I feel my ONE piece of fair and constructive criticism (if indeed a wish for the set list to have a few more songs and to wish for the stage time to be just a little longer than it is can actually be DEEMED a criticism?!) has been taken out of context, misconstrued, turned into others to pile on all sorts of unwarranted criticisms from what Jim’s wearing and his general appearance to how much of Gordy Goudie is visible (if you get my gist!). All of which is petty-minded codswallop. Jim can wear a bin liner and look exactly as he appeared in a dream to me last year (in which I drew a sketch of how he looked which I titled “Big Chief Baldilocks” due to his Native American Headress style hair cut in said dream), and Gordy can wear clear PVC troosers for all I care…as long as he performs well (and that goes for Jim too – the performing well…okay and the clear PVC troosers!), that is the raison d’être for them being on stage.
Other pieces of criticism have been the number of covers being performed (current count being four: Andy Warhol, Dancing Barefoot, For What It’s Worth, and Long Black Train). Well, for me personally, I discount two of those already, as they are so intrinsic to Simple Minds to me, I don’t see them as covers – Dancing Barefoot and Long Black Train. The other criticism being the lack of more modern Simple Minds songs.
We do have a fair whack of songs from New Gold Dream on the set list to be fair…currently, the title track and opener to the set, New Gold Dream…Glittering Prize, Promised You A Miracle (which through the European leg of the tour is being performed as a duet with KT Tunstall), Big Sleep and the one shared here…Somone Somewhere In Summertime. But…NGD was their breakthrough album. It’s a landmark in the Simple Minds story. It’s seminal. And it is quite possibly the band’s Magnum Opus. And, acoustically…the songs WORK. I mean…who knew it? But they really work. That almost…evangelical quality that album exudes translating into an acoustic set up…you would never think it possible! But here we are. And here very much is a case in point…
Someone Somewhere In Summertime…
