It was the the second night of Bonnaroo, and as the sun dipped down the coolness rose, bringing a layer of happiness over the already gitty crowd awaiting Tears for Fears. As the legendary duo and backing band took the stage, shrieks rang through the men and women, young and old, all the way to the back crowd where we were.
I’ve only had the good luck to see Tears for Fears once before, when they played at UC Boulder with Dirty Vegas in 2004 during their tour for Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. As with that night 11 years ago, this night Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith were larger than life and flawless in performance, kicking off with everyone’s favorite, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” and onto other timeless classics, “Sowing the Seeds of Love,” “Pale Shelter,” “Change” and “Mad World.” It is the lyrics to “Mad World” that still resonates with the darkness of the 80s to madness of today, but again, it was all delight and joy this evening, and the level of excitement grew with each song in the set list.
The boys from Bath paid tribute to another UK favorite, Radiohead, with their cover of “Creep,” but when “Shout” was pulled off the shelf to wrap their performance, everyone in the crowd obeyed, singing to the rafters, er, top of the tent, with Tears for Fears. What a grand band. What a grand day to end Day 2 of Bonnaroo, and it was evident that they were as emotionally overwhelmed as we were with this communal, musical, magical experience.
Tears for Fears will play next with other ’80s favs, Berlin and the B-52’s at Fiddler’s Green in Denver on Sunday, June 15.
UPDATE – New Tour Dates:
Sept 18-20 – TBD Fest – Sacramento
Sept 19 – Vina Robles Amphitheatre – Pasa Robles, CA
Sept 24 – Freedom Hill Amphitheatre – MI
Sept 25, 26 – Casino Rama, ON Canada
