The KC Review: Simple Minds in Concert

The band is Glasgow's own Simple Minds. The album they're playing live tonight is the seminal New Gold Dream. The King is Creosote, and he's in the crowd.

Article by King Creosote | 15 Dec 2008

I was once a huge Simple Minds fan. When I first heard them on TOTP playing Promised You a Miracle, I tittered "daft band name", but after hearing Glittering Prize some months later, I went straight out to buy New Gold Dream on tape. I loved it, daft band tittered or not. I bought all their 12" singles that a dishwashing job could afford, and much too excited to sleep I managed first in line to buy Sparkle In The Rain on its day of release ('sokay tho' - I soon caught up on the Zs during side two). Don't You Forget About Me became our sixth year high school swansong, In Trance As Mission got me off the accordion and onto the electric bass and thus into my first band, and Alive and Kicking brought a welcome spark to my dark days in Pollock Halls. By the time of their Ibrox show in '86, however, I was equally keen to hear support act Lloyd Cole. Once Upon a Time and the follow up Street Fighting Years I was ruefully happy to sell at a car boot sale in 1993 for a quid each. We'd fallen out, the Minds and I.

This past year, however, I've been digging out those early Minds 12" singles to deejay with, and in September there, with a customised hits collection on my ipod, I was tramping across the singing sands on the island of Eigg urging all and sundry to look out beyond the white horses to Rhum with Waterfront blasting from my headphones into their ears. Reconciliatory job done and we're wary friends again.

Tonight it's Waterfront that gallops off the starting blocks and into the packed stalls of the SECC, and lordy does it sound immense! I Travel, Love Song and The American form a triple barrage of authentic and instantly recognisable bassline hooks, battering-ram drums and anthemic synths, while New Gold Dream is played in its entirety like it was recorded just last month. Jim Kerr sings like he hasn't had a night off in 30 years, Charlie Burchill hits some wild jazz notes every 30 or so bars, and did someone hit the transpose key? Who cares! They're all grinning and we're all grinning, waving arms, up on chairs and dancing in the aisles. The older songs sound as fresh and urgent as they did back in the day, and the newer ones sound far better than I remember them.

It feels somewhat churlish to deduct a star for Mel Gaynor's cover of Chelsea Girl when Speed Your Love to Me is what the set needed, but after two hours of belting out 'hit hit hit hidits' and 'la la-la-la las', I am back to being a huge Simple Minds fan. Hoarse though.

KC, December 2008

http://www.simpleminds.com