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Post by Jules on Jul 9, 2019 17:20:36 GMT
Well, I guess it's hardly a secret I'm going to this, and if there's anybody who's writing a gig report ( Raoul , what happened?), it's got to be me... not that I mind doing it, I'd just wish I wasn't the only one on here! Anyroad, I've never been to Bruchsal although it's not that far away from where I live. But after Saturday, I'll be able to tell people "I've been to Bruchsal"! Thanks, TFF! Facetiousness aside, it's quite nice to have a major act like this in a town that's not Stuttgart or Mannheim, the two big live areas in southwestern Germany. I've already been to more concerts in Stuttgart than anywhere else and I've even become familiar enough with the underground trains to not get lost every time... it'll be nice to hover around some new ground. Obviously, I hope the weather will be good, although I don't need the excessive heat we had at the ZZ Top open air in Bietigheim two weeks ago... And of course, I hope they play a reasonably long set. You've got enough good songs to fill an entire evening, lads...
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Post by Jules on Jul 23, 2019 19:27:05 GMT
Nuno's wonderful report inspired me to do something similar, although it's a bit less extensive.
Prologue: Me and my Big Ideas
I have little to say about the train journey. It's a nice part of Germany but I kept looking anxiously at dark clouds looming on the horizon. Could the concert be under a good star? The weather forecast was not explicit and everything was possible. While there was absolutely no need for the ponchos at the ZZ Top open air two and a half weeks before (it was one of the hottest days of the year with not a cloud in sight), this was far more unclear and harder to prepare for. Apparently, SWR1 Pop & Poesie one day earlier in the same venue was completely flooded.
First act: Pullin' a Cloud
Finding the entry to the Schlossgarten was slightly unsettling, as there were no signs or posters anywhere to be seen, and from the train station, there was what looked like an entrance in front of a stage, but it was blocked. We'd later find out that it was actually the back of the venue and had to go around the entire Schlossgarten as the entrance was on the other side. But we did pass the tour bus, which stood right on the street! Unreal to think that Roland, Curt and the rest were in there, possibly sleeping or looking out at the fans trickling in...
Because of all this confusion, we arrived later than we had planned and the doors were already open. There was also some disagreement about various things but to my surprise and delight, small water bottles (up to 0.5 l) were allowed in, which solved one problem quickly. Passing by the beautiful Schloss and some statues, we got on the site, which turned out to be as narrow as it appeared on the photo I'd looked at online. This is why there was another set of speakers at the middle of the ground, although I don't suppose you would see much of the band from as far back as that...
I set course for the merch stand and was surprised that there was far less on display than could be viewed in the online shop. Eventually I settled for the summer t-shirt (with the tour dates), the black hoody (although I would've preferred blue) and a pair of black socks. The signed poster was a bit too expensive for my taste (50€, really? And what do you do with it, then?) and while the mug and enamel pin badge sure looked nice, I just didn't feel the need to buy them. The SFTBC, Mad World lyrics and sun logo t-shirts I also left there, although they all look nice. I do feel like I didn't completely give in to my fan urges...
This long episode was probably a mistake, as by then a group of people had already formed at the front of the place and it wasn't possible to get really near the stage anymore. Le sigh. At the same time there was still a lot of wiggle room. People were sitting on the ground or on the grass. The weather was nice. I wished I'd had put on shorts. What could possibly go wrong?
The answer was already visible, but I just didn't want to believe it. The blue sky that had shone on the ground ever since I stepped out of the city train was slowly, but obviously vanishing. Grey clouds were coming up on the horizon. By the time the support act was supposed to come on, the sky was covered. I still hoped it would pass by. Alas...
Second act: Until I Drown
Lawrence Taylor came on at seven with an acoustic guitar and a guitarist named Jon Kelly (?) handling an electric (a Strat). Taylor was nice to the audience and introduced himself with the words "Who's here to see Tears for Fears?" (audience reaction) then saying "Me too". While the two guitarslingers were a perfectly acceptable support act, I'm not entirely sold. Maybe I'm just not a big fan of the whole singer-songwriter genre as a whole (and Lawrence ain't no James Taylor), although I'd certainly rather listen to Lawrence Taylor than to Ed Sheeran! I do think Alison Moyet or ABC are better fits for TFF. It's also funny how I thought that his switching to falsetto got old after about three songs, when it's something that Roland does a lot, too...
I guess this is also a moment to talk about the audience. This was clearly a different audience than at the rock concerts I normally go to. Despite the average age being lower than, say, at the Mark Knopfler concert a week before, I felt a bit disconnected from the people. There was some socializing and some nice folks but I didn't have many chats with fans. Possibly because it was hard to identify who was an actual fan. I only spotted one guy with a t-shirt from the Big Chair tour. This is not surprising, of course, because TFF have neglected Germany for so long. Instead, I saw some other 80s acts' shirts, such as Depeche Mode, OMD or Simple Minds. I could've put my freshly bought shirt on, but it was still warm and I didn't want to change my top for something that would've been even warmer. If only I'd known...
I also only then realized I could've made some really effective advertising for this very site with a simple piece of paper, going around and telling people about the forum, but you only get the really good ideas when it's already too late, eh?
Anyway, what really stuck out negatively to me was the huge amount of smokers. Maybe I'm hypersenstive to these things, but there were these thick clouds of smoke coming up every now and then - you don't need a fog machine if you've got fans like that! And what came down from the sky was not rain (yet) but ashes. Who would've though there'd be more smoking at a TFF concert compared to the ZZ Top gig??? Might also be worth mentioning that you're not only ruining your own health (and also possibly that of non-smokers like me) but also risking burning somebody else's expensive clothes. At one point I was stuck between two women who were both smoking a cigarette on either side of me. Help...
Lawrence had played about one or two songs when the rain set in. First lightly, then ever so strongly. I couldn't have been more glad about the ponchos, although it still wasn't the most enjoyable thing in the world standing in the pladdering rain and trying to avoid getting my glasses wet :-|
Some people had jackets or bought rather flimsy plastic ponchos on the site (which easily tore up), others simply got wet... and a few had opened up umbrellas! How they managed to get those through I have no idea, but thankfully I didn't see them anymore when TFF played.
It all didn't keep us from treating the support act very friendly and even clapping along spontaneously with the penultimate song, and then again (upon prompt) with Lawrence's current single "Bang Bang".
So now we had to stand in the rain waiting for the main act. Ack!
Third act: Closest Thing to Heaven
It was still pouring heavily when the ground shook. What could have been an earthquake were actually the low frequencies of Lorde's cover of EWTRTW. I quickly put my earplugs back in. The band walked onstage and launched into the original version of EWTRTW. I don't want to speak for the people further back but where I stood (right under a speaker) the sound wasn't good at all. Too loud, and the mix I got was... a lotta bass, a lotta drums, and a helluva lotta bass drum! Everything else was less loud, vocals still discernible, guitars so-so, keyboards at times completely vanished. For a band known as synth-pop, not good. Piano and synthpads were still audible at times, but I really couldn't hear the organ. Dang.
Only when TFF entered the backdrop was revealed - they were sort of... light lines? Hard to explain but they were synchronized with the pole things on the stage. Rather stylish.
Even without the lighting, the place would have lit up like a bucket full of oil. People were ecstatic to say the least, and obviously I was able to get caught up in it. "Secret World" followed and kept the momentum up. As the only (!) song in the set to be any newer than 1993, this is the song to divide the true fan from the casual radio listener, and at this point I noticed that a lot of people were still singing along. I guess I underestimated the fan base! Charlton played the 2nd solo in EWTRTW and the solo in Secret World. The trilogy was completed by "Sowing the Seeds of Love" and the audience boiled over. Gotta admire any band that can start a set with such a 3-song-bundle! Roland did forget to sing a vocal in the instrumental part (because he was concentrating on the music?) and left out all the screaming at the tail end ("WHATTABOUTTHEWORKERS" etc.), probably to save his voice.
Roland then spoke to the audience. A few words German, then English. He said "We're Tears for Fears"... in his typical deadpan style. He also explained that even in England, most people don't understand what he's saying, so he hoped we would get a bit of what he was saying. And of course he had to comment on the rain. What did they bring with them? "English. f*cking. Weather." The dark grey cloud that always follows them around! Haha. This was pretty much the only thing he said during the evening, but it showed a glimpse of his self-deprecating personality, which was nice. And of course he sometimes added weird voices to tracks, and did his usual stage movements with the guitar, some of which go back to the early 80s, while others are more like "rock star poses". I did feel his stage presence wasn't quite as strong as a few years back. Of course he's aged, and maybe it was just that I was stuck on Curt's side, but Curt seemed to move around more. Still... a band with two front men!
"Pale Shelter" followed, it sounded very fresh, Roland did the long notes (I think WITHOUT taking a breath - unlike all live versions I have on CD!) while Curt sang the main part and did great bass stuff.
"Break It Down Again" is the only song from the "Orzabal solo" years, and I've never been a big fan of the song (too many lyrics, slightly banal verse melody), but it went across extremely well with the people and you would think it was a bigger hit than it was. Curt didn't seem to mind playing bass on a song that originally didn't involve him. Still, songs from "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" (my second favourite TFF album) are sorely missed. Also notable: The line "No more walls of Berlin" (first sung on the acoustic version, I assume). A reference to the fact that they're in Germany, a country once divided? Or maybe also a subtle nod towards Donald Trump and the desire to build new walls? And of course the line "And all the love and all the love in the world won't stop the rain from falling" fit so perfectly, you couldn't make this up ;-)
I noticed some vocal problem with Roland, and I'm not quite sure what it is although I'd been hearing it on live videos - and he must be aware of it too, as he used a delay on "Woman in Chains" (typical sign of singers having struggles). But I think I can explain it better now: It seems that our dear RO has *three* voices - falsetto (which sounded very good, although I suppose he's lost one or two steps on the top end), "strong" and "weak" voice. When he was singing with some amount of power there was no issue except perhaps being a bit out of breath on some demanding parts. But the softer, more 'spoken' parts were not always quite right. There were times - I think it was on "Break It Down Again" - where he was definitely not hitting the right notes. It seemed to get better as the evening got underway though until I noticed barely anything, so maybe it's once again just not being warmed up enough? I dunno. He used to have one of the best voices in rock and pop and always seemed to me like somebody who knew all about singing (he did have some opera lessons, after all, and at times you could hear that), so that would be a bit disappointing. If it's just a monitoring problem... how about big headphones? I know it looks stupid, but should work wonders.
Curt's voice is pretty much where it was already in 2004. It's good that it hasn't declined since then but it was already a bit thin back then. I mean, he sang everything pretty much as it's meant to (including demanding stuff like "Pale Shelter"), but you notice that unlike the 80s, where it just seemed to come out naturally, he really has to pour every ounce of energy into every note. Maybe that's why he's so thin! ;-)
Back to the concert. "Advice for the Young at Heart" followed. I was a bit dismayed to hear them skip over the guitar solo, Why??? Do they feel that it just pads out the song, or what? I think leaving it out ruins the buildup... But at least the rain stopped! Thank whoever! And the ending was quite magnificent.
The only deviation from the setlist I'd sorta prepared myself for was that "Woman in Chains" and "Creep" swapped positions. While this tightened up the first half, I also think it bogged down the second half... Carina had her first big moment singing half of the song and hitting pretty much all the right notes, although I can't say I could get lost as much in her singing as I could in Oleta's.
After "Woman in Chains", Curt announced a couple of songs from "The Hurting". I already suspected this might be the weak part of the show for me, since I'm just not that hot on the album (and if I had to choose, I'd rather go for the title track, "Watch Me Bleed" or "Start of the Breakdown" than the ones they've chosen). I'm not talking about the hits, mind; "Change" (as funky as ever) and "Mad World" (a remarkable reproduction of the original) were absolutely fine. "Memories Fade" was never one of my favourite tracks and I can't say I enjoyed this rendition much. I didn't like the Kanye intro, I didn't like the drum solo, and the whole thing sounded much too edgy. Giving Curt a part of the chorus at least made it different but it sort of magnified the fact that Roland wouldn't be able to sing the song like in the 80s anymore. I'm not blaming him; it's difficult and the only version that I really like is the one from 1985. I just wonder why they continue to play it. But it was well received - so what do I know.
"Suffer the Children" was radically re-arranged; half of the band left the stage, it was mostly sung by Carina, while Doug Petty played piano and Roland mostly... listened (he did play some chords on the guitar and sang the final chorus - which, incidentally, was originally sung by Curt). I suppose the song came into the set as a tribute to Caroline, who originally sang the la-la-la part, and the stripped-down feel wasn't bad, but I still felt the song was a bit of a mood killer, and of course I missed that soaring guitar solo. Thing is, you can strip a song of its artificial sheen without going full-on ballad/unplugged mode. Nice attempt, but I'll still prefer the original.
This was followed by "Creep" and the question remains... why? Tears for Fears have a large enough catalog to not have to resort to other bands' songs. And while I don't mind hearing the song on the radio, it felt out of place. Neither the lyrics nor the music are anywhere near TFF's standard. Sorry guys! (And sorry, Radiohead!)
Roland's last spoken bit came before Badman's Song, where he said "Give me some..." and the knowing in the audience (including myself) cried "Shaker!!" and he replied "Shaker?" before Carina started shaking her shaker ;-) After the doldrum of the previous three songs, I was of course happy to hear one of my absolute favourites, and the people seemed to get into the spirit. It won't ever rival the insane live versions from the 1990 tour but it was nice enough. I would've liked more songs in this vein. Also: Roland on wah-wah and Charlton on slide! Notable: "There'll be certain men waiting to scratch my face" was not sung by Curt but by Roland.
Being the only song with relatively long instrumental parts, it allowed both Roland and Curt to move around the stage a bit, and they did it, moving "parallel" like ZZ Top! If there was any animosity between the two, I didn't notice it.
After the high of "Badman's Song", they even took it higher with "Head over Heels". When that intro hits you, it's just indescribable. I had a feeling of what it would be like ever since I heard the live version from 2005, with that overwhelming guitar. It was even more overwhelming 'in the flesh'. Unreal. Topping off that home run was the end part of "Broken" which stood there like a huge, fat full stop.
The band left the stage and something strange happened. Instead of the usual encore shouts, people started shouting... the chorus of "Shout"! I didn't want to join in at first because I hoped the band might play another encore before "Shout" (yeah, wishful thinking...) but eventually I did. We were singing it very loudly, very fast... and in the wrong key (so much for my perfect pitch)! The band, one by one, came back, Curt was looking bewildered to say the least and commented something like "So we don't have to play it, or what?" and then explained that we were sharp - a whole step! Incidentally, that's exactly how the original version was (as can be heard on the "Big Chair" box set), before they transposed it down the recording we all know and love.
They started it similar to the arrangement from Secret World (with the guitar duet) but left room for the audience singing the chorus twice before Roland sang the first verse. And I don't quite know what was going on but I *think* he actually pulled somebody out of the audience to sing part of the song. Either that or it was the guitarist of the support act, I honestly couldn't tell a guitar pick from a piece of cake at that point. Sadly it didn't go much longer than that live recording... I'd wished they'd repeat the chorus a few times á la the 1985 live arrangement (or the studio version!)... or end with a crazy jam like the 1990 version, but alas. This was also the song with the most effective lighting, as the middle part was heavily accentuated by intense light effects, as you might expect. Oh why did they never release a proper live DVD to preserve all that for posteriority...
At the end Curt threw Jamie's drumsticks into the audience. I wonder whether the people who caught them also bought a signed drum skin??
Epilogue: Famous Last Words
I looked at my watch and the first thing I noticed is that it was very foggy! Not sure I'd experienced that before. It was exactly half past ten so between the intro tape and the band disappearing, there was exactly one and a half hours. Not a vast amount of time, but more than ZZ Top play, and I think it's probably a satisfactory amount of stage time. Of course audiences are greedy, they always want more!
Getting back home was a bit confusing because several of us didn't realize the train went in both directions on the same track. We had actually gone through the underpass for nothing and had to go back! Thankfully the train was still a few minutes off, but still. And in Bruchsal the train stood there so long that after retrieving our stuff from the locker, we eventually simply went back in because although it was a "longer" journey (in pure length), we would eventually end up on the exact same train if we'd stayed in Bruchsal for half an hour. Things can sometimes be strange and the hordes of loud singing crowds (that definitely did NOT come from the TFF gig!) in the train were more than annoying, blah...
In the end, it's a bit of a bittersweet feeling. Am I satisfied? In a way, yes, because it had been a dream of mine to see the guys live since... I dunno, probably 2009. And from what I've seen in online clips, they were pretty much in top form from around 2009 to 2015. It's a big shame they never recorded an official, complete and exhaustive audio/video document in this period. This was not the best concert I've ever been to. Hard to say whether that would have been possible without the big expectations and without the feeling of frustration at being a TFF fan but I have a feeling that, if they had come earlier, it might have been. To elaborate:
I think it's a mistake to wait around so long to record (and now release) new material. If perfectionism leads to good records, that's one thing, but if it leads to no records at all... that's another. I would've even bought an album of cover versions (which is still possible: Put the 2014 EP on CD and add live recordings of "Creep", "Billie Jean" and other songs they played in the 90s... maybe add the new remixes of "Head over Heels" too, and a more transparent mix of "I Love You But I'm Lost"), just to maintain interest and (ahem) coverage. And as I said before, a comprehensive live release (or even several, as the band has always been skimpy with live releases and the tours have certainly been different enough to justify it) would really come in handy, I'd actually have preferred that (with the new songs appended to it, á la Secret World) to "Rule the World"!
I believe TFF waited too long to return to this area of the world, too. I'd love to be proven wrong but I doubt they can build a real reputation here again, it's just been too long a wait without any live presence. On the other hand... anybody who was only there because they knew two or three songs, or because it took place in the neighborhood would have walked away stunned simply because TFF have such an amazing array of songs. And I think that certainly came across well. "It's the songs, not the singer(s)"!
But what the heck. The audience enjoyed it, the press is good, and you know what? I never saw Pink Floyd. I didn't manage to see Rush. But I have seen Tears for Fears. Now I can die happy...
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Post by Jules on Aug 2, 2019 21:14:47 GMT
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