Dearest Fellow TFF Followers, Tears for Fears Travel Fans and friends!
It’s Andye here with a little love note to you all! I want to first thank all of the readers from around the globe. Over the summer, SK and I sat in L.A. and took a good look at the stats. We were well over 35,000 visits with people checking in from all over the world including parts of the Middle East, several nations in Africa, Italy, you name it. That is very encouraging and very helpful in our goal to provide information to all interested parties.
We get a lot of thank you notes from fans for providing the info and I appreciate each and every one. But be sure to pat yourselves on the back because none of this is possible without the slew of 70+ registered travel fans who come out to shows year after year. We can’t always go to the same show together but where one person can’t go, another will, bringing the Tears for Fears Travel Fan spirit to the forefront. Because our band fan activities have been mainly at shows, I’d personally like to take it up a notch and expand our gatherings (there’s so much more we want to do and host). Still, I’m grateful for the progress we’ve made in getting more people to concerts, sharing extra tickets and now doing larger carpools and spending more time together in person and online.
Thank you from Alisa. Big Hugs to her!
I have a list a mile long of contributors. All of the names mentioned in this blog, from Carri and Becky to Alisa and Rise, SheeShee, Lady J and Lady K, plus CH and Jenny WBDA are to be thanked. Each person has gone out of their way to make this group fun and exciting. The band has been very generous with their time, their families have been very sweet and tolerant plus we’ve experienced great responses and outreach from the venues and hotels like Loews Santa Monica who provided us an incredible 500+ sq ft suite overlooking the ocean in 2012 during Brit Week. Boy did we put on a performance out there on that patio in our Curt Smith tshirts and swimwear. Sometimes you just have to be there to see it. We’re just incredibly grateful. These are memories to last a lifetime.
There’s been a lot going on over the last 3 months, some noticable and some unnoticed. Carolyn is right, we are doing this as volunteers. We are not on anyone’s payroll and have not requested to be. We are human and have challenges like most. For example, a few of you know I’m attempting to organise fan travel and juggle local challenges. So, yeah it’s a bit much. I may not be able to do a whole lot of parties and gatherings at the moment but I trust that fellow fans will step in and help each other get to and from shows this year. Meanwhile, we’ll do what we can to get any info we receive on upcoming shows, airline deals, etc. If you are having a hard time getting to a show or just don’t know the first thing to do, feel free to send us email through our FB Travel Fan page or send us a tweet on twitter. We’ll do whatever can.
Let’s take these gatherings up a notch! #TFFIsFineWine
We are not “exclusive” so there is no initiation or crazy requirement to be a travel fan. If you show up, contribute a story/photo and have genuine love for the band you are in. Come by at shows (or if you see us in the lobby) and say hello, we are open to taking selfies/usies that can be posted to the blog to show everyone’s participation. The goal is to promote the awesome fun that Tears for Fears (Roland, Curt and Team) provide at shows; dancing and swaying in front of the fans. #ItsAllAboutTheBand!
We’re pretty laid back minus being kind of wild and always up for a party. So jump right in with friendliness and hugs! Also, thank you Lady K for the gift of the rice maker! I’ve been on the fence about buying one and now, problem solved #SushiEveryday! For those who sent the gift of macarons francaises from around the world, a separate blog was created to praise thoses delicious french desserts because they are THAT crucial. LOL!! Wishing everyone safe travels this #TFF2015 season and again, thank you tons for the love! Hugging everyone right back! #GroupHugs #TeamWork #TFFTravelFans
We are very happy that the band appreciates the fan teams. We received a tweet from Good Man Curt Smith. Thanks Marcio for capturing that awesome moment 🙂
Tears for Fears – Roland (L) Curt Smith (R) #RockLegends #TheBeautifulPeople
Tears for Fears are noted on the Free Press Summer Festival 2015 Line-Up. This festival has several positive reviews. The event will take place on the 6th and 7th of June. Tickets are for both days. Whatever you pay, you get access to both days.
Location: Houston, Texas USA at Elanor Tinsley Park in the Fourth Ward Type: Festival (standing)
Doors open at 11am each day Click here for a slew of #FPSF reviews on Venue: Suggested Lodging: After all that festival frolicking you’re going to want a nice place to sleep. We highly suggest Hyatt Houston. Should be about$159 + tax per night if arriving on a Friday evening and choosing a standard room (which should be sufficient for most but other options are available including suites…and they are worth it). You’re going to want to get your pre-festival rest and Hyatt has some of the best beds of the hotel chains we frequent. Prices – Gen Am – $158 + admin fees, 2nd Tier/Fancy Pants is $223.50 + admin fees Ultra Experience is the Silk Pajamas Package/The Ultimate Experience, it’s a little over $1000 USD after admin fees.
Online Review Sites such as Yelp rate FPSF fairly high – photo by Mark G. See his review.
Early concerns… Believe it or not we’re getting feedback less than a few minutes after this event was posted. Many are VERY excited that TFF is going to be out and about. However, some just aren’t fans of festivals because they only want to see TFF and have no sincere interest in other bands. “Paying one huge ticket price for one show is worth it but not practical in these slow to go grow economic times,” one follower stated. Our suggestion is to please consider the area and all of the fun tourist sites and activities available. Houston is a pretty cool city with lots to do. There had been some low line chatter aka “convos on the DL” about 2 years back that this beloved band would be doing some festivals. And as we loyalists know, they make good on their word and often at just the right time.
Fan Activities – Once we hear back on who is going and what everyone wants to do we’ll post it here. If you plan to go do not delay on buying tickets. Contrary to popular belief, Festivals DO sell out. Don’t end up having to buy one off Ebay. Just a warning. xoxox
Thanks for reading!
AA
*Updates to this post will be tweeted and posted to FB.
This is where the magic starts to happen, the lights lower and your soul soars…Tears for Fears are approaching the stage!
Happy January 2015! Hope all on the ‘band fanwagon’ are doing quite well! Fun seeing everyone online and hanging out in Twitterville. Thought we’d start this year off by taking a look at ‘Fan Travel.’ We have a lot of travel themes in our fan circle. There’s the loyal team of shipmates on the fan ship, the SS DelaQ led by Captain Julian Orzabal. There’s the travel fan team, Curt’s Kerfuffle of Kooks that travel to hang out at shows in L.A., it all overlaps, intertwines and most important, celebrates all things Tears for Fears! We have had an extraordinary time, so much so that the idea of not going the extra mile to be a part of the superfan shenanigans is just unheard of. From taking multiple planes just to get to one show, to crisscrossing the country in less than 24 hours to try to get to each one, we’re known to clock some pretty outstanding mileage…neighbours, family, husbands, friends and sometimes pets in tow…and cupcakes, we always have cupcakes! You can thank Lady K for that.
Sometimes tragedy hits… we either get stuck in some city, or encounter medical issues i.e. several times a passenger has had a heartattack on the plane we’re on thus resulting in an emergency landing. The worst cases have been death defying transporation issues that made us wonder if that day was one of our ‘Last Days on Earth.’ We each have had some horrid tales of trying to get to shows and something just went all wrong…but somehow, by ‘The Grace’ we made it! I, too, have showed up at a concert (a different English crew) after a car accident, one where I ended up losing the whole car. But that’s an account for another time and place as I digress… Let’s read about Alice E’s hair raising tale of barely making it …and when she did she had the time of her life!
CD posted some shared photos from online, great picture! Hugs to the photog!
Here’s her story… My daughter and I started out in the morning for a 10 hour round trip to Oakland for our 1st Tears for Fears concert! We had bought what was equal to three times the tickets to make sure we would get up front (not something in our budget). Less than half way there, we were in an accident. The car was totaled, my daughter got a concussion, and I fractured a vertebra. We called a good friend (who, BTW, isn’t a fan and is an overly critical musician) and he really enjoyed the concert, very much…….Yes, we made it!
We stood for, what seemed like a long time, at the edge of the stage. Then Lorde’s version of Everybody Wants To Rule The World started playing in the dark, so perfect. Then the lights went up. Curt entered from the other side of the stage. I waved. He waved back. Then I turned and looked up to see Roland standing at his microphone, right in front of us. Was this really happening or I did I die in the accident and go to Heaven?!
It was a whirlwind of music and joy. I could feel the warm stage lights engulfing me. Yes, we danced, injuries and all! Roland and I communicated with lip reading and sign language! What joy and laughter. One time I looked up and he was sticking out his tongue and waving his arms about. As I followed his gaze, I saw my daughter sticking her tongue out and waving her arms about. I think I’m glad we got to see one of these non album-release concerts. It was like a party with old friends and familiar songs. We even made some new friends. It was a beautiful venue. Wow, have times changed since I last went to any concerts, the sound was great!
I usually don’t pick a favorite song, because it always depends on my mood. Recently, I played The Prisoner about 15-20 times in a row, very loudly. Everybody Wants To Rule The World is my most danced to song and fits a lot of moods, but after this concert I’d have to say it is my favorite. From the 1st note Roland played, I began to blubber like a teenager in those old black and white clips of the Beatles arriving in the USA for the 1st time. When the song was over, Curt commented that we had some therapy going on here. Probably. It was overwhelming tears of joy. Tears for Joy! I was thinking at the time: WOW, that’s the guy that sings my favorite song on my TV all the time.
I am not good with good-byes, this was the hardest. When they began to play Shout, I didn’t know what to do. I ended up blanking out mentally. When I became conscious again, Roland was gone and Curt was about to exit the wings. I was thinking, I didn’t get to say good-bye. Then suddenly Curt turned around, walked almost all the way across the stage, knelt down with his hands together. Looked at me and said “Bye, Mama”, then backed away. I threw him kisses & waved good-bye.
Fan Souvenirs, Doc Martens, Man-U swag & TFF’s latest on Vinyl, courtesy Patricia O -France
NOTE: I’ve been a fan since 1985 (my favorite band). My daughter, same age as Diva Smith, found my cassette tape of Songs From The Big Chair & hasn’t stopped playing it. Since then, she introduced me to the internet, YouTube, and Amazon. Now my life is full of Tears for Fears. I’m dancing, singing, and on Facebook daily. Roland was so sweet to tweet my daughter singing advice for her 1st solo since Kindergarten. She sang Shout, while playing the bass. She is a fantastic bass player, even the up-right acoustic bass. This Christmas she asked for a pair of Docs, just like Papa Smith’s.
::hands out tissues:: THAT is …I need a minute.
Yeah…that right there, sums it up! Heaven only knows the things going on in our personal lives or what JUST happened to us before we got to a show…or why going to a show is a pilgrimage and a sacred ceremony for SO MANY fans of this band. Alice truly expressed what so many of us feel. There is nothing that compares to being in their presence. This is not hero worship as much as it is pure appreciation for the energy that Curt Smith, Roland Orzabal and the entire team put out at those shows. Their concerts are compared to gospel services, church, religious ceremonies and hard core parties all the same. It’s truly worth the effort, this band makes every travel experience worthwhile. We won’t ever forget it, we look forward to many more and I pray we all get there safe, sound and ready to rock with ROCS!
Here’s to another outstanding year with Tears for Fears!
Thanks for reading!
AA
~Kol iA~
This is what some of us will have to do given the show sold out before many even knew about it.
One fan said it best, the email went out from the venue and with lightening speed the tickets were gone. The show SOLD OUT. There is a rumor that third party ticket holders on sites like Craig’s List may have tickets. As impossible as it will be for many, let’s try to focus on the positives here.
-Venue by the beach
-Reasonably priced tickets
-This show is in walking distance from several travel fans (Yay Lady K)
The negatives for others are the same…no advanced notice…again. We’ll address these concerns in late December. We are hoping to find out why there is such a short turnaround this year…after several successful years of advanced notices. Many thanks to SK and Lady K for the heads up. This show is legit. It is happening. Chin up!
About The Venue BellyUp – has other branches of restaurants and sister locations. It is located at Solano Beach and is described as very intimate with not a bad seat in the house. For those with tickets, arrive on time.
Suggested Accomodations
Accommodations – We suggest Courtyard Marriott. Click here to book. If you need other suggestions or have special circumstances please reach out to us via FB email.
Fan MeetUps & Party -TBD
Roland joked the after party was at Lady K’s, but please do not follow her home Lol. One of our travel fan team will be in touch if anything ‘fan official’ or fan generated will take place. It’s always fun to hang out with fellow TFF fans pre and post show. That’s how this family started and the band is thankfully amused.
All-Star cast supports Taylor Smith.This Sunday, 23 November, 2014 at Vitellos Restaurant, Curt Smith and several wonderful stars & supporters will lend their talents and love for an amazing cause, the recovery of the beloved Taylor Smith. We’ve had this young lady in our prayers for several weeks now. As mentioned in our annual #TeamCS holiday notice, sweet Taylor could use our help as she reaches 100% healing.
A part of the efforts will be a wonderful evening of ‘Thanks & Giving‘ for this worthy cause. We love to celebrate youth. We support them 100% and so do these stars, inclusive of the award winning Jason Alexander (many will remember him from Seinfeld, top broadway musicals and much more), Wilson Philips (another award winning music favourite of many of us), the awesome Asdru Sierra of OzoMatli and Joan Ryan. Together they’ll entertain fellow supporters of Taylor’s recovery. Curt will perform 3 songs.
Curt Smith will perform 3 songs alongside an All Star team supporting Taylor SmithShowing Support From Afar
The flyer is here. We ask all to be respectful and remember this is a fundraiser. You can send your support using this link or by reaching out to the Taylor Smith page on Facebook. Be sure to like Vitello’s restaurant on Facebook as well. Perhaps leave a kind message of support for the event. https://www.facebook.com/vitellosrestaurant
Many thanks for taking time to read, RT and share the donation link. We know that the Smith family (both Curt’s, Taylor and her family plus friends) will appreciate it. We look forward to her full recovery and to rejoice with her in the future. Blessings and peace be upon Taylor and all who support her.
We were there in person, remotely, in spirit and every other way possible that a fan can partake in the joyous festival that is a Tears for Fears show. Our travel fan friends, Jaynie, Lady K and several others were on the ground getting photos and relaying them to fans worldwide. With viewing confirmation updates from the UK, France and of course stateside, many took part in this event pre and post show. We are so happy for opportunities like these and fellow travel fans like those from around the globe!
Looking like royals, Curt and Roland, accompanied by the Tears for Fears team: Charlton, Carina, Doug and Mr. Nick, treated attendees to several favourites and it’s all on video. Let these archives speak for themselves! We’re all absolutely thrilled that everything went well.
Before we let it roll, shoutout to Sherlock Silver Kitty CD, Cams and others who went out of their way to try and make it to the show. From those who dared trying to catch last minute flights and then turn around and get back to the East Coast by morning (Andye & a couple of others who just “had a fan moment”) to the teams’ members on the ground in L.A. holding the extra tickets, MANY WORKED HARD (i.e. Joyce A of the Philippines) to contribute to this excursion and all are to be commended. THANK YOU!
Thank you supportive husbands and wives!
Lady K’s experience:
We walked to the studio from our hotel and saw Charlton strolling down Hollywood Blvd. I said, “hi and good luck.” We arrived an hour early and heard soundcheck from outside. I met a girl who apparently met RO and CS a few hours earlier as they were pulling in. She had a photo with them. Why do I always miss these opportunities? Hehe. I was so excited because I heard Badman’s Song and Creep. You know how much we love Badman’s Song live! RO had on a leather coat hence the “leather” reference on twitter. The band hung side stage for awhile as they were directed to go on live. This is when I snuck a wave to RO from side stage. They sounded beautiful. It was nice not to be allowed to take videos for the first few songs because I could just soak in the music. I didn’t take many videos because I just wanted to enjoy the music. My husband and I were right in front of Roland. They played EWTRW, SSOL, Secret World, Pale Shelter, HOH. The crowd screamed for an encore but since this wasn’t a normal concert they didn’t do one. We were super excited though because apparently other bands are gone after two songs. TFF were cool enough to play 5!
Thanks Lady K for your recap! We’re all about the fan experiences~!!
Well worth the wait, …getting sneak peeks before the show!
Here’s Lady J’s experience ~ Dedicated to Kim T & Sheila “SheeShee”
So to start off as I got to the line to get in I saw a Kimmel staff (I thought) standing off to the side and asked her if it was the start of the line (as it was quite disorganized). I then realized that she was waiting in line like the rest of us and she introduced herself. I instantly knew she was a friendly and warm fan unlike some who were cordial but mostly kept to themselves. There wasn’t anyone that I recognized from Facebook/Twitter-doms so went back to talk to the lady I had met and was thrilled to find we knew a mutual friend – Andye! I was so shocked that I finally found someone from social media there that I was speechless for a bit. I was so elated to meet her! I told her “you’re Lady K!” We commiserated about how we missed Andye being there and wished she could have made it (she was at the airport, unable to get the flight she needed to make it in time). We hung out together with her husband (what a patient and supportive man) and caught many sneak peeks in between the fence (see picture) while they did their sound check!
It was pure bliss while we heard them go through their songs! After they opened the gates, we split up ~ Katie in front of Roland and me in front of Curt. We were told we were in for a treat as they played a total of 5 songs (as Katie described above) whereas the majority of bands who play there play only 2 songs and leave. I’m very appreciative that TFF were so considerate to their fans by playing so many songs for us even though the main point was to be there to film the Kimmel show. We relished the evening so much and the fans showed them much love! Was thrilled to meet new fan friends and hope to one day meet all of them who are on social media near and far!
Lady K and Lady J! Thank you for your TFF Travel Fan contributions!
Yay, Roland had a good time!
Everyone, enjoy!
1st up,“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears – Jimmy Kimmel Live (Courtesy JKL Production)
“Sowing the Seeds of Love” by Tears for Fears – Jimmy Kimmel Live (Courtesy JKL Production)
“Pale Shelter” by Tears for Fears – Jimmy Kimmel Live (courtesy – Angelolugo77)
“Secret World” by Tears for Fears – Jimmy Kimmel Live (courtesy – Angelolugo77)
also included that night… Head Over Heels (snippet from Tears for Fears Brasil) Be sure to check out the Tears for Fears Brasil page for a few more video snippets and photos! Muito obrigada a equipe la pra seus partagems! Also,Big Shoutout to Lady K’s husband who is very tolerant of our fan habits. Gotta love a supportive spouse!
Tears for Fears – Jimmy Kimmel Live 2014 -Making Dreams Come True
Thanks for reading!
AA
We’ll add additional photos here… starting with the Good Man Curt Smith by Lady J.
Pabst is not just about music, it’s about helping musicians too! photo courtesy – travel fan team member attending Pabst
Without preaching to the choir, we know there are tons in the world who get paused by life. Some have been highlighted by Good Man Curt Smith. It’s time to take a moment and just see what we can do to help those who need a hand.
Some cases may seem more severe than others, some more tragic…but they ALL need attention. Members of #TeamCS – a group that started in 2010 supporting Curt’s participation in a charity to help the earthquake victims in Haiti -encourage everyone to give what you can this year to the group in need of your choice. There is a list below of past charities and orgs to which we have contributed or donated. You may have some to which you donate and we’d love to hear about them too.
We never know when we’ll need a helping hand. As much as we plan and work hard to ‘hold it together’ things go awry and often are out of our control. Sometimes one’s savings isn’t enough to pull through in the hard times. Please consider those who need to be uplifted during their time of distress. Make November and December a month of charitable donations in the amount you can afford. If you do donate, tweet us @papasfans, we’d love to RT and encourage others to join the causes.
Photo from news clippings posted by Curt Smith
2014 List Taylor Smith – progress is being made, thanks to any who may have donated to this young lady when we first posted about it. Read more and consider a donation. She has approximately 100 days of treatment covered but reports are saying it will take about 2years for a full recovery. We want to see her at 100%. Our prayers are with her. Let’s envision her healthy and well.
Maceo – We continue to give and will give until our funds run dry. Visit http://www.standwithmaceo.com to see how you can help.
Maceo’s mum sends these great notes on his progress.
Tory Burch Foundation – This organisation is outstanding. Find out why by clicking this link or copying and pasting the below URL into your browser. http://www.toryburchfoundation.org
Angel Tree -Several TeamCS members have purchased gifts for this program. Click here to learn more.
Curt Smith had mentioned during a chat (can’t remember if it was offline – pardon if this is sharing too much) something about Vegas. Well, as he is known to do, he made good on his word! This is technically not a tour, so…we’re legit on the fact that the band has committed to everything they said they’d do (i.e. that’s it for 2014). This is a bonus and oooohh how lovely it is!
On Saturday, the 13th of December, Tears for Fears will have a concert at Palms Casino Resort. Pre-sale for these tickets is the 11th of November (next Tuesday). Password is BIGCHAIR. Click here to buy tickets.
We suggest you stay at the resort. Buy your plane tickets now not later as some of us have been burned by the high prices to Los Angeles. If you have questions about the airport, how it works, etc. Email us, respond, etc. We’ve done that route many times. The later you wait, the higher the ticket price. So, if you think you can make it, book no later than Tuesday (after you have secured your concert ticket of course). Yes, this is near the holidays…it could touch into gift funds, etc. Think of this as a gift to yourself!
*Bonus News from Silver Kitty* Tears for Fears will appear on the annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. If you are going to the Vegas show you may want to stick around the west coast and head over to L.A. the next day. Tickets for the show will be announced soon. We’ll update here.
*Update* – the KROQ show is now sold out but a few local radio shows associated with KROQ were giving away tickets in various contests and sweepstakes.
– UPDATE – Let’s MeetUp!
So, one of our dear travel fans, Alfredo, has been so kind to scope out some great cool spots in the Palm. The plan is to meetup for drinks on Saturday afternoon well in advance of the show. It looks like more fans will be arriving on Saturday morning/midmorning than Friday so no Friday night dinner this time but instead hanging out from 12pm-3pm at the Casino bar.
To RSVP – send an FB email to the ‘Tears for Fears & Kooks’ fan generated page with an email and or phone number where you can be reached. Your name will be placed on a list (for the purpose of having a headcount). You will be contacted the week of the event by one of your fellow travel fans and again that Friday evening and Saturday morning as a reminder and with any updates or changes.
Location: Palm Casino
Cost: no charge- everyone can buy drinks from the bar at their leisure
Time: 3:30pm-5:30pm
RSVP by FB email
What to expect: Opportunity to make new friends and mingle.
One of the awesome things about travelling to see this band is meeting up with fellow dedicated fans. The group is very diverse with writers, photographers, up & coming artists, award-winning musicians and families, sometimes third and fourth generation…and all from different cultures and walks of life. We all make great efforts to get to the shows with one common goal; Celebrate Tears for Fears.
This year we were happy to find out in advance that our honourary Travel Fan Pal, Jason DeBord, would be in attendance. He mentioned he’d aim to join the crowd for two shows, L.A. and Oakland. Here’s his review of the L.A. Wiltern sold out show that took place last month.
Review – Tears for Fears – Los Angeles – Venue – The Wiltern
“Is that the new iPhone 6?” Roland Orzabal, early on in the show, as he and Curt Smith looked out over the sea of cell phones in the air, held by an exuberant sold out crowd at the historic Wiltern in Los Angeles last night. Tears for Fears, best known for their collection of timeless and classic New Wave hits from the 80s, do not tour very often, and when they do, the tours are usually not too many dates and cities. So there was a bit of an “event” feeling in the air, and based on some of their comments later in the show, they both seem to have quite an affinity for the City of Angels. Click here to read more.
Follow @Rocksubculture on Twitter
Also see: Paul Stamat’s Review & Photos (very touching) Click here
photo by Josh DeBord – after 7pm at the Wiltern
Please read on to see the photos and videos from other professional writers and media team members and fans. Many thanks to everyone who contributed links, recordings and show photos. We’ve been sharing them for over a week and the excitement from this tour hasn’t left us…it lingers throughout the day and night, well into our dreams.
Tears for Fears – Oakland California – Fox Theatre
Where you goin’ Roland? Rolaannd?
Head Over Heels (crowd sing-a-long) posted by JeremyKirkf
Billy Jean posted by JeremyKirkf
Shout (Listen to the crowd’s excitement, it’s electric) posted by Flowen Production
photo provided by KLF Barrett
Tears for Fears Portland’s Project Pabst
First off, big thanks to KLF Barret for sharing photos throughout the evening, tweeting her show experience & filling our macaron dreams. Our travel fan team member Lael was too ill to attend the show but others stepped in and reported back with magnificent pictures and more.
Creep by Radiohead covered by Tears for Fears uploaded by Teresa Cook
(chose this particular upload as the others recorded the technical difficulties that were happening – check those out though, TFF handle everything like pros and are so crowd inclusive)
Sowing the Seeds of Love recorded by Bobby Digital
Ready to Start by AF covered by Tears for Fears
(there are so many great vidoes of this floating around, some featuring some eye-catching close-ups of Mr. Orzabal’s beautiful face. It’s breathtaking…so brace yourself.)
What a nice tweet from the band! Great picture! Lovely wrap up of 2014!
It's been amazing run of shows. Thank you to those of you who came out! It was so good to see you again…. pic.twitter.com/LT65P8Lnxs
Pros and Cons of 2014 – Let’s Be Real + Live Tweets & Instagram Posts
5. We’ve already agreed the tour was short notice. But we learned it was not the band’s intention (nor did we assume it was). They aren’t a team of arses so let’s move on from this.
4. It wasn’t East Coast as everyone assumed the next tour would be. But let’s rejoice that the midwest was once again included…and we had a damn good time in Texas and Oklahoma! Big thanks to Becky for helping make that happen.
Don’t be jealous, saddle up and ride the travel fan train. #GoToShows
3. 4 out 5 shows were general admission – Booo! Many fans reported to me that their bodies just can’t handle sitting on the ground outside or standing against a wall for long periods of time anymore. That is very understandable! As Carri would say, “We OVERstand your pain.” For those that mustered through the agony, thank you w/a virtual heating pad for those legs and ankles! We had a great time waiting in line and meeting new people! High Five to Katie and Snap Happy Pam…and to Jamie Wollum Drummer Genius for making it worth everyone’s while.
2. This was expensive!Actually, it was the same price as the last two tours with respect to hotel prices, food, merch, show tickets and airfare combined. The kicker was if you didn’t rent a car from the airport, it was easily $250-$333 each way from Dallas into Thackerville…adding an extra $500-$600.
BUT!!! Enter the Travel Fan Team —> ; We worked together. So, for those who carpooled or offered it, thank you! Huge thanks to Becky for clocking over 1,000 miles to get fans from point A to B and back again in time to catch their flights.
1. Missing Info & People… yeah. What was up with the lack of email newsletters from the offical tears for fears website? The official twitter handle was still only posting throwback thursday photos vs. show announcements. But that seems to be changing, so…let’s not be hard on band management, there are a lot of great folks behind that team. We owe them a lot.
**But can I just add that personally I missed Stand or Fall in the pre-show music series, like, maaaan, we were waitin’ on that track. Cool to have Seal but The Fixx, you know, that used to come on just before TFF on radio hit countdowns and…let me stop. I won’t kick up a stink over it. I should be happy in the pink.
See, somebody didn’t get the memo and missed a show! Not cool! Not cool!!
Annnd…a lot of people just couldn’t make it…but you know, it worked in the end for those that could. We were really worried if we could pull this off and by the Grace we did and were able to share the experience with the teams and families.
Shout out to fans who celebrated from home and a big congrats to Travel Fans Mark & SheeShee who got married the weekend of the Thackerville show! They of course played Tears for Fears at their wedding! As it should be done…
Mark and Sheila (Shee Shee is our DelaQ shipmate nickname for her) have been travelling the Travel Fan train for years, so loyal to the band and each other 🙂
Pros
5. Beautiful Accommodations – Minus the indoor smoking in the Thackerville casino, it was a cute place. Huge too! You got your money’s worth! We also found some new places to hang out in Los Angeles – even after having spent several summers there we always discover something cool on each visit.
4. Great time of year to tour – We like the September dates, not too hot, not too cold, just right. Breezy, beautiful weather in every location
3. The setlists were FANTASTIC! No, it wasn’t a new album, but the show selections had a whole new feel. Songs were re-arranged, Lorde’s cover of EWTRTW was a great intro with all due respect to Dance of the Knights of which we enjoyed immensely for two tours. Adding Ready to Start was ultra refreshing coupled with Roland’s dancing and the band really getting into it…and of course the Working Hour stole our souls…unforgettable! #LegendaryHistoricMoment!
Shows are full of surprises!
2. Okay, Roland and Curt were very generous in more ways than one. They were extremely obliging where permissible at their own will. THAT is more than any fan can ask for! Still overwhelmed from that.
So many people incredibly excited to see Roland, Curt + team! Makes our heart beam! 🙂
1. Curt and Roland look great! The entire team is fit as a fiddle and in tip top shape. They were interactive, full of smiles, great fashion and stage presence, birthday shoutouts…and they did a mini-roll call with shout outs to the Kooks and those that travelled a long way to see them. Most of all…they are celebrating over 30 of music. 30 Years…And they still rule the world like a bunch of smokin’ hot badasses! BOOM! They ARE all that! Peace! :drops mic and walks away:
Thanks for reading 😉
(AA)
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Roland during ‘Ready to Start’ – “If I was yours…”
#LoveForLadyT
Shoutout to all those who brought their SDO books on tour and waved them around. Big thanks to Roland for signing several!Curt during Mad World #CoolBandFashion #CoolAsEver #KookMeister #LoveForTheLegend #AllOurLoveForROCS
Travel Fan Experience featuring Carri, Kai, Yara, Pam, Katie and Veronica narrated & written by Andye
Back In the Air After a thrilling three days in Oklahoma we went our separate ways…but thankfully only for a few hours. I only went back to Atlanta to repack and catch my scheduled flight to Los Angeles where I’d meetup with Pam and Carri who would fly in the same day (Monday). L.A. is their home. Fast forward 16 hours and I’m back at the airport boarding an international aircraft with other Tears for Fears Fans who live in Atlanta but are originally from the UK. We had a blast on the plane, talking about life in London. These ladies have the hook up, they run football tours in England. You should have seen us, we were dishing out all sorts of fun ideas for the future. More news on that to come (with respect to future tours).
We recommend the Line Hotel for 1,001 reasons! -picture from ‘The Line’
Living It Up at The Line The nearly 5 hour flight zipped by, we in fact arrived a bit early and boy was I glad. 8pm in Los Angeles I head over to the meetup spot to find sleepy people too tired to shake a tail feather at the Club & Pho bar. So off I went to what turned out to be the stay of all stays. Now, in the past during Curt’s solo show events, we’ve stayed closer to the venues in some pretty swank places. That’s important to us. We want all of these travel fan excursions to be truly fantastic for everyone. We DON’T recommend just any place or hotels we haven’t stayed in before or hotels that are just “cheap” for the sake of saving a dime. We don’t suggest everyone go for broke but we’re not going to put you in something less than 3-5 stars. As a hotel hobbit, I research various brands and was fortunate to find The Line Hotel which turned out to be a bit closer to the venue than previously thought. I’m sure I could have walked but I have a love affair with Uber. Without this turning into a tripadvisor listing, let’s just say, The Line is lovely! It has the option of overlooking the hills which also provides a glorious sunrise each morning. It also features floor to ceiling windows and a fully stocked (it’s actually stuffed) mini bar and more. The food is a cultural array that is perfect for those of us who are big on culture clubbing. I could go on and on, please see a future post from @lovemymacarons where this stay will be featured.
Cheers to Pam, Carri, Katie and several others for starting the street party, we had a blast!
A Line of Another Kind Again, bright and early for our daily race…and this was a race as Carri comes over and we get ready to go over to The Wiltern after publishing the Oklahoma show in the blog. We got there first and saw no one, so we waited. Then after slopping down a bowl of soup so we wouldn’t pass out from hunger, we found several other travel fans (Pam, Katie and friends we see at Curt’s solo shows and past TFF Wiltern waitings). It was very comforting. There were some missing faces from the years before but thankfully they were already taken care of and didn’t need to be outside. Originally I had no intentions of going to this show because as a frequent conference attendee and one who does pop culture cons, I have had as much as I can stand of “standing in line.” In this modern age, I feel like there’s surely some other way to tackle this. Again, I have ideas. But Kai and Carri were going so…
Cupcakes from Sprinkles’ Bakery
There we were again and it was thankfully a beautiful breezy day, Katie brought cupcakes to share with fans and some for the band of which Jamie Wollam (while taking a photo of the sold out sign) was given. We love Jamie. He is so sweet and we appreciate his kind words more than we ourselves could ever express. He came over and gave out hellos, handshakes and hugs and again we all appreciated it! Hope they liked the cupcakes. They had Curt’s couture/Ben Sherman style logo on them and came from Sprinkles bakery.
Confession: I am not familiar with this particular gourmet sweets brand (we don’t have Sprinkles on the East Coast – I reside in Macaron Francaises country) and assumed when Katie said she was bringing Sprinkles that she was either bringing a can of sugary red and green holiday fluff thus perhaps adding to the Skittles party that Curt brings to the table …or her dog. I thought, “Roland is gonna love this…puppies barking in the show. Maybe we should ask Curt to bring Bella and Ivy? Did Katie check with the venue to make sure we can have pets?” But no, instead 2 boxes (one box for fans, one box for the band) of these awesome cupcakes that were too beautiful to eat.
Drummer Genius Jamie was kind to stop and say hi when we interrupted him taking a photo of the sign. Sorry Jamie, but thanks!!
Bootleg Tshirts – UnOfficial Merch
Baffled by Bootlegs Around 4:45pm a guy comes around with bootleg Tears for Fears tshirts (last time they did it after the show). This fellow had shirts that included the showdates on the back. That was enticing, until I looked closely to find that the dates were wrong. I wanted to pull him over and say, “Look…if you’re gonna bootleg do it right, son. Do your research, find out exactly what tour this is. It’s not ‘The Hurting Tour.’ We’re far beyond that…like 30 years, kid. Also, you forgot two of the most important dates on the tour, Austin and Thackerville. You lose. Do not pass Go, no Tears for Fears fan money for you, you cannot collect $200.” The shirts were $10 a piece and he sold those muthers like a rogue restauranteur selling Krispy Kreme donuts on the side! They. Were. Gone. I was so mad.”Guys, look at the back of that shirt!” I yelled. Some dates are wrong and some are completely gone! Besides, this isn’t official merch! What about the band?! There’s merch inside!” But it was the front that got them. A picture from the SFTBC album cover series, one of the back b-side photos. I mean it was highly enticing. I got one simply for the proof but I did tell the guy the shirt was incorrect. “You didn’t do your research!” I yelled.
We all sort of sat there afterwards saying things like, Gah, they could’ve been selling paper cups for $100 dollars each with photoshopped autographs and we’d be all up on it as if it was legit. smh!
Tears for Fears sign at The Wiltern (right next to The Kooks of course)
VIP and Fast Passes This year instead of being re-directed into a downstairs room, we got the option to buy ‘fast passes’ for $15 (that’s $5 less than the $20 + bar fees we paid in 2011). We got the passes and were moved to a different line and took photos of the signs (we’re all about signage) between trips to the coffee shop where we bought drinks and used the… yeah. So that line filled up quickly but orderly. There were lots of friendly Wiltern security around so things went extremely fast and smooth. A few, however, said the staff started letting in the non-fast pass line though. Thanks to Veronica, a lot of that got straightened out and thus we avoided a catastrophe of unfairness.
The Show We rushed in as soon as they let us, 7pm on the dot! My legs were sore from sitting on the hard ground but I shuffled in along with Carri of whom I’m certain was traumatised from sitting on the streets of L.A. for that length of time. We found a spot next to KROQ’s Richard Blade, a champion for the band. We exchanged a few words and then I moved because I knew that I’d be making zaghareets all night not to mention I’d be verklempt by what can only be assumed is the holy spirit during these shows. Whatever it is, I didn’t want to accidentally flop Mr. Blade in the head with a peace sign or church swayin’ so I went to his left. Turned out great, I was right in front of Roland with a direct view of Curt. I ain’t gonna lie, I also stood there because I wanted some Skittles. I always want some Skittles. He could come right over and dump the whole pack, makin’ it rain and I’d be set for life. I’m not even joking…that would be one for the books.
By this time I couldn’t find Carri, she’s off with Mr. Blade, her buddy. They talk all the time online. She was in good hands so I focused on Katie and her husband, Pam and our Curt Smith solo show pals of whom I nickname Roland’s neighbours because they live nearby.
Carina Round We leaned against the barrier which put us about an inch within the stage. I like this barrier because being slammed against the Wiltern stage is not fun. Whomever installed that thing, thank you! Carina came out right at 8pm. She wore that pretty black two piece dress and beautiful dotted scarf, her hair up in a bun. Her voice was like a songbird and she did a fantastic job, so many praised her. However, I have to be honest and say the crowd was terribly rude in the back. They talked “loudly” over her portion of the show. She asked them very directly to shut the f*ck up…her words not mine. For such a beautiful person, it was sad to see her have to “get ugly” with concert attendees. While she did a glorious job and included the lovely crowd interactive song (to which many sang along) this should have gone better than it did. Again, I have some ideas… I’m full of ideas…
Tears for Fears …fueling all the feels!Lorde’s version of EWTRTW came on right at 9pm. We had been waiting on it. Filled with pain meds, earplugs from standing so close to the speaker (I was directly in front of Roland, his microphone and that speaker) while others were filled with Merlot to really get into the TFF groove, the band was met with ALARMING praise and screams. They were jolly, giggly and all that inbetween when they walked out. Lots of playful looks among them and just an overall warm and exciting demeanor that was contagious. We were immediately transformed by their spirit and energy. The night blossomed into an amazing set.
Secret World, Seeds of Love, Pale Shelter, Call Me Mellow, ELAHE, Change, Mad World, Memories Fade, Closest Thing to Heaven, Arcade Fire’s Ready to Start, Floating Down a River, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Advice for the Young at Heart, Woman in Chains, Badman’s Song, Break It Down Again, Head over Heels… and The Working Hour + Shout as the encore.
Now…one of the best things about a LIVE Tears For Fears show are the comments, stories and shoutouts inbetween songs. You learn so much. There are jokes and all. We were surprised that Roland mentioned the ‘pause’ between he and Curt so to speak. Travel Fan Pennie K captured the moment.
Several near me mumbled with sincere sadness, “Dude, let’s not even talk about it. You’re back together, please don’t even mention it.” I laughed. I, too, felt the same. Let’s not even discuss it. Good things and growth occurred obviously during that time, the solo works and TFF albums left lasting impacts on us and we’re all different people for the better. I, too, feel a little sick when I even think about those “solo” years. My poor little heart was in a constant state of prayer. I won’t go into details, this is neither the time or place for it. But Roland did bring it up and made light of it…joking and such. Curt laughed. All was well.
Roland also mentioned how it had been a long time since they had been at the Wiltern. Now, I am not one to memory shame anyone, but the Good Sir said that it had been 4 years. I, standing in front of him shook my head with a smile saying “No, it’s 3! You’re forgetting 2011.” Then he got distracted by the iPhone6 (as shown in the video) in someone’s hand and addressed that. But damn 2011 was a freakin amazing show, how could I forget?! He handed me the microphone. Wild!
Something about this band…just gives us life!
Every TFF show is insanely amazing so it’s no wonder people cry, fall out and carry on…but this one was very intense with some sort of powerful energy yet to have been explained. I gulped down the rest of my drink and jumped right into dancing on the song Change and Mad World. You know how we do, acting out the parts of the video (rain fingers, the Flying Wombat). I could barely get through Closest Thing to Heaven. I just lost it. Tears flowed like a river with images of the late Brittany who starred in the video, to memories of the countdown to this album’s release and of course the CNNfn interview. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I was overwhelmed. My years of loving this band since I was kid and all the memory of all the wonderful things they have given to us in one way or another just took over me. Their energy is so warm and amazing that it’s hard to return to regular life after leaving their presence. They are truly “healing” and Katie agreed with me afterwards. There is something about being in their presence, you just relax, all worries are gone, nothing can harm you. Hands are raised in the air, you can’t tell the difference between this and a spiritual service or a gospel showdown, the whole room is transformed. You are forever changed…
Up to the encore, our souls were floating around us…literally. My body was there but my soul was in the air…just weightless. I could see Katie and Carri, Pam and Veronica…so many just in another state. Even cold, heartless, stone-faced folks that I had seen earlier were now all smiles and full of joy! Whatever calming energy that this band has needs to be bottled up and sold along with the CDs and vinyls, it is electric!!
Another plus was Charlton walking around the stage smiling. I don’t want to invade his personal space but if I could hug him for a good long hour I’d do it. I like him. He’s really cool. We were shouting his name as well. Jamie was peeking out behind his genius station as was Delightful Doug Petty. We were just in a whole other world. I can’t EVEN find the words to sum up the emotion. But NOTHING…N.O.T.H.I.N.G could have prepared us for the encore.
Here he is, that darling dude Mr. David Moyer on Saxophone!
Enter David Moyer Now, the crowd was already hype, more hype than any other TFF crowd I have seen since I started travelling religiously to their shows. The cheers for EWTRTW, the loud outpouring of praise lasted for over 5 minutes. I’m not kidding. Curt took a few moments to just stop and listen. It was like…nothing I’ve ever seen at their shows. And they deserved it because they were spot on this magical night. I mean, every song, every story and gesture was just …you had to be there. History was being made! When the band left the stage after HOH, Katie and I refueled. Sips of water, thoroughly drying tears, straighten up our blouses and shirts. I, of course, was wearing my Wiltern usual, a DelaQ shirt and this time sporting plaid in honour of Roland’s past fashion…emphasis on the past. All the while, the crowd around us chanted, “Tears for Fears! Tears for Fears!” Moments later, they re-entered, most from the right hand side of the stage…but suddenly I saw a man come from the left. He had…a horn. A saxophone to be exact! I lost my ever lovin’ mind.
“OMGAAHHHHHH!! It’s a horn!! It’s a horn!!!!!” I began. Roland made a funny surprise gesture and thankfully didn’t laugh too hard at my reaction. I was literally jumping up and down like a child seeing their favourite person on the planet. My pontytails were flopping around and I’m throwing peace signs and waving at this guy (we learned his name is David Moyer) perhaps scaring the mess out of him. He looked a little shy and timid but kept his place and sort of stared back at me briefly perhaps wondering, ‘WTF is up with this one in the red?” But I knew…I knew they were either gonna play Working Hour or one of the handful of brilliant pieces featuring horns. It reminded me of the time I tweeted, “Will there be horns?” Needless to say, this happened.
Hoping for horns before the tour…
Watch how fans go into a state of absolute euphoria when they realise what is about to take place. #ThisHappened
The Working Hour by Tears for Fears (featuring David Moyer, who was flawless) – listen to the people in the background, they are in complete awe…saying something like this was worth it just for that song. Some said they’d have stood in line for hours just to hear this. Can’t blame them…The Working Hour is JUST that special.
Shout, Shout, Let it All Out The show ended with Shout…Curt’s youngest daughter and her friend came out and joined on Carina’s mic. They wore their pastel terracotta and blue limited edition Tears for Fears tshirts from the 2012 Official Tour Merch (had I know they were junior size on purpose I wouldn’t feel like such a failure for not fitting into mine, now I know). They looked darling!!! It was so perfect. I won’t be posting that picture because we have some travel fan rules about posting photos of minors. They did a great job! The show was fantastic. The only thing bad was Katie didn’t get her SDO book signed. Other than that it was hands down the best Tears for Fears show I’ve ever been to date and trust me that’s saying a lot because they’ve all been excellent, mind blowing hours of everything one could ever hope for…
After the band left the stage and the house lights were up I looked around and saw a sea of familiar faces. Yara had made it by a miracle (there had been an accident leaving her stranded in traffic). Joyce’s birthday wish was fulfilled, Curt had read her tweet requesting it to be sung and apparently showed it to Roland (or something like that). It was already on the set list it seems but he made it special by saying her name and mentioning her wish just before it was performed. There were others with whom we’d been in touch with online, tear-stained faces and all emotional. We all hugged and took group pictures before going out to say hi to Carina and also getting some official merch!! I stocked up on that coveted water bottle. If they ran out, blame me.
UnOfficial Meet & Greet Afterwards we went back to the soup place which we had no idea was connected to the backstage area of the venue. As we left, Kai sweetly decided to get the car for us so we didn’t have to walk. So, we’re standing there and I look behind me and see a figure that looks familiar. As it draws near I realise it’s Carina Round in another cute outfit. She asked us if we were waiting on Roland and Curt. Not sure why…we didn’t even know they were there. Puzzled, we told her “no, we’re waiting on our friend to pick us up, she’s right there…” and thanked her for such a great show. Then suddenly Jamie comes out and he’s all smiles and happy to see us. We were thrilled to see him. We talked about the show. He asked what we thought…I was like, “Dude are you kidding? What we thought? It was out of this world amazing!! I am speechless right now!” And I was…I couldn’t even say anything more. I was so overwhelmed I just stood there dribbling “thank you Jamie, thank you so much!”
He thanked us for what we do…I guess he was referring to all the travelling to shows and just being present??- We had no clue, we were just happy to hug him! With hopes of not sounding like a psycho or one that’s unhealthy, I do find that a lot of my joy is in this band. They bring out the best in so many of us. We’re just a bunch of happy little larks/Kerfuffle of Kooks when it comes to Tears for Fears. They bring us a great deal of peace and extreme content.
Time to Perch Carri, Kai and I went back to The Line Hotel. Carri packed her things and I prepared my suitcase for the next day’s flight. We eventually hugged and said goodnight. That’s the life of travel fans, packing, preparing and perching…eager to get up and go to the next show.
That’s all I’ve got for this leg of the tour…I’ll be sure to post pictures from San Francisco/Oakland and Portland (which was attended by other travel fans).
Please enjoy the additional reviews about this fantastic night. Jason DeBord, an honourary member of the Travel Fan team blogs about TFF events too and does a fine job. See his post from Rocksubculture.com. It’ll also be on this blog.
I have nothing but praise for this band and the way they treat their fans…it’s certainly commendable. I love them for it. I pray they’ll always feel comfortable around us and that the care is mutual.
Thanks for reading!
More videos of The Working Hour from various angles – this was a historic night at The Wiltern
Hear the passion in the crowd
Balcony View
More from that show – Please be sure to like and comment on these YouTube videos. Many of these people flew in from a long way and they’d perhaps be happy to see their video recognised.
Change
Floating Down A River
Arcade Fire – Ready to Start (Cover)
Closest Thing to Heaven (which is how we feel about being around this band)
Tears for Fears Travel Fans 