I watched it as it aired on Sky Arts on Friday evening. And I would really love to discuss it but now I feel frightened to express an opinion even on what used to feel like the relative safety of my own blog. I genuinely believed that most people (most SM fans that are present within the Facebook fan pages) didn’t give two shits about this blog and rarely ever visited. After last weekend, it would appear that perhaps I was incorrect in that assumption?
I’m still reeling from it. I don’t think my Facebook feed has been so devoid of Simple Minds content since … well, 2014, when I first got into this “diehard” fandom business.
I may just air some questions I have regarding the broadcast instead. On the choice of why not to perform in front of an audience, I felt Jim’s reasoning was a bit…I dunno. I mean, just a couple of months prior to that, you had no qualms at all about performing it in front of thousands of people at Princes Street Gardens. It became pretty obvious on the day that the decision was probably more to do with wanting to record it and bring out the live audio recording of it. Why not just say that THAT was the reason for no audience?
I felt that aspect of it (no audience present) made it void of atmosphere, especially as Jim himself was performing as if an audience was in front of him.
The main thing that grinded my gears with the airing was why the f*ck did Sky choose to insert parts of JIm and Charlie’s interview OVER THE TOP of them performing the songs? I mean – WHY? I mean, thank fork there is going to be an audio release of the recording because you couldn’t enjoy the thing for what it was on Friday night (well, I couldn’t). That aspect of it just defied belief to me on Friday night. Surely I am not the only one who is of this opinion? If I am, then …bloody hell, I am truly cast adrift from the Minds fandom!
The other thing I kept thinking was …. Where are the keyboards? Why can’t I hear anything that Berenice is doing? Other than her solo on Hunter And The Hunted (and even then, that was just about audible), her keys are so buried in the mix, it’s unreal. Compare it to the footage that was shown of Newcastle in 1982 and how clearly you can hear Mick and… *shrug*
I’d like to discuss more. Heck, I would LOVE to discuss more, but I daren’t.
The positives I took from it – Ged was slaying it, Cherisse was OWNING it, Charlie was sounding great, it was filmed beautifully…
And I think that is all I will allow myself to say.
I’m guessing any day now there’ll be more tour news? Three dates in New Zealand can’t be all that’s happening for 2024? Right? RIGHT?!