MusicHead

I went to see Tears for Fears in concert on Wednesday, October 30, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, NV.

I was 4-years old when Tears for Fears first album, THE HURTING, came out on March 7, 1983. I don’t remember that, of course, and it was at the very early stages of my cultural awareness. I do remember, however, that my sister (3-years my senior) had a cassette of SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR (1985). A tape, I learned recently, she never wanted or asked for. Our mother bought it by mistake when my sister had requested something else. Whether she wanted it or not, I remember listening to in on our respective stereos and loving that record, especially “Shout.” Many years later, I bought a used copy of a Greatest Hits package from CD Warehouse in Orlando, FL. I listened to that CD so much I practically burned a hole in it. When streaming services came along I added them to my regular rotation and have listened to their whole catalog, which includes several strong records released after their peak in the mid-eighties.

It’s fair to say that Tears for Fears have been with me for the whole length and breadth of my listening life. So, naturally, when a few months ago I saw that they were coming to my city I jumped at the chance to see them live for the first time. Unfortunately, though, this is Las Vegas, NV, and the show was at a resort on The Strip, so ticket prices were extremely high. So high, that my spouse bowed out of the opportunity to go so that I could. She’s not that familiar with their work, and while I’m certain she would enjoy the show, she doesn’t have the sentimental attachment that I do and was cool with me making it night just for me.

There was no opening act, so it was a full night of just TFF. I got to the resort about 90 minutes before the doors opened at 19:00, so I entertained myself with a 16 year-old scotch and a little gambling. I’m a blackjack player, but I’m too poor for the $25 tables (which is all I could find that night) so I stuck to the stand-alone blackjack machines with their $3 minimum bets. I did alright and came out ahead a little. Between 18:00 & 18:30 I was getting hungry so I went to the food court for some sustinance. This ain’t your suburban mall food court, though. I stood at a busy food stand to get chicken strips, waffle fries, for the bargain price of $32. Living in Vegas is fabulous. The food court is nearby the theater, so after finishing the most expensive fast food meal on the planet I cleaned up and headed inside.

Once in the venue, the first stop was the merch line, which was monstrously long. I’m making it a point to buy at least one item at the merch table for any act I’ve come to see. I know that merch and ticket sales are where artists make a very large proportion of their income and I think it’s important to support artists at all levels this way. My mission here was two-fold: a T-shirt, and an LP. I really didn’t care which LP, since there’s not a weak one and I’ve never bought a TFF album before, other than the used Greatest Hits CD I mentioned earlier. All was fair game.

I was standing there all settled in my spot in line. There was about 45 minutes still until the show was scheduled to start and my seat was assigned, so I was in no hurry. Then, to my left I saw something on a video board that I’d never seen before, a QR code to the band’s merch store where you could “skip the line,” purchase online, and then pick up your order at the merch table until 30 minutes after the show. Well heck! I’m dumb, but I ain’t stupid. Why stand in line when you don’t need to? I followed instructions and left the line for the next important purchase, the most expensive plastic cup of cheap whiskey I could find. I’d barely started sipping on my egregiously expensive whiskey when I got the notice that my order was ready. So, I trundled back down to the merch table where they handed me my order. Easy, peasy. I’d accomplished my mission with the tour shirt that featured just the three show set I was there to see, and their most recent release, SONGS FOR A NERVOUS PLANET, that had only come out 5 days earlier.

I get to my seat to find that I’m the second seat in the last row of the mezzanine. Easy exit! The first seat was already taken by its occupant, a woman probably in her thirties. We started chatting and she’d seen them before, unlike myself. I’d commented that I thought the techno TFF covers we were hearing over house music was tacky. I’d always believed that you shouldn’t anticipate the artist’s program with original or alternate recordings of the same music. She informed me, though, that this was a regular feature of TFF shows and they do that to show appreciation for the artists who’ve loved their music enough to record their versions. At which point I got down off my high horse. It was her, also, that pointed out the the record I’d just bought was mostly a live record from their previous tour, plus four new songs. Awesome! Now I knew what I just spent my money on. All-in-all, she was a pleasant seat-mate and I did my best not to be too obnoxious.

The seats filled up, eventually, and the band came out fashionably late to start the show. Roland Orzabal was dressed in an all white suit with a substantial white beard and long white hair. He joked about looking like the “ghost of Christmas past.” Curt Smith, clean-shaven and mostly bald, complemented Roland’s look in all black. Their live band consisted of 5 members, unfortunately, I don’t have their names. Two women sang backup, a keyboardist, a drummer, and a second guitarist. As customary, Roland played guitar, and Curt played bass.

At some point during the night they indicated that this was the fist show they’d played in a while, so the whole proceeding had a bit of a loose feel to it. The setlist was a solid mix of songs from the whole catalog, including all four of the new songs. Many times with legacy artists, it can feel like a group is just going through the motions, whether they put out new music, or not. I’ve never had that feeling with TFF, and I certainly didn’t this night. Roland’s voice was amazing and he sounded just as strong as he did forty years ago, although there were a couple of times that his falsetto went on a bit of an adventure. Curt’s voice was less strong. It makes one wonder if it’s his age, the fact that this was their first show back at it, or — since I’d never seen them before — if his live voice was always the weaker of the two?

These are very minor complaints. At the end of the evening they put on a high energy and highly entertaining show. Roland was even pulling out all the rock-guitar poses. The band was tight, and the less familiar songs were as enjoyable as the tried-and-trues. The concert lighting was good, but not remarkable. The venue was brand new, so the sound was fabulous. They actually did something that I’d never ever seen before. “Woman in Chains” is something that would have been a part of their show for years and is the only male-female duet in their catalog, so one backup singer would have been heavily featured for that. But they had two women to feature with no other duet to use. Instead they gave the other singer a whole song from their catalog on her own.

As I’m writing this, it’s nearly a week later, so I’m having trouble remembering what song it was. From the video board durning the song it was a deep cut from THE HURTING, probably either “Memories Fade,” or “Suffer the Children.” Rowland and Curt did not sing at all during the number and they were just playing as members of the band. Like I said, I’ve never seen a band do that before and it only increased my respect for these men.

The show lasted about 90 minutes, they played all the hits, all the new music, and filled with strengths from their 40-year career. They were personable with the crowd and seemed to really enjoy playing with each other. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night, and the run was so successful for the band that they’re coming back in January and February for 4 more shows. I’m hoping we can go see them together this time.