As with any band of a certain vintage rumours have been rife and discussions had about what tracks Simple Minds would be playing live over the course of this tour. Their setlist seems to have 10 or so solid tracks that they are playing every show and then mixing up another 10 or so depending on the venue. Whether fans agree or disagree with their pickings from their celebrated back catalogue there is one decision that cannot be argued with………the choice of support act.
Fellow Scottish rockers del Amitri have sent it all and done it all over the past 40 years. In 45 minutes they manage to breathe new life into those four decades and not only remind the crowd of the brilliance of their own history but show that they are still very much a band on the rise once again.
Bassist/Vocalist Justin Currie’s recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease was a hammer blow to the band, not to mention the man himself, however he appears to be in ebullient mood about his health and is striding forward with vim and vigour that belies his diagnosis and 40 years of battle scars.
Amongst the tracks are smatterings of stonewall classics such as “Always The Last To Know”, “Kiss This Thing Goodbye” and “Not Where It’s At” but also modern gems like “Lonely” get an airing to remind us that they are far from a heritage act. I would not have complained if they had played for another hour, if fact over the shouts and screams of appreciation my suggestion that they do so may have been lost. Nevermind, though 45 minutes it was and what a 45 minutes we had. The genius that is “Nothing Ever Happens” closes the set and if those in attendance experience a better 45 minutes of live music this year they can count themselves very fortunate. Very fortunate indeed.
Choosing such as stellar band as support can go one of two ways. Either it ends up like the Motley Crue/Alice Cooper tour of 2015 whereby support act Alice Cooper….yes, that’s right….support act!!!, absolutely wiped the floor with the Crue or it can inspire the headliners to bring their A-game and not rest on their considerably talented laurels.
Simple Minds are not the type that leave anything to chance and come out all guns blazing, at what must said, ear splitting volume. Now I’ve seen Motorhead from down in the front row, close enough to lick Lemmy’s boots, so I know a thing or two about volume but this was disturbingly loud. “Waterfront” is the tour opener and it’s a majestic track that gets the musical juices flowing and sets the mood.
Thankfully the folks in charge of the sound finally get their levels sorted by “Love Song” and all is well. All the band are in a playful mood and the energy is high. Tracks like “Solstice Kiss” remind the hordes that it’s not all about the classics. That said the hits keep on coming throughout the two hours and this is a band that deals in hits. From the funky “Promised You A Miracle” to “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” to “Alive and Kicking” it’s wall to wall quality musicianship and a thundering drive to entertain.
The aforementioned “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” does halt the charge somewhat for a while, even for frontman Jim Kerr’s tastes, remarking that the crowd participation bit might be dragging on a tad too long and is making his waiting pizza cold!!
It’s not all big anthems and party times though as the delicate ballad “Belfast Child” proves the band can deliver genuine emotion and reflection amongst the glitz and glamour of a big production arena show.
Closing with the brilliant “Sanctify Yourself” the band show that they are just as relevant in this TikTok/Twitter world as they were back in the 1980’s. First class.
