Location: Ljubljana / Hala Tivoli / Slovenia
Date: Saturday, 08.04.2006
After a grueling fight through the enemy’s “beerophile” ranks (that is, getting into the small hall of Hala Tivoli through the bar), who were pressing relentlessly against the counter, I finally came wheezing into the hall a little before nine, thoroughly battered from the battle. The Austrian support act Tyler had been warming up the crowd at the start and while I was breaking through. Sadly, I missed them. The lights suddenly went out, a computer “sample” kicked in, and the hall miraculously fell silent for a moment. Normally the place erupts right away, but this time the crowd obviously couldn’t quite believe it had really begun.
“It’s so nice to be with you Slovenia!” Simple Minds’ famous frontman Jim Kerr greeted us soon after, effectively waking up the hall. The crowd was packed in at a really nice, just-right number, which allowed for easy movement during the show and kept the physical and chemical parameters of the hall at an optimal level the whole time, so there was no danger of anyone running short of oxygen, becoming a hapless “squashee” in the crowd, or accidentally dehydrating in unbearable “Texan” temperatures. The ambience with around 2,500 people was ideal. The stands were only half open, the stage was pushed toward the middle, and the standing area on the floor was nicely filled.
Simple Minds immediately launched into songs from their current studio album “Black & White 050505”, which came out last year. Stay Visible is a great opener because its esoteric intro and sudden switch to a pulsing rhythm, spiced up with excellent “sampling” and piano sound, instantly sets up that signature “Simple Minds” concert atmosphere the seasoned Scots of “simple minds” are famous for. They didn’t hesitate, and after that “hypnotically” dreamy opening they kept on presenting the current studio album. “Let’s go home!” Kerr called out to the crowd and the band was already into Home, a song set in a slightly higher gear that got everyone there to cling even tighter to a swaying, higher-grade kinetic groove. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded one bit if the band had played the entire “White And Black 050505” album, which is full of equally polished-to-the-max songs, marked by all the typical qualities the Simple Minds name stands for, combining their eighties fame with the maturity of today. Welcome to the “eighties revival” party! The band then took everyone straight back to 1981 with Love Song, which only confirmed that there isn’t much difference between Simple Minds in 2006 and those unbridled young men eager to prove themselves 25 years ago. They kept their concert magic going masterfully in Book Of Brillliant Things (“Sparkle In The Rain”, 1984). The crowd soon took Simple Minds completely to its heart, so by the fifth song, See The Lights, practically the entire hall, stands included, was singing along with the band. Simple Minds built up the concert atmosphere with finesse and, through All The Things She Said, Waterfront, Hypnotised (in which Kerr lay down on the stage), She’s a River, Underneath the Ice (with an especially high-atmosphere guitar solo in the outro), Someone Somewhere In Summertime and Speed Your Love To Me, kept the audience’s ears masterfully busy. Kerr shone with his heartfelt stage performance, in which he thoroughly sweated through himself and his denim jacket. With his famous “kick dance”, including a convincing swallow impression, one of his trademarks, he simply came across as a born performer. The concert of course peaked with the “evergreen” hit Don’t You (forget about me), where Kerr left most of the chorus to the euphoric crowd, who of course didn’t resist at all and selflessly gave positive energy back to the band in a wave of revelry and enthusiasm. The band played a surprising outro that didn’t bring even a hint of the bombast you’d expect from the song’s otherwise notorious fame. Their biggest hit was subtly “softened” in the outro, round after round, so that by its end all you could hear was the gentle stage “hum” of “alien sampled” sounds accompanied by the bass guitar. Kerr bowed deeply to the crowd at the end of the song. Next came Belfast Child, which recently replaced Dolphins on the concert set list. With a familiar “Highlander” touch, Simple Minds managed to conjure up a superb, unforgettable atmosphere that truly brought to life the land of William Wallace “Braveheart”, Robert “The Bruce”, and so on…, especially when battle rhythms “unexpectedly” kicked in somewhere in the middle of the song, as if played by the Scottish clans themselves.
The band came back on stage twice and closed the show with Alive And Kicking, during which a dancer joined them on stage. The perfect finish, leaving the crowd in a “we want more” state!
Kerr is holding up great! As a singer he’s kept himself in excellent shape, and he effortlessly played and sang all his moves at a high level throughout the concert. The rest of the band too. A compact rhythm of extraordinary depth and punch from the drums, combined with a tightly strung, thickly rattling bass, let Burchill’s guitar sail through spacey, at times futuristic sounds filled with a gentle curtain of keyboards in the background. Burchill is phenomenal. With just a few perfectly innocent notes he manages to build a grandiose atmosphere that grabs you in an instant and carries you off to another world. The band has flawless “timing”. They’re as tight as a Swiss watch of the noblest pedigree.
Okay, let’s cover the formalities about the sound too. I didn’t expect anything like it, because Simple Minds absolutely confirmed their perfectionism. During the concert I moved from the mixing desk to the middle of the right-hand stand, and the sound never lost quality anywhere. The balance of the instruments was excellent, and no distortion could be detected. That was one of the important facts that contributed to the overall concert impression Simple Minds left, and it wasn’t hard to conclude that it was practically a flawless performance.
Really, truly! The set list, the sound, and a heartfelt show of complete perfectionism must have satisfied everyone in the hall. Simple Minds remain what they are. A band of short, simple thoughts and moves that work with flawless conviction when they arrange them in their own particular order. In short, I can call it a flawless performance, full of positive energy from both the band and the crowd, whose devoted participation confirmed the visible enjoyment at the concert. It wasn’t hard to conclude that this time the audience consisted of people who genuinely appreciate Simple Minds, or are their true fans. I haven’t seen Slovenes join in with such unity and just the right amount of immersion at a “rock” concert in a long time, an event that was all about the simple flow of positive energy from the stage to the crowd and back. Really, adding it all up, you can’t say anything but that it was a very, very nice, top-notch music event, the kind we definitely lack in Slovenia, and the kind I’d wish upon everyone who spent their free Saturday hours that evening in the cinemas of Ljubljana’s Kolosej or, weighed down by imitating imposed trends, were “posing” at Global. Simple Minds gave us a flawless rock lesson and thoroughly cleared our minds and spirits.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Bojan Horvat
Setlist:
1. Intro
2. Stay Visible
3. Home
4. Love Song
5. Book Of Brilliant Things
6. See The Lights
7. Big Sleep
8. All The Things She Said
9. Waterfront
10. Hypnotised
11. She’s a River
12. Underneath the Ice
13. Someone Somewhere In Summertime
14. Speed Your Love To Me
15. Don’t You (Forget About Me)
16. Belfast Child
—encore I.—
17. Different World (Taormina.ME)
18. New Gold Dream
—encore II.—
19. Stranger
20. Alive And Kicking
