The strains of classical music halt abruptly, and the crowd lets out a whoop as Oleta Adams plops down at the grand piano and launches into "I Believe," a slow, deliberate Tears for Fears classic.
Then, with equal abruptness, the pace doubles as Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith vault onto stage to lead the band through a scintillating rendition of "Head Over Heels."The Symphony Hall crowd, which sat politely through The Call's warmup set, is on its feet, and young girls are screeching in deafening emulation of Beatlemania.
"It's good to be back in Utah," Orzabal says, eliciting another round of hysteria.
It was 1985 when Smith and Orzabal last found themselves in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains. At that time, they were on their way up with two hit singles - "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" - and a gold record, "Songs From the Big Chair." After five years, Tears is back on the road, making its way somewhat inauspiciously across the country behind the moderate success of its new album, "Seeds of Love."
The musical topography has changed a lot since 1985, and so has Tears for Fears. But where the Tears of five years ago seemed to be within and perhaps even a principal voice in the musical dialogue, the reconstituted Tears is starting a new conversation, and it has yet to be seen whether others will enter into the discussion.
In face, some of their newer material is such a radical break with their old music that Tears almost sounds like two different musical entities.
On "The Hurting," the group's first album, and "Songs From the Big Chair," Tears set a new standard for popular music by carefully balancing the sounds of new electronic instruments with the more traditional guitar, drums and horns. Where many of their contemporaries strayed too deeply into the vast possibilities of synthesized sound, Tears seemed able to dabble on the frontiers of electronics without becoming excessive.
The new Tears is a more soulful incarnation that makes extensive use of bluesy rhythms and the stunning power of Adams' voice. And while there's nothing wrong with that approach, it is such a dramatic break from the old that the overall impression is a sort of musical schizophrenia.
Not that there aren't some good songs on "Seeds." "Woman in Chains" (which Orzabal cryptically dedicated to the "women of Salt Lake") is likable, as is "Bad Man's Song," a jazzy, brassy tune that takes full advantage of Adams' talents as both a singer and a keyboardist.
The rest, however, are less satisfying. "Advice for the Young at Heart" and "Year of the Knife" are almost insufferable, sugary pop tunes that seem almost a parody of the slim, sleek, well-crafted Tears tunes of old.
In fairness, it should be noted that this may well be a minority opinion; the audience was enthralled with every word, every note. Still, it seemed to me that the older songs, especially "Shout," "Head Over Heels" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" brought the most frenzied response.
For my money, I'll take the Tears of 1985 over the 1990 version for both originality and clearness of musical vision. I can only recommend that Smith and Orzabal revisit their roots and try to remember where they were headed before the long hiatus that seems to have derailed - temporarily, I hope - one of the most promising bands of the past decade.