NewsTears For Fears confirm UK stage return in support of new album
Tears For Fears are to perform live in the UK for the first time in over 11 years when they headline 2016’s Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle in Dorset.
The band will bring the four-day festival to a close on the 31 July 2016, aka ‘cosmic Sunday’ performing a selection of “new and old songs”.
DJ and Bestival co-founder Rob Da Bank effused, “Songs from the Big Chair was, and still is, one of my most treasured albums, and one which appears totally timeless. We took our kids on holiday last year and only had two CDs in the car, one of them was this and they cannot get enough of it, too… so, I know after five years of trying, Tears for Fears are going to be something very special at Camp Bestival for all ages.”
While Tears For Fears haven’t performed live in the UK since their May 2005 appearance in London’s Hammersmith Odeon – in support of their last studio album Everybody Loves a Happy Ending – the Bestival date will be their first UK festival appearance in 26 years!
Tears For Fear’s last UK festival appearance in Knebworth, 1990.
“We are so looking forward to playing our first UK festival since our last one in 1990 at Knebworth,” said the band. “I know we’re not the most prolific artists but we believe in quality over quantity. We’re looking forward to performing new & old songs as we will have finished our new album before we perform. The fact that it’s in the West Country where we began our journey makes it all the more gratifying. We look forward to seeing you at Camp Bestival”.
This confirmed festival appearance gives Roland and Curt a self-imposed deadline to complete the new album they’ve been working on for the last few years. Tweets from Curt Smith this week confirm that the duo are in London in their ‘secret lair’ working on the album. The statement above confirms it will be “finished” by the summer, so if common sense prevails, the as-yet-untitled-album will be released between May and July next year.
More UK dates in support of the album are likely. The last release from Tears For Fears was in late 2014 when they put out an acclaimed six-disc super deluxe edition box set of Songs From The Big Chair. SDE Editor Paul Sinclair interviewed the band for the sleeve notes and co-compiled the set.
For information and tickets for Camp Bestival 2016 click here.
Songs From The Big Chair box set
- • UK Order: Songs From The Big Chair
- • USA Order: Songs From the Big Chair
- • CANADA Order: Songs From the Big Chair
- • GERMANY Order: Songs From the Big Chair
- • ITALY Pre-order: Songs From The Big Chair
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Also Paul, thanks for posting the insane Badman’s Song video. I’ve always felt that this performance was the high-water mark of TFF live. Just unbelievable all the way through.
New album i predict in September (if we’re lucky). Almost as bad as Kraftwerk. Quality over quatity? A poor way of saying we only release an album every 13 years. I prefer to call it lazy. No UK gig in over a decade despite us fans waiting and waiting with our hard-earned whilst watching them announce dates eveywhere else. Pathetic
Sorry Neil, but they aren’t lazy. Look at the backstory of “Seeds”. If they were lazy, they’d recorded the first ten songs they’d come up with (then or now), regardless of quality. But that’s not the way they work.
I have seen Tears For Fears in concert twice in the past five years. They sounded as fresh as they did when I saw them on “The Seeds Of Love” tour back in the day. The big difference now is that Roland and Curt seem to genuinely like each other. With their semi-popular cover of Arcade Fire’s “Ready To Start” off the subsequent vinyl release of the EP “Ready Boy & Girls?”, and SUPER DELUXE EDITIONS (smile, Paul) of their first two albums, a new album seems inevitable. I, too, bought and thoroughly enjoyed “Everybody Loves A Happy Ending” in 2004. The question that remains is will this be a new album of original material or cover songs? My hope is for the former and not the latter (not so impressed with the cover songs). In fact, the one cringeworthy moment of their concert this past September in New Jersey was the cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”. Also, I still miss Ian Stanley–that relationship ended during the early “Seeds Of Love” sessions. One consistent thing about Tears For Fears, though, is to never count them out.
Pretty sure it’s new material. That’s why it has taken so long, because I think they scrapped some earlier efforts they weren’t happy with. Roland’s been covering Creep since the mid-nineties, of course.
Happy Ending is without a doubt, my favorite TFF album. I’ve been waiting for the followup since. When it comes to TFF, I’ll take “quality” over “quantity” any day. (They scrapped years of work for the followup to Songs From the Big Chair, only to start fresh and deliver the incredible Seeds of Love.)
[…] fantastic news that Tears For Fears are to return to the UK stage next year. It really has been far too long. For whatever reason, in the last decade the band have […]
Will Oleta be there?
Probably not…although anything an happen.
Count me for the chorus of Seeds Of Love Deluxe. I love their first three albums of course, but I’d put Happy Ending right there with them. Some great, timeless songs – Secret World, Who Killed Tangerine, the title track, etc.
But *especially* the track from right after the album – Floating Down The River. Sounds like a McCartney/Lennon collaboration if they wrote songs together in the 80s.
Looking forward to their new album – their 2014 cover of My Girls was sheer brilliance. Go TFF!
I’ve checked on sde Every day like a true weirdo since Jan for seeds of love new box 5.1 info. This is good news though.new album and tour. Fab! Will hold out for London dates though. I guess if they are working on finishing a new album we won’t see sol for the foreseeable future?
A seeds SDE could include a 5.1,a set of demos plus a restored video from the Santa Barbara 1989 show hopefully supplemented with a full live audio recording of one of the 1989 shows. I kinda liked that tour band.
Truly adored “Everybody Loves a Happy Ending” and still holding hope for a “Seeds of Love” SDE. “The Hurting” and “Songs from the Big Chair” SDE’s were fantastic. Roland is a great songwriter, so new music will be very welcome. His solo album and the non-Smith T4F albums do not get the credit they deserve.
Right there with you on the Seeds Of Love SDE. I don’t know if there is enough extra material for a full box but enough for a three disc set including a 5.1 mix for sure.
Curious to see if “seeds deluxe” will ever find its way into the shops…….
I’m still keeping my eyes peeled for a possible “Seeds Of Love” super deluxe edition as well. It’s my favourite TFF album. And new TFF will be nothing to sneeze at either! :)
I think more bands ought to ‘disband/break-up’ and then make a return to the stage and the studio and floor everyone (Depeche Mode and others, are you listening? ;-)
What are you on about depeche mode???? Why would them disbanding make there music more popular or better than.it already is?
Very sobering footage from Knebworth
Available in great quality and 5.1 on the Knebworth blu-ray > http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/live-at-knebworth-concert-from-1990-to-be-issued-on-5-1-blu-ray/
that is good news,something I thought wouldn’t happen again,a UK tour by Tears For Fears
Saw them on the ELAHE tour and they were fantastic. Great news. Looking forward to the album and hopefully more UK dates.
This is great news. I really hope some other UK dates happen.
Good news on a grey day.
“Everybody Loves a Happy Ending” was sheer brilliance. Back then, everybody was wondering if this meant they were “ending” their recording career, and I hoped it wouldn’t. Very excited about the new album!
Just a pity it was brickwalled to hell and is bearly unlistenable which is a shame because there are a few good tracks on it. Maybe they should remaster that and get rid of the heavy compression on it.
Yes!!! The four tracks on the Gold compilation sounded decent (not great, but definitely more natural). I’d be happy with having all the songs from that album in that quality. Just a shame about the mastering and I hope Roland & Curt don’t fall into that trap again.
Totally agree, HAPPY ENDING was brilliant indeed. Was worried the followup was taking so long, that it might never materialize. Very happy news!!