Promoter extends Tears for Fears’ Philippine concert

Tears for Fears: Roland Orzabal (left) and Curt Smith

MANILA, Philippines—Ovation Productions has announced that it will add one more date to the coming Tears for Fears concert in the Philippines due to strong ticket sales. The British pop-rock group will perform on August 10 and 11 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and August 12 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

The Big Dome dates will have Fra Lippo Lippo vocalist Per Sorensen as special guest.

The reunited band’s first performance at the Big Dome on May 2, 2010 was widely successful, attracting a sellout crowd of fans who were teenagers during its peak years in the 1980s.

Its key members, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, met while still in their teens in Bath, Somerset, in southwest England. They became session musicians for the band Neon. They, along with three others, formed their first group, the mod-influenced Graduate, in 1979. Graduate released an album, “Acting My Age,” in 1980.

In a year’s time Orzabal and Smith split from Graduate and founded Tears for Fears, whose name was inspired by primal therapy – a form of psychotherapy developed by American psychologist Arthur Janov (“tears as a replacement for fears”).

Its 1983 debut album, “The Hurting,” went to No. 1 in the United Kingdom with three hit singles: “Mad World,” “Change” and “Pale Shelter.”

Greater success followed with the second album, 1985’s “Songs From the Big Chair,” which topped the charts in the United States on the strength of four hit singles: “Mothers Talk,” “Shout,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and “Head Over Heels.”

Its third album, “Sowing the Seeds of Love,” was still successful, buoyed by the title track and “Woman in Chains,” which featured Oleta Adams on guest vocals and Phil Collins on drums.

Smith left the group in 1991, while Orzabal continued recording and performing using the band’s name.

In 2000, business obligations that required Orzabal to sign on Smith’s behalf led the two to have dinner together, after which they agreed on the idea of recording again. The result was “Everybody Loves a Happy Ending,” released in 2003.