Tears for Fears lift the spirits of Filipinos for two nights at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Video by INQUIRER.net’s Totel V. de Jesus
Sowing the seeds for three decades, Tears for Fears bring joy to Filipinos. Photo by Totel de Jesus, INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—At work they are formal, serious, controversial even. But at the concert of British band Tears for Fears on Saturday night (August 11) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Senator Ralph Recto played the air drums from his seat, actor and soon-to-be congressional candidate Aga Muhlach danced in the aisle, and ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona appeared relaxed while his family sang along with the rest of the capacity crowd.
Many in the audience had been in their teens or 20s at the peak of Tears for Fears’ popularity in the mid-1980s.
Recto, who was then in college at De La Salle University, sat in the front row with his son Ryan. Muhlach, who had his breakout role in the teenybopper film “Bagets” in 1983 and is apparently a big fan of the band, watched the show with his wife, Charlene Gonzalez.
Corona, who looked like he was enjoying his new life as a private citizen, came with his daughter, Carla, and her husband, Dr. Constantino Castillo, who were Tears for Fears fanatics. Corona’s wife, Cristina, stood up every so often to take photos of the action onstage.
The gig was the second in a series of three shows that started on Friday.
A festive atmosphere prevailed. Loud cheers greeted the show’s opening act—Per Sorensen, former lead singer of the Norwegian group Fra Lippo Lippi. He was visibly in high spirits while singing Fra Lippo’s biggest hits which included “The Distance Between Us,” “Shouldn’t Have to Be Like That,” “Everytime I See You,” “Angel,” “Beauty and Madness” and “Some People.”
British singer-songwriter Carina Round, who had joined Tears for Fears as a backup vocalist, was given the spotlight for a few solo numbers. She announced that the band was donating proceeds from the sales of T-shirts and other concert merchandise to the Philippine Red Cross to help victims of last week’s floods.
The crowd stood up and let out a mighty roar as soon as Tears for Fears played the first few notes to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”—one of the tracks on its 1985 worldwide hit album, “Songs from the Big Chair.”
The fans went crazy when the more popular hits were played—“Mad World,” “Advice for the Young at Heart,” “Pale Shelter,” “Head over Heels,” “Woman in Chains,” and the rousing finale, “Shout.”
It was while these songs were being played that Recto gave in to his urges and acted like he was playing the imaginary drums. Muhlach, on the other hand, danced like the bagets he once was. Corona looked relaxed. Beside him, his daughter sang merrily along.