Simple Minds: Live

In these turbulent times with flu from swine, heatwaves and thunderstorms, war and recession, we all need to hold on to what we know, what we love, what we believe; to be right, to be honest, to be real, to be here, right now.

So as we drive to the city of life and the rain comes, the clouds gather, but as we exit the tunnel those clouds clear, the sun shines and reflects off the ever flowing Mersey River, we know we are home - we are alive and we are kicking…

Going to concerts at the Echo Arena is always a joy, it’s one of our favourite venues… ever;  great production, great lights, great sound; and when it’s full of energetic scousers, there is nowhere better…

Tonight we catch up with Simple Minds who are in for the Liverpool Summer Pops, and they are shining like a diamond in a bucket of shit. The band has just released an album called ‘Graffiti Soul’ which has given them more coverage in the media than they have had for years, but people think they went away, they went nowhere, so how could they be back from anywhere…

We enter the arena with our passes in hand excited, to be met by an acoustic set from Ian McNabb; a great voice, but no great songs… He comes close with ‘Liverpool Girls’ but omits ‘Understanding Jane’… Jim and Charlie should have come out and done a half hour acoustic set and effectively supported themselves now that would have been special… Instead we got Ian - nice chap, shit set…

So we wait some more, then the lights fade, the stage is swathed in brilliance and the mood is set, then blam! THAT bass riff starts and how apt that the Echo Arena sits on the banks of the Mersey and we are all truly on up to the ‘Waterfront’ - what a song to open a set with, get off yer arse and dance, sing, do anything!

No rest, no taking it easy as we move through ‘I Travel’, ‘Changeling’ and ‘See The Lights’ into ‘Love Song’ we are reminded what an arsenal of songs this band has in the first twenty minutes, some of these songs are thirty years old for fuck sake! Front man Jim Kerr has ants in his pants as he moves from side of stage to side, leaving no section undone, his voice in fine form delivering crisp, clear sounds - easily, effortlessly.

Simple Minds have always had a killer rhythm section; they simply ‘Lock In’, find the groove and refuse to let it go. Charlie must be burning his hands on those guitar frets as he is certainly burning down the house (if you don’t own a copy of their live in Verona Film/ DVD, then you really should as it will show you exactly what I mean). Tonight they are simply as one as they turn up the heat with ‘Don’t You ‘(Forget About Me)’, ‘Promised You A Miracle’, ‘New Gold Dream’ and they end the section with a quite stunning ‘Alive And Kicking’ that tears a new exit in this venue.