The Holy Trinity of 1980s darkwave—The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode—is really a parallelogram, because Tears For Fears belongs right there atop the pantheon of musicians who address the perils of having a sensitive, colorful soul yearning for equality in a drab, discriminatory and desensitized world.

From pure New Wave to pop, Bath, England-born founders Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith let it all out and gave the world some of the world’s most memorable songs ever recorded, from the ubiquitous “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, “Shout” and “Head Over Heels”, to their dance-melancholic hits “Mad World” (made famous again by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules’ cover for the 2001 movie Donny Darko), synth-syncopated “Change”, or singles like “Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love)”, “Break It Down Again”, “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” and “Woman In Chains”.

The band broke up in 1991 after three breakout albums, but reunited in 2004 with Everybody Loves A Happy Ending, which seemed like their swan song. However, after a nearly 17-year hiatus, last night, the Concord Pavilion was home to Tears For Fears’ highly-anticipated return. Their critically-acclaimed new album, The Tipping Point, released this February, was front and center, the band playing most of the record—interspersed with their hits—from beginning to end.

The album is meant to be a coherent narrative that deals with issues of political division, depression, self-inquiry, and as Orzabal called it, “goddam fucking politics” with the self-titled track using the imagery of Orzabal’s first wife Caroline Johnston’s slow decline in 2017 due to dementia and cirrhosis as a metaphorical vehicle to confront “the tipping point” between life and death, unity and division, destruction and creation: the conflict between a want of finality and a need for redemption.

Despite over four decades of music, the entire TFF touring band—including a standout performance by backing vocalist Carina Round who sang a haltingly sweet solo version of “Suffer The Children”—were at their peak, luxuriating in the warm Northern California air. Their tour continues, the fans continue to flock, yet Tears For Fears is something truly timeless. They have something fresh to say about where we have arrived and what we can do about it, so come on, they’re talking to you.

Tears For Fears Review