Tears For Fears' Curt Smith talks ahead of Birmingham show

With a catalogue of classic albums, namely the gold-certified debut The Hurting, quintuple-platinum BRIT Award-winning songs from the Big Chair, and Seeds of Love and a string of huge hits, including classics such as Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Shout, Mad World, Head Over Heels, and Woman In Chains, their Birmingham show is not to be missed.

Curt Smith says fans can look forward to the hits, though the band have also been writing new songs.

“We’re conscious that we want more material. We don’t want to get bored playing the same thing, so we like to change it up – not doing the same sets every year. It would be nice to have some new material, some upbeat, some pensive, to add to the live show.”

The band had a tough time touring back in the 1980s, though these days it’s more fun.

“Touring is better now. The main thing is it’s great to get out and play, but the other 22 hours can be tedious. It all depends on how we arrange the tour. We don’t play four nights in a row and don’t travel overnight. We’re not all on a tour bus. We try to make it as easy as we physically can. We do what I’m doing here, with all the interviews on the front end of the tour. Now we actually want to see the places we visit. At the height of our fame, we didn’t see anything. We didn’t leave the hotel because we were doing interviews all day. We may have travelled the world, but we saw nothing.

“One upside: When I’m on tour, I don’t have to be up at 6:30 to get the kids out of bed. I can catch up with sleep on the other end.”

The band have endured a tough time in recent years, following the death of Roland Orzabal’s wife, Caroline, whose passing led the band to cancel a series of planned shows. Other personal tragedies had affected his music, including the deaths of his wife’s parents, a good friend and his gardener.

He said: “It’s difficult when people are dying around you. So you see with the lyrics, ‘Hey Andy . . . when I die you’ll be waiting for me’, I’m trying to gain some understanding of it.”

Being in a multi-million selling band hasn’t always been easy and Smith and Orzabal have had their ups and downs.

Smith said: “I see bands that have been around for a long time who go through the motions.

“They’re tired and they shouldn’t really be doing it any more.

“We are doing it because we like it. We still get a kick out of it. And our younger fans really relate to The Hurting as many are the same age as we were when we made that record in our early 20s.

“We are lucky to have had the longevity we’ve had, garnering new people. I’ve even become cool to my daughters’ friends.”

Orzabal added: “I think it’s down to the lyrics. We were brave enough to tackle certain subjects that maybe other bands at the time wouldn’t have a clue about. A song about post-teenage angst like Mad World seems to be permanently relevant.”