1,099 SIMPLE MINDS, PRETENDERS, KT Tunstall, Swindon Lydiard Park, Friday 31st August 2018

My 1,099^th gig and quite possibly the first I’ve ever cycled to! I’d ummed and aahed about this one for awhile, blanching at the – as ever for Simple Minds, it seems – shockingly steep ticket price, before finally taking the plunge. Truth to tell, after a variable showing last time out from da Minds (the Oasis gig, 3 years ago, gig 947) and a bit of research indicating that current sets weren’t delving as much as hoped into the Scottish veterans’ pre-“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” canon, when they were cutting-edge and inventive electronic-tinged post-punk, I might have given it a miss totally. However, the presence on the bill of The Pretenders, a band I’ve recently revisited after reading vocalist Chrissie Hynde’s excellent autobiography “Reckless”, strengthened the case for going. I’d only seen them once before, on a U2 bill back in the 80’s; about time I did again!

As I mentioned, I cycled to this one – luckily our friends Debbie and Steve live very close to the Park, and were happy to offer safe haven for my vehicle. Left the bike there just after 6 and wandered around to the gig site, a large cordoned off space on the main field, to find it already amply full and opener KT Tunstall rounding off her set… apparently they’d brought forward the scheduled start and subsequent stage times. No problem, wasn’t that fussed on KT anyway… Wandered into the “Golden Circle” at the front (yup, I’d shelled out big-time for this one – no point in going if you’re a dot in the distance, really!), and hooked up with Stuart “Langers” and his wife Lorraine (whose presence there tonight was also a factor in the final decision) and caught up, whilst also being vaguely amused by the repeated announcements stating “The Pretenders request that during their performance, you keep your phones in your pockets”, in a surly Scottish accent, the tone of which potentially suggested mayhem and violence would ensue, should said request not be met…

The Pretenders came on just about 7.15, the guitar boys decked out in black country rock chic; then Chrissie emerged, already totally owning it and strutting her stuff, the Queen of Glam Punk, resplendent in iridescent off-pink jacket and thigh-length suede boots, leading her charges through opener “Alone” a Max’s Kansas City 70’s proto punk bluesy stomp. The highlight came early, 4^th number in; dedicated to founder Pretenders Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott, both taken too young back in the 80’s (“put the kettle on lads, we’re not far behind you,” intoned Chrissie, poignantly), “Kid” was an utterly majestic, genuinely affecting and brilliantly melodic 3 minutes of pure pop delight, prompting me to announce to all and sundry at its’ conclusion, “we might as well go home now, we’re not going to hear anything better than THAT tonight!”

Photo courtesy of David Littlewood. Thanks David!

The set never regained that height, but was still pretty bloody splendid; Chrissie, jacket off now, wittered enthusiastically about meeting the ponies by Lydiard Church earlier (“gypsy ponies – a schoolgirl’s dream come true!”) and playfully advised us not to look at the sun until it touched the horizon, but mostly delivered hit after hit from The Pretenders’ impressive canon. “Private Life” was stretched and libidinous late night dirty reggae sleaze, “I’ll Stand By You” (covered by Girls Aloud – “it’s not my favourite song anyway, they can have it!”) was a stately power ballad delivered by Chrissie in her distinctive wavering contralto, and “Back On The Chain Gang” and “Don’t Get Me Wrong” were a splendid and laconic post-punk 80’s rock mid-set double. “We’re here to rock!” Chrissie announced, and no more evidence was required than set closer “Middle Of The Road”, a far-from MOR racey stomper. I could’ve done without the drum solo (really?) but that aside, this was a lean and mean performance, with Chrissie the star; far from a pretender, tonight she was The Real Deal.

A short delay filled by rock chat with Stu and some old 80’s classics over the PA; also a chat with an old friend (hi Alison!) before the colourful neon backlighting heralded Simple Minds’ entrance at 8.45, opening with expansive stadium pop newie “The Signal And The Noise”, mainman Jim Kerr already requesting hands aloft. “Waterfront”, next up, featured some nice guitar licks from faithful wingman Charlie Birchill and early doors it seemed to be going swimmingly. However, they then made an utter pigs ear of oldie “Love Song”, completely mistiming the chorus entry, and even after they recovered, it felt a little flat. A shame. Fair play to Jim; he admitted, “we screwed up “Love Song” tonight,” during a monologue recalling that last visit to Swindon (“before the gig I was dying!”), but then “Promised You A Miracle”, featuring KT Tunstall on co-vocals, was ham-fisted and clumsily stompy, bass-drum dominated and lacking its’ usual plangent majesty.

Such was the way of it tonight; the newer, stadium-friendly wallpaper pop tunes sounded better, whereas the older numbers were delivered carelessly and perfunctorily. “The American” admittedly escaped largely unscathed, and “Someone Somewhere In Summertime” was easily my set highlight, stripped back and widescreen, but whereas this seemed effortless, the rest of the set felt laboured by comparison. Set closer “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” saw phones sprout around me like a field of sunflowers in super-fast forward, and I wished for a surly Scotsman to make an announcement…! This, my watershed Simple Minds number (love all before, lost interest thereafter), saw a lengthy and communal singalong from this audience of largely Friday night date couples, and even the cameramen on each side of the stage joined in with the “la, la la la la”’s as Jim asked us to sing along in different languages! A couple of decent semi-oldie encores and a wry band intro (“… and my name’s Mr. Kerr… taxi for Kerr… pizza for Kerr!”) rounded off a performance which tonight’s crowd lapped up, but left me scratching my head a little and lamenting opportunities missed.

A wander back to get my bike and an eventful ride home (involving my hitting a pothole on the main road by the Link Centre – yipe!), reflecting on tonight’s gig. Simple Minds, for me, were empty stadium rock bluster with only occasional (and frustratingly spoiled) glimpses of the fine band they used to be, so unless they do another “5x5” tour I reckon we’re done now. Worth it though, overall, for some time in the company of Chrissie, the Great Pretender and the Star Of The Show!

947 SIMPLE MINDS, Swindon Oasis, Saturday 2nd May 2015

Simple Minds… at The Oasis? Simple Minds? Oh, go on then…!

Truth to tell, I would have been happy to leave Simple Minds be, following that brilliant Birmingham show in February 2012 (gig 845), part of their epic “5 X 5” tour whereby they revisited those halcyon early days and albums when they were cutting-edge sonic innovators, rather than the pot-rattling stadium bluster uber-bores they unfortunately metamorphosed into. Let’s face it, there’s no way they’d top a set which featured the likes of “Premonition”, “Factory”, “Chelsea Girl”, “70 Cities” et al (well, maybe if they decided to do “Real To Real Cacophony” and “Empires And Dance” start to finish on the same night…?). However, a gig at the Oasis, 10 minutes’ walk from my front door? OK, I’m game for that, happy to grit teeth through the post “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” muck for the Glittering Prize of some early material knowing it was a short walk home afterwards, and happy to shell out the steep – hell, make that vertical – £50 ticket price knowing there was no add-on petrol or car parking outlay!

Another added bonus for this evening was that my brother, who, despite having seen similar post-punk rockists turned flag-waving stadium filling tub-thumpers U2 over 100 times, had never seen Simple Minds before, was able to join me! So, after some Bobby’s chippy tea, we wandered over to the sparsely attended Oasis early doors (no sell-out, this), taking a wander down into the hall when it opened at 7, and sat in our centrally located seats, about 2/3rds back, chewing the cud whilst watching the hall fill up.

Wait, what? Seats? Oh yes. In their infinite wisdom, The Oasis had determined that tonight was a seated performance, the hall set up in temporary rows like a sales rep conference, a potential atmosphere killer. As the witching hour approached, and the audience of Saturday night couples and the long-standing faithful filed politely in, we reflected on this state of affairs. It just seemed… well, wrong, really…

Happily, we weren’t the only ones who thought that… As the lights dimmed at 8 following their stirring orchestral intro music and the band filed onstage, vocalist Jim Kerr, typically the last on, took to the mic and remarked, “a seated audience at a Simple Minds gig? It’s impossible to sit down at a Simple Minds gig – it’s like going to a party in Glasgow and wearing underwear; it just doesn’t happen!” That thankfully got the remaining seated audience members on their feet and immediately rocking to set opener, a rambunctious cover of sadly forgotten 80’s band The Call’s “Let The Day Begin”. Immediately Kerr was in stadium frontman mode, the archetypal audience mass communicator, all extravagant gestures and fulsome movements, exhorting the crowd to clap along. “There’s not too many places we come to for the first time,” he announced before the synth opening to the solid and rather good actually newie “Blindfolded”, getting the crowd onside further with a plangent early “Glittering Prize”.

Then… the unmistakeable staccato quickfire synth opening to the epic “I Travel”, easily Simple Minds’ finest hour and one of my favourite records ever to dance to, a thrilling krautrock rollercoaster ride through stark concrete 80’s European cityscapes. I gave it loads to this breathless and breathtaking rendition, arms flailing wildly about and knees taking a pounding to the pulsing beat, and shouting “keep going!” and “play it all night” when it sadly reached its’ all-too-soon fadeout conclusion. Following that, the subsequent “New Gold Dream” was, sadly, both tremendous and disappointing at the same time!

“Live Aid... Mandela Day... now Swindon on a Saturday night!” remarked the firmly tongue-in-cheek Kerr before a stripped back “American”, the acoustic treatment proving rather lovely, after which I took a seat for a couple of later numbers before getting up again for the synth pulse and snare snap of a splendid “Love Song”. The inevitable “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” rounded off set part one, Kerr oddly checking his watch and saying, “some of us have work tomorrow”, before thanking us, “for making us feel like rockstars” (odd, I’d not noticed anyone giving them cocaine and blowjobs, but still…).

 

After a short intermission, set part two was less remarkable; backing vocalist Sarah Brown took lead on the opening couple of tracks, with Kerr himself being more understated, more economical with his vocals, legacy of a recent bout of flu alluded to earlier, happier to allow the enthusiastic audience to backfill his vocal lines. Despite 2 starts (“2 screw ups!”), a haunting, expansive “Someone Somewhere In Summertime” was far and away set 2’s highlight, again evocative, plangent and magnificent.

An uneven but understandably very professionally delivered performance was capped with an odd, almost funky reading of The Doors’ “Riders On The Storm”, featuring 3-part lead vocals delivered by Kerr, Brown and keyboardist Catherine AD, before the closing “Alive And Kicking” saw me throw shapes in the aisle as if it were 1985 again. I grabbed the set-list from the obliging light-man before wandering off with Paul, reflecting on a set with many memorable moments amongst the stadium pop, most notably the brilliant “I Travel”, and in Jim Kerr a frontman who can still ignite a crowd despite advancing years and a recent flu bout. Worthwhile overall again, and better for Paul, who after wandering home with me to collect his motor, drove past the venue again and got selfies with guitarist Charlie Burchill and drummer Mel Gaynor (whose performance he’d been (positively) critiquing most of the evening). Lucky sod!

842 SIMPLE MINDS 5X5 TOUR, Birmingham O2 Academy, Friday 24 February 2012

I think it’s only appropriate to start this review with my comments from the Ex Simple Minds show of 18 months ago; “I'm used to receiving looks of bafflement when I say Simple Minds, latterly the epitome of bloated stadium rock boredom and the template for the similarly turgid likes of Coldplay, were, over the span of their first 4 albums, the most innovative band on the planet. Constantly evolving their sound from their early glam Roxy pop, through monotone yet experimental and intriguing industrial rock, synth-led krautrock to glossy and expansive European dancey rock, they were chameleonic, challenging and immensely talented”.

Nuff said. It was this long-held belief which led me to check out their former back rows fronted by Owen Paul on a windswept evening in Oxford, and also to brave crappy weather and potential stadium rock bluster overload for a small taste of that old stuff from the real thing in Westonbirt last year. So when I heard about this tour – promoting the release of an enhanced yet very nicely priced 5 CD box set of those seminal first 4 albums plus “breakthrough” record “New Gold Dream” (which was still bloody good, if slightly shinier and more commercial, bumping up to the point when they started losing it), with a tour promising 5 numbers from EACH of those 5 records – I frankly couldn’t move quick enough to grab a ticket! I don’t know their motivations for this CD release and tour – recent peer acclaim from the likes of The Horrors etc. for that seminal early stuff, the need to squash Ex Simple Minds by playing the stuff they concentrate on, the desire to pump a big wodge of cash into Jim Kerr’s pension fund, or any combination of the above – but honestly I don’t care. This was MY Simple Minds tour, the one I wanted to see in the 80’s and didn’t. So well worth the steep (hell, almost vertical!) ticket price and lengthy jaunt to B’rum, sadly the closest the “5X5” tour came to Swindon, but also the scene of a remarkable resurrection last year in the Adam Ant show.

So, taking no chances on a Friday afternoon, and picking up that this one was going to be an early start (I was guessing 7.30, and that turned out to be right on the money), I took some lieu time and left straight from work at 3.30, still nursing a bit of the man flu. Thankfully nobody got in my way, and I was able to park in the Mailbox multi-storey just past the venue at 6 after a steady run up. So I had the unusual experience of waiting in the queue for the venue to open; chatted with fellow punters, including a couple from the Cotswolds and their 9 year old daughter who was lamenting the omission of “Belfast Child” from tonight’s show. I’m bloody well not!

A note by the entrance stated that, as expected, this would be an early starting two-part set, but that part one would concentrate on the first 2 albums, different to my research which suggested they’d been mixing it up and opening with “I Travel”. So which would it be? That question was emphatically answered after the lights dimmed, dry ice enveloped the stage and the backing track played an early material snippet medley (including some tracks to be omitted tonight, notably “Sweat In Bullet”). Then, the boys took the stage and the scattergun synth opening of “I Travel” started up, getting me immediately plunging down the front, stage centre, and rocking out to one of my all-time fave Level 3 dance tracks.

Vocalist and main Minds inspiration Jim Kerr was also “on it” from the outset, throwing shapes with abandon and exhorting the crowd to sing along. Despite this being early material, you can take the boy out of the stadium, I guess, but you can’t take the stadium out of the boy… Despite his best efforts and my rocking out, however, the gig atmosphere took quite a while to settle in, the early and fuller hypnotic dance of “Changeling” notwithstanding. Did this crowd actually know what was supposed to be going on tonight? A seething “Scar” preceded a careful, almost perfunctory reading of “Life In A Day”, before an unexpectedly tough “Hunter And The Hunted” proved a surprising early highlight. However, the thunderous, billowing synth pulse of “Love Song” topped that, strident and tremulous, the energetic Kerr finally getting a reaction from this crowd. “Pleasantly Disturbed” actually came close to topping that, all creepy and sinuously moody before building to a cacophonous finale, by which time I was moshing and singing along with 3 other guys down the front. At last!

After a 15 minute breather, set part 2 commenced with a “Sons”/ “Sister” triple, opening with a terrace chant “American”, the Minds really warming to their task and igniting the crowd. Then – my time – a trio of “Real To Real Cacophony” numbers, with a brilliantly moody and sinister “Factory” making up for a slightly muted “Changeling”. Set part 2 was generally better received and played, culminating in the plangent magnificence of the oft-overlooked “Someone Somewhere In Summertime”, a resonant final set number.

They weren’t done though, and the ridiculously infectious, should’ve-been new wave anthem of “Someone” was an encore highlight, before “Chelsea Girl” saw otherwise excellent guitarist Charlie Burchill mucking up the middle 8 (hey, it’s a hard riff, and it’s been a long set…), before a thunderous “New Gold Dream” brought 2¼ hours of innovative yet nostalgic rock to a close. I could forgive some numbers for sounding a little unrehearsed, and the need to pack them all in precluding against any lengthy words from Jim Kerr, who moved the set along at a cracking pace and fully earned his corn tonight. I half expected some bumps in the road, but they were fewer than feared, and redressed by the simple fact that they were even playing these damn songs in the first place! A lengthy wait and much pestering finally saw me bag the keyboardist’s set-list, and I then caught breath and headed home for 12. Faith restored!

822 SIMPLE MINDS, James Walsh, Westonbirt Arboretum, Friday 17 June 2011

Seeing Ex-Simple Minds last year, whilst being a thrilling nostalgia jaunt through the innovative, cutting edge early material of one of my favourite post-punk bands, also whetted my appetite for seeing the “real thing”, as it were, potential stadium rock excess and all. So when a Simple Minds date was announced as part of nearby Westonbirt Arboretum’s run of open-air Summer shows, I snapped up a ticket pretty much immediately, ultimately persuading a couple of work colleagues into coming along too.

So it was that I drove down with my former boss Bob, who could count the gigs he’d been to on the fingers of one hand, but one of which, impressively, had been The Beatles and Tyrannosaurus Rex! I’d also done my research; firstly, I’d checked out recent set-lists from the Minds’ forest jaunt thus far, and whilst lightning hadn’t struck twice, Adam Ant-wise, there was a small smattering of pre-hit material to really pique my interest, along with a Glittering Prize of a “New Gold Dream”-centric set climax to look forward to. Also, I’d checked the weather for this open-air affair, and the only disagreement between weather websites was when the heavy rain was going to hit, not if! So, fully prepared, we arrived easily at 7 after a quick cross country run, finding a nice compact venue site skirted by trees, and thankfully only drizzly rather than persistent, as we hit the beer tent!

Took a wander forward for support James Walsh, whom I’m convinced is a Rain God, given that the only time I’d seen his previous charges Starsailor, at Fleadh 2001, it had pissed down too! He took the stage to increasing drizzle, having an invidious task in warming up the slightly sodden early arrivals. However he set to it with gusto, with pumping beatbox, chiming acoustic guitar and occasional keyboard colour, and a plaintive, keening voice. “Follow the man possessed by a storm,” was a prophetic early lyric, as Walsh alternated between more morose but recognisable Starsailor oldies entirely appropriate for the slate grey conditions, and more chipper newies. “Four To The Floor” and an almost jolly “Good Souls” were highlights of a quietly impressive support set.

Ran into one of my brother’s bandmates for a chat, then colleague Mairi and hubby by the beer tent, before the Minds early entrance music wrong-footed us and saw us striding purposefully to the front for their early arrival, just before 9, with a bombastic “Moscow Underground”, which segued into a fist-pumping, anthemic “Waterfront”. The early set took the expected route, mainly drawing on material from their mid-80’s “Stadium Rock” albums, “Sparkle In The Rain” and “Once Upon A Time”, when they moved away from their dazzling, synth driven cutting edge groove, and into more expansive, radio friendly material. However the Krautrock-influenced “Sons And Fascination” got me moving, and I gleefully anticipated the clattering industrial robotic dance of “Celebrate”, next up. Unfortunately, this was disappointingly thin-sounding in the open air, and I feared for my interest level, thinking this was as good as it was going to get.

However the unmistakable synth pulse of a totally unexpected “Love Song” started up, and I was utterly sold. This was brilliant, easily the set highlight, and they had me after that. “You’re not too cold, not too wet, we’re not too old, are we?” asked Jim Kerr before a fine “Hunter And The Hunted”, and true enough, he gave an energetic performance of his expansive dance style which belied his years. Despite the false start, the slow-burn “Someone Somewhere In Summertime” was as sparkling as ever, heralding a “New Gold Dream”-heavy denouement, taking in a heavy but sharply short shower during “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” – “rain keeps falling down”, indeed! - and climaxing in the title track of that breakthrough album.

A final encore “Ghostdancing”, which I’d forgotten appropriated the first line of the sadly absent “I Travel”, segued into a singalong cover medley of “Gloria” and Talking Heads’ “Take Me To The River”, capping an entirely worthwhile actually near-2 hour set (a frankly dull “Mandela Day” notwithstanding!). “We’ll be back again,” announced an achingly sincere Jim Kerr at the end. And, d’you know what, I might be as well!

794 EX SIMPLE MINDS, Oxford Academy 2, Monday 6 September 2010

I'm used to receiving looks of bafflement when I say Simple Minds, latterly the epitome of bloated stadium rock boredom and the template for the similarly turgid likes of Coldplay, were, over the span of their first 4 albums, the most innovative band on the planet. Constantly evolving their sound from their early glam Roxy pop, through monotone yet experimental and intriguing industrial rock, synth-led krautrock to glossy and expansive European dancey rock, they were chameleonic, challenging and immensely talented, and a band and period I constantly return to, particularly with the likes of Editors following a similar template in adding European synth layers to their 80's guitar rockisms. So I was really looking forward to this one; Ex Simple Minds, namely Derek Forbes and Brian McGhee, 2 of the architects of that sound, promising to exclusively hark back to those halcyon days? Thanks, I do!

Unfortunately no-one else did, so I travelled down on my own in filthy weather and bad traffic, with excitement tinged by some trepidation. This could be a triumph, with the sonic template faithfully recreated by the original Minds. Alternatively it could be a disaster, as, shorn of vocalist Jim Kerr's sweeping and expansive stage presence (let's face it, when I danced at Level 3 back in those days, I just wanted to be Jim Kerr) and with McGhee's brother, 80's popster Owen "My Favourite Waste Of Time" Paul a poor substitute, they could just be a bad tribute band...

The truth, happily, turned out most emphatically to be the former. I caught half of support Dead Jerichos' young Jam/ Enemy-like push'n'shove speedy rock (nice energy and attitude lads, now write some tunes to go with it), then meandered down the front for the entrance of Ex Simple Minds at 9.15, not needing to barge anyone out of the way as this was very poorly attended; about 40 people in total! Nevertheless, the band arrived, easing into the expansive European soundscape of instrumental opener "Themes From Great Cities", then vocalist Owen Paul's (ah yes, more of him shortly) arrival coincided with the unmistakable synth pulse intro of "Love Song", and we were away. The delicious strident robotic dance of "Changeling" followed (disappointingly the only track off "Real To Real Cacophony" all night), all seething power and conviction, as did the itchy, insistent "I Travel", initially disappointingly thin, but strident and powerful by the conclusion.

In fact, power and conviction were the order of the day for this performance; despite the poor turnout the band "gave it loads" old style, relishing the chance to play these classic Minds songs to a small but enthusiastic crowd. None more so than vocalist Owen Paul; despite my concerns he was an effervescent and committed frontman, his slightly higher and rougher vocal style adding more weight to the live performance. A brilliant double-header of "The American" and a gorgeous, sparkling "Someone Somewhere In Summertime" was the highlight of the set, before a deviation into the latterday stadium anthems of "Waterfront" and set closer, "Don't You Forget About Me", a song I liked at the time but which in retrospect marks the point at which Simple Minds started losing their inspiration.

An acoustic encore of "Speed Your Love To Me", a throwaway "Celebrate" and an almost jolly reading of the Velvet's "White Light/ White Heat" preceded a reworked and decidedly spooky "Pleasantly Disturbed" before a sadly inevitable "Alive And Kicking" rounded things off. Overall, I'd have chosen more earlier numbers at the expense of the stadium rock, but I couldn't fault them for passion and commitment. They played them like they owned them - good for you boys! And I got the set-list signed afterwards, by a band willing to chat and listen to suggestions for the set ("Factory"!), so a superb night overall!

13 SIMPLE MINDS, Silent Running, London Hammersmith Odeon, Sunday 13 May 1984

Went on Rimes Coaches up to London for this gig! This was a rejigged date after the original date of 16 March was postponed due to Simple Minds vocalist Jim Kerr losing his voice. Silent Running were a good support with some strong anthemic tunes; Simple Minds concentrated on their recent more expansive, commercial and poppier material, rather than their more challenging, Kraftwerk-like earlier stuff, and disappointed by not doing any encores.

51 SIMPLE MINDS, The Cult, The Bangles, The Waterboys, In Tua Nua, Milton Keynes Bowl, 21 June 1986

Drove up on a blazing hot day, ideal for an outdoor gig, although I was suffering from the high pollen count and had to wear dark glasses to combat my hay fever!

The support acts whiled away the afternoon, providing a musical backdrop to some sunbathing; The Cult and The Bangles didn't do much for me, but In Tua Nua and The Waterboys were more impressive with their Irish-tinged melodies.

Simple Minds played a long set of their by-now stadium friendly anthemic rock, with occasional (not enough for my mind, but still...) forays into their more challenging and inventive back catalogue ("I Travel" and "Love Song" being predictable highlights). Jim Kerr was a very energetic frontman, changing shirts about 5 times, covering "Sun City" in the encores, moving around the stage frantically and expansively, and even reading out the score of the France-Brazil World Cup Quarter Final during their set!