On August 1st, I saw legendary British duo Tears For Fears in concert at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California (where I saw the Eagles in February), along with their opening act, alternative rock band Cold War Kids. It was a fantastic double bill, as I love them both. It was my second time seeing Tears for Fears (I first saw them on their “Seeds of Love Tour” in 1990), but my first time seeing Cold War Kids. Officially titled the “Tipping Point Tour Part II”, it was the second round of touring by Tears For Fears in support of their 2022 album The Tipping Point, their first full-length record in 17 years. The tour began June 23rd in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and wrapped up on August 2nd at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show I attended was the second to last of the tour.

Opened in 2022, Acrisure Arena is a multi-purpose facility that’s the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds hockey team, but also used for large concert events, with seating for 11,000. The arena appeared to be close to full for this concert. Though we had decent seats, we were on the opposite end of the arena from the stage, so the performers were too far away for us to clearly see their faces. And unlike the Eagles concert, there was no jumbotron, so we never got any close-ups of the bands. The sound system, however, was superb.

Cold War Kids made their entrance around 7:40 pm, opening their set with the exuberant “Love is Mystical”, from their 2017 album LA Divine. Based in Long Beach/Los Angeles, the band consists of Nathan Willett (lead vocals, piano, guitar, percussion), Matt Maust (bass), Joe Plummer (drums, percussion), Matthew Schwartz (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, percussion), and David Quon (guitar, backing vocals), who together play a hard-driving and melodic style of rock, infused with elements of alternative, indie, blues and pop. Though they formed in 2004, I didn’t learn about them until ten years later when I heard their song “First”, which was a huge #1 hit on Alternative radio and charts. I’ve been a fan of theirs ever since, and both “First” and their 2017 single “So Tied Up”, featuring singer-songwriter Bishop Briggs, have topped my own Weekly Top 30. Since 2006, they’ve released nine studio albums, three live albums and numerous singles.

They played a pretty economical set, performing 14 of their songs in quick succession with relatively little banter. Their instrumentation and musicianship were tight, and Nathan Willett’s powerful vocals commanding and clear. Later in their set, Willett said a few words, thanking Tears for Fears for inviting them on their tour, as well as the audience for coming out to see them, and also introduced his fellow band members. Their overall performance sounded great. They closed their set with a rousing performance of their big hit “First”.

Cold War Kids setlist:

1. Love is Mystical
2. Complainer
3. What You Say
4. Can We Hang On?
5. Miracle Mile
6. Audience of One
7. Hang Me Up to Dry
8. Restless
9. Hospital Beds
10. You Already Know
11. So Tied Up
12. Double Life
13. All This Could Be Yours
14. First

I trust Tears for Fears needs no introduction, but to summarize, they were formed in Bath, England in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Over a six-year period, they released three very successful albums: The Hurting (1983), Songs from the Big Chair (1985) and The Seeds of Love (1989). After completing their “Seeds of Love Tour” in 1990, Smith and Orzabal had an acrimonious split. Orzabal continued to record under the Tears for Fears name as a solo project, releasing the albums Elemental (1993) and Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995). Thankfully, the two reconciled in 2000 and released an album of new material, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, in 2004. The duo have toured on a semi-regular basis since then, and released The Tipping Point in 2022, which became their most successful album since The Seeds of Love.

Tears for Fears appeared on stage around 9 pm, beginning their set with the stirring “No Small Thing”, the first of six songs they played from The Tipping Point. They followed with the title track from the same album, then launched into one of their most-beloved songs, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, to thunderous applause. (It’s my favorite of their many great songs, as well as one of my favorite songs of all time.) I thought their set was a bit unimaginative, though in all fairness, the band has never been known for glitzy production values or over the top theatrics, so it was all good.

They played a total of 18 songs, including their biggest hits drawn from eight of their nine albums, focusing most on The Tipping Point, from which they played six tracks, as I mentioned earlier. They played three each from The Hurting, Songs from the Big Chair and The Seeds of Love. While Orzabal and Smith’s vocal aren’t as perfect as they were back in the 80s, they still sounded quite good for two guys in their early 60s. Orzabal and Smith spoke to the audience a fair amount in between songs, telling brief stories about their early days and band experiences, as well as providing insight or background behind some songs. Here’s their magnificent song “Head Over Heels”.

They left the stage following “Head Over Heels/Broken”, then returned a few minutes later, whereupon Smith introduced his fellow touring bandmates. They then surprised us with a fantastic cover of the Radiohead classic “Creep”, followed by a spirited performance of their bombastic anthem “Shout” to end their show, leaving us all in a state of unabashed euphoria. Other than for the two rather intoxicated couples to my left who arrived late, got up and down frequently, then left early, it was a fabulous concert experience.

Tears for Fears setlist:

1. No Small Thing
2. The Tipping Point
3. Everybody Wants to Rule the World
4. Secret World
5. Sowing the Seeds of Love
6. Long, Long, Long Time
7. Break the Man
8. My Demons
9. Rivers of Mercy
10. Mad World
11. Suffer the Children
12. Woman in Chains
13. Badman’s Song
14. Pale Shelter
15. Break It Down Again
16. Head Over Heels/Broken

Encore:

17. Creep (Radiohead cover)
18. Shout