Well, where does one start? Firstly, I have to say I felt sorry for the Kiwis and the Aussies as it did seem as though they got short changed on the tour, with primarily outdoor gigs for the Kiwis, which limited the size of the setlist. For the Aussies, considering there were several indoor gigs with no support act – they got an even worse deal, I think – with the sets mostly being around only 14 songs long. That’s fair enough when it comes to outdoor gigs with several bands on the bill on the day, but for the indoor gigs? They were short changed! No other way to see it, I’m afraid. I would say the exception to this is possibly Sydney as in fairness to the band, they performed two shows in one night at the Opera House. I couldn’t help but compare it to my experience of the two shows at the Vega in Copenhagen in March 2020. The band (at short notice, mind!) performed two shows on the night of 10 March and the sets were 18 songs a piece. I have a setlist from the second show that GG had given me.
Other than the short changed setlist and the fact that some fans would like the opportunities for soundcheck and meet and greet experiences Down Under, all seemed largely positive for the Antipodean fans. There were few gripes – and to be fair to the fans I saw commenting, most didn’t feel they were being short changed by the set lengths.
Us in Europe on the other hand were looking on and thinking, you guys better be giving us more than that!! We were letting it be known that 14 songs wisnae gonna cut it! Not only that – we wanted TRUE diversity in the sets – again, unlike what the Antipodes was getting.
Then there was Dubai – don’t get me started! I almost completely forgot about that one! I wish I had done. The less said about it, the better – for many reasons. Least of all the notion that it’s fine to play at a place like that and not feel even a modicum of hypocrisy for performing a song like Belfast Child there. Hmmm…ANYWAY! Moving on…
In the lead up to the first show in Leeds on 15 March, I have to say I was feeling heavy with doubt. I wasn’t convinced the setlists were going to be any longer than they had been in Oz/NZ, because the band had the excuse of having Del Amitri as their support and therefore could have pleaded a narrower performance window. I was fully expecting that to be the case. I was also feeling very doubtful that there would be much diversity to the list of songs performed on any given night. I had learned to take Jim’s promise of a good rotation of songs and a changing setlist with a HUGE pinch…well, frankly, a whole pillar of salt!
You could have blown me down with a feather when I saw the setlist from the show! Not only was the setlist 18 songs long (which, I felt was a little short but it was a whole lot better than 13/14 songs) – there were songs performed that hadn’t been played in YEARS that I had never seen performed live before. The word coming from the fans was that the first night in Leeds was OFF THE SCALE. Just absolutely fantastic. And these words were coming from fans that I knew were the type not to pull any punches and tended not to talk in positive hyperbole. But this is what was happening after the Leeds show. That ramped up the excitement for me to attend the show at Manchester the following night. I was starting to bubble with a little enthusiasm but by the same token I was concerned that it was just a opening aberration and it would all go back to formula in Manchester the next night. Well, it didn’t! Manchester was fantastic. There were still some niggles for me. I was honest in my review. I made no bones about how I felt about Sanctify Yourself and the eternal problem I see it having with Jim stuffing up the lines in the second verse time and time again. It really is a big part of the problem with the song for me. I’m pretty sure that he wasn’t making this mistake when I started going to their shows in 2015. I’m sure this is a more recent occurrence. It was certainly more pronounced to me in 2022 – so much so I tried to ask him about it at one of the soundchecks. Of course, he was all dismissive about it and probably cursed me afterwards and wish he could have publicly told me to shut the fuck up and go away. Other than that though…it was pretty fantastic. I was ssooo grateful for the opportunity to go and see a show before the two Glasgow gigs.
Of course, I was absolutely lurgy ridden on the day of the gig and the week that followed. I do wish I could have enjoyed it even more than I did because by the time the gig had started, I was rough! Nothing like old war veteran Kerr labouring through in Milan on Saturday night, of course. But waiting around for a coach to take me back to Glasgow at 2.30am after the show was a bit of fun one! The staff at the Crowne Plaza hotel near Manchester Victoria station were AMAZING though! Bless them.
As the tour continued on through the UK and across to Dublin, it was fast becoming obvious that Jim was actually going to be true to his word this time and there truly was going to be a real shake up of the setlist from show to show.
Here’s a spreadsheet presentation of the songs performed on the UK/Europe leg of the tour posted on SMOG by Paul Molenaar. Look at the list of songs! Wow! There are 37 unique songs on this list that had been performed over the 25 shows in the UK and Europe. Of the 37, just 9 were performed at every show; Waterfront, Glittering Prize, Promised You A Miracle, New Gold Dream, Belfast Child, Someone Somewhere (In Summertime), Don’t You (Forget About Me), Alive And Kicking, and Sanctify Yourself. This Fear Of Gods almost made the list 10 songs – but it was swapped for Dolphins at the penultimate show in Clemont-Ferrand. That means over 25 songs were shifted around and played at various times during this leg of the tour. Some were played several times, and just three; Life In A Day, King Is White And In The Crowd and The Walls Came Down – were the only songs to get a singular performance.
I don’t have to go back through the past tours I’ve attended to know that I have not witnessed a rotation of songs to a set like this! It’s been INCREDIBLE! Also, I must highlight that Jim’s ill health shortened the length of the final three sets meaning at Paris and Clemont-Ferrand, the setlist was 17 songs, and at Milan it was 16 songs.
On to the production itself in terms of lighting and sound – absolutely massive plaudits to the FOH team led by Olivier Gerard as sound engineer and Mark Wynn-Edwards on lights and set design. Amazing work! You guys really know your onions and it shows in spades! Hats off to all the crew.
The band. What can you say? For me, the stars – well, my former drum teacher – she’s quite good! Lol. Erik – I have say a few words about Erik. He’s the quiet achiever. He just gets on with it and delivers. And I love his reserved nature and his dry wit. He’s great! Ged is…pretty much the same as Erik, really….possibly with a more gregarious streak and a more obvious sense of humour, but a real work horse. Gordy is Mr Cool. And Sarah is…the queen of Simple Minds’ soul.
That just leaves Jack and Victor. Batman and Robin. Little and Large. De Niro and Pacino. Sooty and Sweep. Dempsey and Makepeace. Sapphire and Steel. Starsky and Hutch. Cagney and Lacey. Laurel and Hardy!
The only fine mess that one of them got themselves in was Mister not heeding Doctor’s advice towards the end. At least, not FULLY heeding the advice given to him. Silly man! Other than that – he is frontman extraordinaire. There is no frontman quite like him for having the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Mesmerising from the earliest days on – and geez, I didn’t even need to be there to be able to feel how captivating, spellbinding and intoxicating he used to be back in the day. He can still pull it off now though. A lot has changed in his performance; he’s a lot more engaging now and more loquacious and laid-back. Less intense than he used to be, not quite as agile, but still a truly beguiling presence.
And Charlie is just effervescent and exemplary.
That’s it, really. I really do wish I was going to more gigs…but alas – at least not during the summer anyway and not in the UK…and it is VERY unlikely I’ll get to Europe for any show anywhere, either. But I thank the ‘Lewd’ that I got to see the shows that I have done. They were exceptional.