Paul S Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 I'd always been fairly ambivalent about them - enjoyed some of their hits back in the day but never considered myself a fan or anything. Mrs S was always quite keen and we ended up getting tickets to see them locally (Cliff's Pavilion, Westcliff) the night before last. They were superb. Jim Kerr is an absolute superstar, I never realised. He totally engaged with the crowd, had them in his hand from word go. It is a long time since I have seen an entire audience so captivated. And he looks, sounds and moves exactly as he did 25years ago? How does he do that? All in all the sound was excellent and they played their guts out for over 2 hrs. Bassist was ok - about 9ft tall, I'd guess. Did his job. Interesting to see him use a pick for the slap bass bits - he still popped but no thumbs. Just felt the urge to post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1366373776' post='2051670'] Jim Kerr is an absolute superstar, I never realised. He totally engaged with the crowd, had them in his hand from word go. It is a long time since I have seen an entire audience so captivated. And he looks, sounds and moves exactly as he did 25years ago? How does he do that? All in all the sound was excellent and they played their guts out for over 2 hrs. [/quote]I saw them at the Hammersmith Odeon in the mid 80s just before they went really big and played stadiums. From the moment the curtains opened Jim Kerr made an instant connection with the audience. A true showman who knows how to work a crowd without being 'cheesy'. Great band. I always wondered why they seemed to almost disappear whilst other bands of that era (notably U2) never did. Funny old business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatboter Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 It struck me that you can't say Jim Kerr ever sang out of tune... great band. Had a huge influence on me at a certain moment years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisthebass Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 One of my all time favourite gigs was when I saw Simple Minds at Wembley Arena in 1989 on the back of the "Street Fighting Years" album. Great show with all the old favourites - Malcolm Foster was playing bass that night. Good player, wonder whatever happened to him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbaby Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 The bass player is Ged Grimes, who I have seen with many bands over the years as he is/was local, used to play for Danny Wilson as well, and yes, he is a tall chap and very pleasant with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb213 Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 This was the 2nd time I'd seen them at the Cliffs. Thought they were great. They decided to play some of their older and less-known tracks, which was a nice touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.