Simple Minds played Roseland Ballroom (pics & setlist)

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin; words by Bill Pearis

Simple Minds @ Roseland Ballroom, 10/24/13

Some bands that aspire to arenas or have played them, can’t recalibrate their show to a smaller space. The lead singer of an unknown band can look like a wannabe Bono when making broad gestures and playing to the back of the room when the back of the room is only yards rather than miles away. A big act reduced in scope can appear monolithic. Not Simple Minds. I wish I had credits for the show because their lighting in particular was excellent and far superior to what bands can usually muster for Roseland. It was stadium ready in its subtlety and dramatic effects but their were adjusted well for the stage the band was actually playing on. Their sound mix was excellent: for me, lead singer Jim Kerr’s vocals are always slightly buried more in the mix than I would choose, but this has clearly been an aesthetic choice for decades, not the fault of the mixer. The core of the band has always been founding members Kerr and Charlie Burchill (keyboards and co-songwriter on many tunes). But this lineup has been steady for the longest period in the group’s history. So this is as Simple Minds a group of musicians as any Simple Minds lineup has ever been and their tightness and power in playing as a group came across wonderfully. – [HufPo]

Simple Minds just finished their first North American tour in more than a decade on Thursday (10/24) at Roseland (which is closing in April). The band — featuring singer Jim Kerr and longtime members Charlie Burchill and Mel Gaynor — played two sets, including hits like “All the Things She Said She Said,” “Alive and Kicking” and “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” plus a fair number of deep cuts, including their terrific instrumental “Theme for Great Cities.” No “Up on the Catwalk,” but they did do “Hunter and the Hunted” and “Glittering Prize,” both from New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). Full setlist and pictures from the show are in this post.

More below…

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Simple Minds @ Roseland Ballroom 10/24/2013
Broken Glass Park
Waterfront
All the Things She Said
Let the Day Begin (The Call cover)
Hunter and the Hunted
Glittering Prize
Speed Your Love To Me (instrumental)
I Travel
Someone Somewhere in Summertime
This Fear of Gods
The American
Love Song
Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Promised You a Miracle
Theme for Great Cities
Sanctify Yourself
Alive and Kicking