 |
| Tears For Fears at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre (Taken 6.5.22) |
It has been a long time.
I honestly cannot remember the last show I saw at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre (formerly Cricket Amphitheatre, Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, Coors Amphitheatre, et. al). Maybe Modest Mouse? Arcade Fire? I don't really remember, but Jeff bought these tickets ages ago and though I was still trying to lay low after being sick, I mustered up the energy to go. I took a COVID test before I left the house just to be safe, and even though the show was outdoors, I wore my mask as much as I could, except for when I was enjoying the bottomless popcorn ($8) or the "souvenir" soda with free refills (Also $8, I think?).
We had pretty great seats -- second row of section 204, which was left and behind the main sound board, so that was an excellent feature. I read through all of the LiveNation policies before attending so I was equipped with my empty Nalgene water bottle for their refill stations, a small sealed Crystal Geyser water under 20 ounces, my non-professional Sony Cybershot with no detachable lens, and my clear vinyl backpack, which is apparently over the size limit but the supervisor told the kid, "if it's clear, it's clear. Don't hold up my lines for nonsense."
It was a great show. This was maybe my third time seeing Garbage, who opened the show, and maybe I just appreciate them more now than when I was younger but I thought they were great and it was awesome they got a full one-hour opening set. Unfortunately not only do I suck with the Cybershot's controls after not having used it in a few years, but it runs on regular AA batteries, so I used most of the juice on Garbage and barely got any of Tears for Fears, but all those are below. The video on the Cybershot also made Shirley look like a glowworm, so I decided to just use my phone for video (like everyone else) during TFF.
I will say that Jeff had looked at setlists from prior shows and they've all been the same, so I kind of liked knowing when to have my camera ready or when I could sneak off to the bathroom. You can watch my videos here. I also, must comment on the food. With inflation the way it is, $14 for a double-cheeseburger and fries didn't seem so outrageous, and over by the West gate there are a ton of underutilized picnic tables on the lawn that used to be the VIP area back in the day, so between bands we enjoyed the flattop burgers until showtime.
Tears For Fears was phenomenal. Their voices and charm have definitely held up over the years and adding Carina Round as a backup vocalist was a strong move. She's amazing, though they said ours was the last show of the tour that she'd be with them. The visuals on the stage were stunning and engaging, so the band mostly staying in the same spots wasn't boring as it can be otherwise. The weather was perfect, though I was glad to have a beanie when the Otay River Valley coolness picked up at the very end of the night. Leaving is a little bit of a cluster, but that's what happens when 20,000 fans all stay until the very end. It feels a lot worse than it actually is, mostly because everyone feels the need to lay on their horns, but it took about 12 minutes from getting in the car to getting out of the lot, and then we took the back way out via the 905, stopping at my parents' house to move my dad. I was home right around midnight, which is about as late as I can handle these days.
Kind of a perfect night as I slowly poke my head out of my pandemic shell.
Photos and setlist after the jump.
