that guitar solo.

TFF’s set list was as follows:

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Mad World
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Secret World
Floating Down The River
Sowing The Seeds Of Love
Pale Shelter
Break It Down Again
Woman In Chains
Head Over Heels
Shout

This was yet another gig where I was fortunate enough to be in the company of my brother - and we both had a blast. It’s probably just as well the set did stop there because we were exhausted. We took a break and left our seats and agreed we could have left the night there having being thoroughly entertained. Nevertheless, we did go back in to see what Spandau Ballet had to offer. They were tight; led by ‘Game Show Host’ Tony who never takes off his trademark jacket no matter how hot he gets, they were good; particularly Steve on the sax and every other instrument he could lay his hands on, and we did enjoy ‘True’ & ‘Gold’ - like everyone else, but we are TFF tragics so the night belonged to them and us.

‘Mad World’ … as you’ve never heard it before

‘Woman In Chains’ featuring Michael Wainwright

Tears For Fears Site
Curt Smith Official Site
Curt Smith MySpace
Tears For Fears Wikipedia