Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Lignano Sabbiadoro / Arena Alpe Adria / Italy
Concert date: July 29, 2014
Attendance: 3,000
Ticket price: €32.00
Lignano is a pleasant Italian seaside resort near Udine, and its slightly dreamy, if not downright romantic, vibe makes it tailor-made for summer shows by some of the big names in music. This time, one of the most beloved and respected bands of the eighties rolled into town: the legendary Scottish masters of new wave and pop rock, Simple Minds. Riding hits like »Don’t You (Forget About Me)«, »Alive and Kicking« and »Belfast Child«, they were one of the most popular acts of their day in the eighties, filling stadiums with ease wherever they showed up, before a sharp commercial slump followed in the nineties. Since around 2000, interest in their music has slowly revived, which gave this cult band fresh energy, and ever since they’ve been back on stages all over the world in a big way. The Lignano show was part of the ‘Greatest Hits + 2014’ tour, on which they play some of their biggest smashes as well as a few newer and lesser-known songs.
The core of the band is rock solid and the years don’t show on stage at all. It’s built around the two original members, the still extremely charismatic singer Jim Kerr and the excellent guitarist/occasional keyboardist Charlie Burchill, joined by longtime drummer Mel Gaynor. Keyboardist Andy Gillespie, in the lineup since 2002, and bassist Ged Grimes, who only joined in 2010, have a much shorter tenure. The fact that they didn’t play on the band’s biggest hits isn’t noticeable at all, since they’re masters of their instruments and perfectly understand the philosophy and work ethic of these Scottish new wave titans. Since 2009, the excellent guest vocalist Sarah Brown has joined them live, and her r’n’b and soul touches nicely complement Kerr’s lead vocals, with the occasional turn in the ‘lead role’. And as a fun bit of trivia for prog rock fans: a guest member of Simple Minds on the 1990 tour was former Jethro Tull keyboardist Peter-John Wetesse, who adored anything that smelled of electronic-digital keyboards.
Simple Minds opened their Lignano set with the spirited hit »Waterfront«, one of their best-loved songs and so a near-perfect concert opener. This time, the lyrics about rain matched the increasingly cloudy sky perfectly. It’s frankly unbelievable how well preserved the vocal cords are on Kerr, who was in superb spirits all evening and is one of those ‘old school’ singers whose mic is attached to a long cable for the entire show. Behind him, Brown provided passionate backing vocals, having hung a big triangle-shaped earring for the occasion.
Besides the favorites and longtime standards, we also heard a few newer songs that night, like the single »Broken Glass Park«, released in 2013. One of their first singles, »Love Song«, took us back in spirit to 1981, when Simple Minds were slowly molting from post-punk into new wave and pop rock. The threatening rainy weather, as expected, didn’t faze the Scots in the slightest. Even during the downpour that broke out in the middle of the rousing hit »Mandela Song«, they kept their performance at an exceptionally high level and carried it off as professionally as you could ask. The heavy rain, of course, hit the crowd that much harder, and it took them quite a while to pull themselves together again and properly fill in for Kerr when he offered them a few choruses to sing between songs. »Mandela Day«, on the first anniversary of the death of this great fighter against Apartheid, sounded incredibly timely in the middle of that evening and all the more moving.
The rain didn’t let up until the very end of the Simple Minds set, though things slowly improved as the show went on. One of the bigger surprises was »Hunter And Hunted«, which could have been a hit anyway, but it’s still a great, synth-driven piece on which keyboardist Andy Gillespie shone with an excellent solo. That was followed by gorgeous renditions of two big hits, »Promised You a Miracle« and »Glittering Prize«, where the drenched crowd finally found its connection with the band again and gave itself over to a wonderful atmospheric magic that not even the ‘sharpened stakes’ pelting mercilessly from the sky for quite some time could dampen. With »Imagination«, Simple Minds played a brand-new song that will probably appear on the upcoming studio album »Big Music«, which is due out in October 2014.
The oldest song of the night was »I Travel«, with its post-punk rhythmic approach and visible early Roxy Music influence, meaning it was written before Simple Minds achieved worldwide fame. With »Dolphins« they moved into the era of the album »Black & White 050505« (2005), one more proof that they don’t neglect their newer period, when they ‘rose from the dead’ after the turn of the millennium and successfully revived interest in their music. One of the night’s highlights was without a doubt the excellent rendition of the art-rock-spiced instrumental »Theme For A Great Cities«, where keyboardist Gillespie especially shone, treating himself to a piece of chewing gum for the occasion and using it to pull some downright hilarious faces.
In 2001, Simple Minds released a covers album called »Neon Lights«, which included their take on the classic »Dancing Barefoot«, originally by Patti Smith. That was followed by a cover of the American new wave band The Call, »Let The Day Begin«, which Simple Minds fans first heard on the special double version of the album »Graffiti Soul« (2009). Most people, especially those seeing a given band live for the first time, tend to get annoyed by covers, but Simple Minds completely ‘adopted’ both of these songs, so there was no reason for a bad mood. Then they wowed us with a phenomenal version of the big hit »Someone, Somewhere in Summertime«, whose nostalgic pulse and lyrics fit the summery seaside setting of this magical evening perfectly. The members of Simple Minds have very mixed feelings when they think back on the nineties, but »See The Lights«, which we heard that night, came out on the album »Real Life« (1991), their last classic, worldwide success.
They wrapped up the main set with their biggest hit, »Don’t You (Forget About Me)«, where not even the impossible weather could spoil the magic of the moment. The crowd was dominated by middle-aged men with more gray streaks than they’d like and disappointed, faded housewives who were lively teenagers back in the days of Simple Minds’ greatest success. Despite the traditionally poor English of Italians, they knew most of the lyrics by heart (at least where the hits are concerned), which means they stepped in eagerly for Kerr whenever he offered them individual choruses to sing.
The first encore of the night held two surprises: the new song »Big Music«, which will almost certainly appear on the upcoming album of the same name, while the classic »New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)« continued the string of successful renditions of standards from the album of the same name, the groundbreaking studio album released in 1982 that brought them their worldwide breakthrough. The second encore, to the great delight of all the longtime Simple Minds fans, as well as those who know and cherish mostly their biggest (radio) hits, featured the lesser-known song »Let It All Come Down« plus two more big hits, »Alive and Kicking« and »Sanctify Yourself«. Sadly, the night’s many high points were over all too soon, just as the weather had relatively stabilized and the mood in front of the stage had really come alive. The proof that »Sanctify Yourself« was the final act of the evening came when the band, to the sounds of Bowie’s classic »The Jean Genie«, thanked the crowd for its support, after which the members slowly left the stage one by one. Kerr was in no hurry, though: he was the last to leave, and to the accompaniment of that beloved Bowie evergreen he showed off a few more funny dance moves as a farewell.
Even though almost all of us ended up soaked ‘to the bone’ in front of the stage, Simple Minds’ show in Lignano was a real treat for every nostalgic fan of big new wave hits with the occasional art-rock molasses. The sound was very good even in the storm, while the stage lighting was a real feast for the eyes. It was occasionally a bit irritating that some people in the crowd went overboard with their umbrellas, which repeatedly blocked the view of the whole stage and all the band members, but despite that minor annoyance we could be sure all night long that Simple Minds are a band that remains young at heart and sounds no worse than in the days of their greatest feats. Legendary new wave bands aren’t easy to see up close these days, so we were really lucky that Simple Minds showed up relatively close to our border. Of course, it was impossible to hear every hit from the eighties that night, and we did miss »Belfast Child« and »All The Things She Said«, but in return we heard superbly played and sung standards from nearly every chapter of their rich career.
Setlist
1. Waterfront
2. Broken Glass Park
3. Love Song
4. Mandela Day
5. Hunter and the Hunted
6. Promised You a Miracle
7. Glittering Prize
8. Imagination
9. I Travel
10. Dolphins
11. Theme For Great Cities
12. Dancing Barefoot (orig. Patti Smith)
13. Let the Day Begin (orig. The Call)
14. Someone Somewhere In Summertime
15. See The Lights
16. Don’t You (Forget About Me)
—Encore I—
17. Big Music
18. New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
—Encore II—
19. Let It All Come Down
20. Alive and Kicking
21. Sanctify Yourself
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