Simple Minds / 1927

Andy J Ryan Apr 26, 2023

Simple Minds - Lyric Theatre, 25 March, 2010

Legendary Scottish stalwarts Simple Minds played an exclusive Sydney sideshow at Star City's Lyric Theatre.

Once you've played to six-figure audiences and in sporting arenas, every other stage will seem small, but no gesture will ever seem too big. Simple Minds entered the smoke-machine shrouded Lyric Theatre and proceeded to pull out all the stadium stops.

During the opener 'Sanctify Yourself, we were almost instantaneously invited to do some hands-above-our-heads clapping; a few verses later it was the time-honoured call/response crowd singing and Jim Kerr was chest-clutching, crucifix posing and grasping the hands of the front row like a deity himself. And you'd better believe the word "Sydney" was yelled out a fair few times. Despite the over-the-top delivery, the stage set-up was quite, well, simple, with the black-clad band just supplemented occasionally by a lungful lass belting out soul-tinged backing vocals. The lights too were something to behold, with each extravagant Kerr arm flourish or mic twirl illuminated in second-sun-strength wattage.

While this would indeed be better suited to a large capacity stadium, it almost felt like it was too much in the staid and fully seated intimate surrounds of the Lyric Theatre. The thing is, the band do have the blockbuster hits to back it up so by halfway through the first song and for the remainder of the night, the seats became obsolete most of the crowd were on their feet and singing along despite themselves.

It is interesting to see how a band of once mega-star stature, and with such an enduring career, treat their back catalogue. Despite Simple Minds still writing and recording new albums across their 30-plus years, tonight the people are here for the hits. We get them, and frequently. 'See the Lights', 'Love Song' and 'The American' all shone and were sung along as prompted by the crowd and 'Someone, Somewhere in Summertime' was slowed down to a croon to let Kerr show off a bit of his vocal range.

The set built towards the song I'd imagined most everyone was waiting for - 'Don't You (Forget About Me) - the band's highest profile hit, which unfortunately for their royalty accounts they didn't actually write. It came about two-thirds through - and it was amazing: three levels of people on their feet, arms adrift and belting out the words, each perhaps thinking of their own current or lost -and hopefully non-amnesiac - love or crush, or maybe just wistfully reminiscing about Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club. They followed it up with the jolting '80s beats of 'Promised You a Miracle' and also threw in a rather deft 'Glittering Prize' before proclaiming "We love you, thank you and goodnight".

It wasn't the end of course, and the band remained 'Alive and Kicking' for a few songs yet. We were assured that they had "loved every second of it" before the band took their bows to a beaming audience, postponing any chance we'd have to forget about them.