The Big Chair Tour

In high school, I had friends in many camps. I had the academic friends, who received perfect grades and were pretty straight-laced, though they still liked to party and have fun.

I had friends who did okay in school or were barely scraping by, who liked to party more than hit the books.

And I had friends who were somewhere in between.

But all of my friends, no matter which camp they came from, had one thing in common: music.

No matter which group of friends I hung out with, we all pretty much listened to the same music. And if these groups varied in any musical taste, I tried to bring it all together.

There was only one friend who didn't like one particular band, who made fun of their music, and that band was Tears for Fears.

I can still hear him mocking one of their top hits:

Trout, trout, let your line out,
These are the fish I can do without...

It was funny, but I didn't like how he mocked me for my appreciation of the band.

When The Hurting was released in 1983, it was innovative and complex, with great percussion and rhythm. It was also very somber and deep, and many songs made it to my Depression Hits mixed audio cassette, full of angst and sadness. (I made several volumes, along with CarToons.)

When Songs From the Big Chair came out, Tears for Fears was one of my favourite bands, right up there with Peter Gabriel, Talk Talk, Simple Minds, and Ultravox.

My ticket stub.

So naturally, when Tears for Fears came to Ottawa for their Big Chair Tour on June 3, 1985, I had to see them. It was a great show, with Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith giving lots of energy in a solid performance. A couple of months ago, DW came across my ticket for that show and it brought back lots of memories (I think Cory Hart may have opened for them... or did he open for Culture Club? I saw so many concerts in the 80s). Though my friends and I were several rows back (apparently, section 21, row K, seat 15, for me), at the Ottawa Civic Centre, my friends and I had a great view of the whole stage.

And at least we weren't in the overheated crush of general admission. (More on that, next week.)

When the duo split up, in 1991, I sort of lost a bit of interest in the band. Orzabel continued to write and perform under Tears for Fears, but the energy of the duo seemed to fizzle, for me.

It wasn't until, in 2003, I heard a song from Orzabel's 1993 album, Elemental, that I renewed my love of the music. Orzabel and Smith reunited in 2000 and they have even toured, as a united Tears for Fears, as recently as 2019. If they make it back to Ottawa, I'll be sure to grab some tickets.

I'll leave this post with the song that renewed my love of the band: "Goodnight Song."

Happy Thursday!