“Everybody wants to rule the world...” this is according to the song of the 80’s UK New Wave Band, Tears For Fears. And for two nights at the Smart Araneta Colisem on August 10 & 11, the band themselves did exactly this to the world, the Philippines in particular by selling out their 2 night jampacked concert filled out to the rafters.

By choice and design, the band, led by their two lead singers in Roland Orzabal ang Curt Smith, opened the gig with a bang by rendering their first number one single in the US in 1985, none other than (you guessed it right) Everybody Wants To Rule The World. This act immediately brought the house down when almost all  of us stood up and started singing along with the band. (Although personally I would like it to be the finale for impact). According to some of the lyrics of this hit song, the walls come tumbling down which I thought at the moment would happen because of the sudden surge of energy inside the venue.

And if you are a fan of theirs, you would notice right away the almost perfect music and sound quality as if we were just listening to a CD. (Kudos to the sound engineers). You would say that the voices of both Roland and Curt haven’t changed at all considering it was more than 20 years ago when they first emerged on the music scene - Sorry guys, but i’m an avid fan :))

They wisely chose their lineup of songs,  mixing the old hits with some moderate ones in order to continuously light up the mood of their captive audience. There was also a different rendition of the popular “Billie Jean” song of the late Michael Jackson which caught some of us by surprise at first, ( guilty on my part) not knowing it ‘till the familiar lyrics sank in.

Every now and then, people would stood up to dance or sing and in return the band would show their appreciation by acknowledging and thanking the crowd.

Of course there would be some drama inluded. After performing one of their hits near the end of the show, Roland and Curt, along with their bandmembers would waive goodbye and leave the stage as if to  signify the end of the concert. Naturally, the audience would clamor for more. But it took the band a little longer than usual to come out, so by instinct and out of nowhere, the crowd started to singing some lines from another famous song of the group which right up to that moment was not yet sung. Obligingly, the band came out for their encore.

After performing another slow hit song, fittingly, the famous band chose their popular second number one hit in America, Shout for it’s finale. By this time, the house is already rocking.

And before I forget, there’s a saying that goes like this “When it rains, it pours”. You know why, because I felt this is what happened. 

Amazingly, the front act to this show was Per Sorensen of Fra Lippo Lippi, another popular group in the mid 80’s. He sang almost all his hits in a 45 minute performance. Imagine the mood he stirred up just to entice our appetite?! ;))

Picture this, Fra Lippo Lippi as your appetizer to the main dish which is Tears For Fears. You could not ask for more! It’s worth it. (I surely do)

Kudos for Tears For Fears for donating all their merchandise sales to the Red Cross for helping the recent flood victims, (although I thought that the prices were a little too high, anyway it’s for a cause) and thank you to the organizers for a well thought concert.