Over 30 flight cases containing equipment, instruments and clothing from the group’s 1996 tour will go on sale at the Horsham, Bath firm on December 12-13 – all of it cleared from the home of Tears for Fears’ frontman Roland Orzabal.
The huge haul includes a Linn drum machine and Orzabal’s Electro-Voice microphone – part of Tears for Fears’ signature sound – a Yamaha DX1 synthesiser, guitar amplifiers, pedal boards, VIP tour passes and tour merchandise.
Auctioneer Luke Hobbs described the contents as “a time capsule of a rock band’s tour from over 20 years ago. It appears that once they completed their gigs back in 1996, all the equipment was put into storage.”
The Gardiner Houlgate team are still in the process of sorting through the flight cases to catalogue the full list of items.
“In terms of price, it’s very hard to estimate but there could easily be £30,000-40,000 worth of equipment here,” says Hobbs, “and that’s without factoring in ‘fan value’.”
Tears for Fears were formed in nearby Bath in 1981 (the band were previously called Graduate) and achieved international success in the 1980s.
A UK tour this year was postponed due to ‘unforeseen health concerns’ and has been rescheduled for early 2019, according to the band’s website.
View the Tears for Fears items in the Gardiner Houlgate auction on thesaleroom.com.
