“Further details about their highly anticipated concert at Bellahouston Park,” read the preamble on the Simple Minds Facebook page – with this poster. It said everything in one glimpse. I screamed – in horror!
I’m sure this was announced as a further enticement to generate movement through low ticket sales. I have seen a number of fans who would otherwise be keen to see SM play in their hometown decline the invitation to see them play due to committing themselves to other shows further afield that were put on sale prior to this. I guess either way things could have backfired but it does seem like it’s been quite the faux pas on the management side of things to have held the Bellahouston Park show back and put the other shows on sale first. I get the feeling that as a result, the Bellahouston sales have trickled in and this announcement is purely a ploy for bolstering sales.
Will it make a difference? I’m not sure. For one, some fans just don’t have the funds they used to and having committed to see the band elsewhere, they can’t just “tag on another show” and alter their plans. Lucky for the band that I am seeing some wealthier fans from abroad contemplating making long journeys from far and wide to see them in Glasgow. Will they make a difference to the ticket sales? Given the relatively low figures of fans in the position to do such a thing, I doubt they will make much impact.
On a more personal level, I specifically held out for a home gig. I really couldn’t commit to going elsewhere to see them this time round. That is compounded by my enthusiasm for all things Simple Minds finally tapering off and reaching a …. healthier level. The glasses are no longer rose-tinted. I never felt like a raging sycophant as it was. And I have certainly never declared a love for every single song the band has ever produced.
Over the past decade I have grown increasingly over-exposed to the content on the Once Upon A Time album to such an extent that I stopped listening to it many years ago. Before I explored the SM back catalogue to the depth that I did around 2014 and into 2015, I would have said that OUAT was one of my most favourite SM albums. Indeed ‘Sanctify Yourself’ was one of my favourite songs of theirs before “mega” fandom kicked in. I also really loved ‘Ghostdancing’ (or is it ‘Ghost Dancing’? A bone of contention when it comes to working with this song title for the book!) – and I used to love watching the ‘Alive and Kicking’ video. But then I became exposed to ssoooo much stronger, better, darker, more impressive musical content from them that very quickly my love for these songs waned. It has been compounded, I’m sad to say, by the endless exposure to them live. My once ardent love for ‘Sanctify Yourself’ has now been reduced to nothing short of indifference bordering on loathing.
I think back to Newcastle in 2022 and trying to ask Jim about the lines to ‘Sanctify’ that he constantly fluffs and he was just so blase about it and I was so pissed off that he just doesn’t care. For someone who goes on and on about “giving 100 per cent night after night” – it’s obviously his own interpretation of what “100 per cent” is. All I can say in the case of this is that, Jim – if you ever come here to read this blog (which I highly doubt, but I’m humouring myself here) – I’m telling you now, if you get the words to ‘Sanctify Yourself’ wrong at Bellahouston Park come 27 June 2025, I’m done! That will be the last Simple Minds concert I will go to. Unless there are some incredibly mitigating circumstances (ie: You decide on a Sons and Fascination celebration, or hell freezes over and Derek, Mick and Brian join you on stage, or you’ve discovered the fountain of youth and you return to being a 22/23 year old sex god) – it ain’t gonna happen.
Honestly, I can’t tell you how much my reaction to this announcement this morning countered my initial tentative excitement of the gig being announced in the first place. It is everything I don’t want it to be! How many times have I heard ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’, ‘Alive and Kicking’ and ‘Sanctify Yourself’ at the gigs I’ve gone to in the past decade? EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. That’s 33 times for all three of these songs. I’ve heard ‘All The Things She Said’ 11 times at gigs (I can’t account for any incidents where it might have been performed at soundchecks I’ve attended – my memory isn’t that good!). I’ve heard ‘Once Upon A Time’ 12 times (again, like with the previous, I cannot account for times I may have seen it be performed during soundchecks). I’ve heard/seen ‘Ghostdancing’ performed just once to my knowledge – at Newcastle in 2022.
‘Come A Long Way’ was performed live this year – not at any of the shows I went to. I wasn’t bothered about seeing it played anyway. So that only leaves ‘I Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Oh Jungleland’ as genuine underexposed tracks for me, along with ‘Ghostdancing’ as I have only seen it once. I guess I could place ‘Come A Long Way’ in that list too. It was played only a handful of times all year.
So…yeah. To say I was deflated by the announcement would be somewhat of an understatement. I guess there are redeeming points to it. Firstly, the acts that are on the bill with them. Though to be honest, I am gutted that Hamish will be on first because it means he’ll be on for the shortest amount of time. Conversely, he should get me psyched up for the rest of the day. KT Tunstall is always great to see. And I am dead excited at the prospect of seeing Future Islands.
All that said, I’m worried that Simple Minds will be the anti-climax to the day. I really can’t get excited about seeing all of Once Upon A Time performed in its entirety. My mind is just swimming with the dread of Jim fucking up “Sannyfy” YET AGAIN. My advice to Jim will be – watch Hamish. Watch a man who knows how important it is to perform the songs with the lyrics you have written. Hamish is EXACTING in his delivery of his songs – lyrically perfect – and it is one of the things I love most about him. He’s a wordsmith and he loves delivering his words properly. And that brings me so much enjoyment when I watch him. And I know he’ll deliver EVERY TIME!
And after Simple Minds perform the whole of Once Upon A Time? We’re promised “+ their greatest hits” – well, at least there might be some other songs that get a look in as ‘Don’t You’, ‘Alive and Kicking’ and “Sannyfy” are already taken in this instance. Lol.
I never wanted to become one of those moaning Mini’s but FUCK ME! I’m trying my best to see something good about this, I really am. As long as they don’t perform it all LITCOL style. If they go down that path, I’ll walk out of Bellahouston and go home.
The only things that can make it worse is if the weather is fucking shite and all.
Anyone want a ticket?
