Tears For Fears still rules the world
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Jun. 25—It was the first official Saturday of summer. The local schools are out, college kids are back home, and a spirited mood of Weekend, Freedom and Vacation were on vibrant display at the packed Mohegan Sun Casino on Saturday night. Parking was insane but we finally found a space at a convenience store in Preston and hiked back.
Inside the facility, packs of jubilant gamblers and out-on-the-towners clogged the pedestrian arteries, and perhaps only a few of them noted an older, grayer demographic plodding or limping along toward the Sun Arena.
"Must be a timeshare sales pitch going on," a Millennial might have mused.
"Or is there a bridge tournament in there? A polka show?"
What was in fact happening in the arena was that 10,000 mostly codger-types like me and my wife Eileen were making a pilgrimage to see Tears For Fears — the for-lack-of-a-better-descriptor '80s New Wave/synth duo. Comprised of co-founding singer/guitarist Roland Orazabal and bassist/vocalist Curt Smith, Tears For Fears helped define that seminal musical decade through hits such as "Pale Shelter," "Shout," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Mad World," "Seeds of Love" and "Head Over Heels."
"This is eerie," Eileen observed as we waited in the merch line for T-shirts. "We're all old. How did this happen?"
"I don't know. But it did," I said, reaching down to rub my sore left knee — the one that hasn't been totally replaced but will be soon.
To be sure, there were plenty of younger fans in attendance — presumably folks who found out about Tears For Fears through their parents (or grandparents?) or perhaps through one of the many films or TV series rooted in '80s nostalgia.
In any case, when TFF took the stage, with Orzabal sporting shoulder-length Santa hair and Smith gray hair cropped as though he had to rush back after the gig to coach his children's lacrosse game, the large video screen close-ups confirmed that, yep, they're just as old as the rest of us.
In any case, as we'd all suspected would happen, a lot of the accumulated aches and pains — physical and emotional — melted away on a tide of fine music from one of the best rock bands ever.
The experience transcended mere nostalgia, though. Tears For Fears are NOT a mere legacy act content to reprise (admittedly and enduringly great songs). Though theirs has been an off/on relationship over the years, Smith and Orzabal briefly reunited in 2004 to make the "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending" album — a stunning masterpiece that was almost completely ignored.
Then, two years ago, they got back together again and wrote and recorded "The Tipping Point," which was released last year. A start-to-finish triumph of thoughtful, sophisticated and hyper-melodic pop — "The Tipping Point" ranks at the top of the band's body of work.
It contains tunes like "No Small Thing" with its subtly understated "freedom is no small thing" refrain, the literally haunted title track, "Rivers of Mercy," "The End of Night," "Break the Man," "Long, Long, Long Time" and "My Demons" — all of which reflect in different ways on the increasingly wistful experiences of Life (and Death). Each of those songs were played Saturday, and the response was not only appreciative, but, based on the significant number of audience member "sing-alongs," all were afforded the same respect and affection as TFF hits that are almost four-decades old.
Orzabal has always had the more powerful voice of the pair — there's no right or wrong to this — and was in fine form all night. Smith sounded excellent, too, and his more delicate timbre has acquired a bit of intriguing autumnal depth. Both were also in relaxed and deadpan form throughout. We all sang "Happy Birthday" to Smith, who turned 62, and he amusingly reminded us of that fact more than once.
The other current members of TFF are guitarist/songwriting collaborator Charlton Pettus, drummer Jamey Wallum, keyboardist Doug Petty and vocalist Lauren Evans — all of whom worked extensively on the "Tipping Point" sessions and played superbly onstage. Evans was particularly powerful on "Suffer the Children" and "Woman In Chains" — and a personal nod of gratitude to the band for including "Secret World" (with a sonic wink from Paul McCartney's "Let 'Em In") as a sampling from "Happy Ending."
About halfway through the set, introducing "Mad World" from the multi-platinum "The Hurting" album they released when they were 23, Orzabal said, "This is a song we've been playing a long time. Since we were kids, really." He paused and shook his head with a thoughtful smile. Then he added, almost to himself, "We were pretty good."
They were pretty excellent. They still are.
