There continues to be more dates and info drip-feeding through on the Simple Minds front. Another set of dates added to the growing list for summer 2025. This time we now have a date for Dutch fans with the band’s inclusion in the line-up for the BosPop festival in Weert on 12 July. Along with that there was information announced for support acts on the bill for the UK dates – as follows: China Crisis for the first two shows at Lincoln and Southampton. Simple Minds then perform at the grounds of Trinity College in Dublin on 1 July (no support acts have been announced for this as yet), Alison Moyet and KT Tunstall for Bedford and Derby, with KT Tunstall alone for Halifax. Between Bedford and Halifax is the date at the Lytham festival on 6 July – where they share the bill with numerous other acts on the day.
They’re trying to lure me in by putting Alison Moyet on the bill for Bedford, the shifty buggers! Lol. I’d love to see her but I really can’t see Bedford happening, esp. not now that I have committed to travel to London at the end of April to see Catherine. Not so long ago it would have been ‘the more the merrier’ but not these days.
I’m pissed off with Franz Ferdinand too! They announced a date for August yesterday, but they are playing my least favourite venue in Glasgow – SWG3, in the Galvanizers area of the venue. If it had been around May or June, that would have been great, but mid-August? The nights are already drawing in again and SWG3 is just in this location that’s too shifty for my liking. It’s near enough to Partick subway and train stations but there is that walk between this bit of park just off the expressway and after dark that just feels too – iffy. Cabs are no use, as drivers just don’t know their way to the venue well enough. The streets are too quiet around there. It’s just a shitty location. I’ve only been that one time to see the Lemon Twigs and…it’s just not a place I enjoyed much. The TV Studio had the stickiest floor. I thought my shoes were going to remain permanently attached; they were feeling stuck to superglue. Really weird. I’d rather the Hydro any day of the week…or anywhere else in Glasgow. There’s a few acts now that I’ve wanted to see but as soon as I see that they’re playing SWG3 I think ‘Yeah, nah.’
Other than that, well …. I’ve had a few days of not coping too well with stuff. Things weighing on my mind and a bit of a financial scare over the past 24 hours. Some fraudulent activity on my debit card – luckily I’m permanently skint to fuck, so no one was actually able to make any fraudulent purchases with my card and thankfully my bank picked up on the fraud and all ended up okay. It has resulted in a bit of mad scramble to sort out payments that were due to be taken over the next few days. Then there is the book, uni, all of that. Christmas is imminent. A row of gigs.
So, I’ve been delving into the catalogue of Jonathan Richman once again. A few years back when I was going through yet another dark period, I found comfort in listening to Jonathan and in particular a live track from Having a Party with Jonathan Richman called ‘Monologue About Bermuda.’ A few nights back I had opened up Spotify seeking something different to listen to and I was scrolling through the ‘new releases’ notifications and saw a new release from Jonathan Richman titled On Parade (Live New York ‘88). I was soothed into a lovely dwam. The following night I wanted to listen to more and listened back over ‘Monologue About Bermuda.’ It had been a while. My face burst into a smile almost immediately. As I was listening to the tune I was laying there thinking ‘How on earth was this man inspired into music by Lou Reed of all people? He’s ssoo sweet, funny and gentle. His music has this innocence and naivety to it.’ I think he is just a beautiful man. I was thinking about the Lou Reed/Velvet Underground connection because Jonathan’s music is the complete antithesis to Reed’s stuff. Richman’s music is full of sunshine and warmth. It’s like an aural warm hug. It’s so uplifting and I adore it. There’s a part of ‘Monologue About Bermuda’ where he mocks himself, talking about an old Modern Lovers song called ‘She Cracked’ and how pretentious it was.
Moving on from listening to that, I went looking for other live content of his on Spotify and found Modern Lovers ‘Live’ from 1977. It’s PERFECT! The third track, ‘Ice Cream Man,’ goes on for EIGHT MINUTES – it’s both grating and sublime in equal measure. But the one that sent a lump to my throat and had me welling up was the final track, titled ‘The Morning of Our Lives.’ It’s just a beautiful song of hope and a reaffirmation for when you don’t feel like you’re enough and you’re not worthy, that you are. Jonathan tells you so.
As well as that, I delved into the latest episode of Desert Island Discs. I don’t listen to it too often these days. Not even sure I listened to Bonio’s [sic] one, even with his choice of ‘Someone Somewhere in Summertime’ as one of his discs. This week it was the turn of Mark Steel. I love his comedy – so much so that the OH and I went and saw him at The Garage in March last year. He was fantastic. I knew he’d have great taste in music and he’s had such an interesting life too. I had to listen to it. I wasn’t disappointed both by his musical choices and his fascinating background and life story. What a journey he’s been on. I highly recommend listening to it. Listen HERE
I think that’s me for now. Keep on keeping on everyone.