The first time we shed Tears

MANILA, Philippines – Editor’s note: Blogger and music, theater and film enthusiast Fred Hawson posted this entry on his Multiply blog on May 3, 2010 at 8:18pm. It was the evening that followed the first Tears for Fears concert in Manila.

Because of that concert’s astounding success, the iconic 80s band is back in Manila for concerts on August 10 and 11 at the Smart Araneta Center. We are re-publishing Fred’s blog entry today in anticipation of and to celebrate in advance tonight’s “concert party” at the Big Dome.

And, frankly, after what all of us went through this week, we all deserve to sing and dance the night away. – Kai Magsanoc, Rappler.com

“Last year (2009), it was reported that the band Tears for Fears was set to perform in Manila on February 28, 2010. As a big fan, I eagerly waited.

The date was later moved to May 2, which was last night. Seats for the concert were sold out days before. 

On the night of the concert, my cousin Jerry and I arrived in Cubao at around 6pm. There were already crowds at the entrances of the Araneta Coliseum.  

After a quick dinner, we immediately went back to enter the venue. The ‘first come, first served’ areas were already practically full!  

The central General Admission area (which was not utilized in the Kelly Clarkson concert the previous night) was also filled with people. The last time I saw the Araneta Center this full was at Lady Gaga’s first Manila concert.  

Judging by the crowd and the energy, I knew that the Tears for Fears concert had fulfilled its promise of being the ‘biggest concert event’ of the year.

Before 8pm, the first front act, Sandwich, took the stage. They did 4 songs. 

It was one of those rare moments where the front act already made fans mill in front of the stage (especially when they announced that they will have a guest ‘classmate’ for their last number, which turned out to be the great Ely Buendia). Ely sang ‘Alapaap’ of the Eraserheads fame. Fantastic!  

Too bad my camera was not ready that time. After ‘Alapaap,’ Mr. Buendia then took on his other persona as lead singer of the band Pupil, the second front act. They sang ‘Disconnection Notice’ and 3 unfamiliar songs. But people were definitely riveted by the young Filipino rock icon.

After the front acts, during the lull before the concert proper, every possible space in the Colisuem was filled up. 

The Gen Ad and the Upper Box areas were filled up to the edges beside the stage. Standing room already!  

The moment the stage light dimmed and strains of ‘Mad World’ started, there was pandemonium!  

There they were, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal in the flesh, onstage! 

To start things up, they immediately sang ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World.’ Every person was out of his or her seat, singing along and dancing!

This wild phenomenon would happen every time Smith and Orzabal sang their 80s hits, like ‘Sowing the Seeds of Love,’ ‘Mad World,’ ‘Pale Shelter’ and 90s hit ‘Break It Down Again.’ 

I could not hear Curt and Roland sing anymore; the Filipino audience’s hearty singing drowned them out, but I didn’t mind.  

An unexpected part of the concert was when Orzabal sang a cover version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean.’

Admittedly, there was a rather long stretch in the middle of the show when they sang about 5 or 6 unfamiliar songs. It was a bit boring. The audience’s energy level remained high, though; the applause was more than polite even for these less-familiar numbers.

After ‘Head Over Heels’ the band left the stage, but the audience refused to go. 

They clapped and shouted for ‘more, more, more!’ After a few minutes of this non-stop clamor, Tears for Fears re-entered the stage. There were thunderous applause and hoots.  

We hoped that they would sing ‘Woman in Chains’ but there was not a single female back-up singer onstage. Then Orzabal announced that they were going to sing the song, and that the female part (rendered in the song by Oleta Adams) was to be sung by a male back-up singer who looked like Phil Collins!  

After ‘Woman in Chains,’ the show finally closed with their other 80s Number 1, ‘Shout.’

People sang along like there was no tomorrow.  

And then that was it, the loudest and best-selling concert of the year was over. After the background music started playing, people were still stunned by what just happened. They did not file out at once, perhaps hoping that the band would still come out to play ‘Change’ or ‘Mothers Talk,’ but that was not to be.  

It was truly over.

While heading out, Jerry and I looked at the merchandise in the lobby. They were selling autographed posters of Curt and Roland. They were priced at a hefty Php1,800 apiece and people were actually buying them!  

Even the tour t-shirts were at Php1,800 each (and I thought the P1,000 Kelly Clarkson t-shirts the other night was already exorbitant. Haha!)  

The Tears for Fears concert really is one to remember. Talk of a return engagement in response to the massive clamor are already out there.” – Rappler.com

Want to sing Head Over Heels? Watch this video taken at the Manila 2010 concert.