On March 30th, iconic rock group Simple Minds packed out Glasgow’s famous OVO Hydro for a second night.
First to grace the stage was Glasgow’s own Del Amitri. As they gear up to begin their first song, Justin Currie, lead singer, noted his excitement by stating “second night in Glasgow, what’s not to love”, followed by the opening drum beat to hit song “Always the Last to Know”. As the crowd began to flood the Hydro, Del Amitri continued on with their much loved set. Coming to the end of the set, Del Amitri encouraged a sing-a-long to their popular song “Nothing Ever Happens”, which was met with much enthusiasm, just before ending with a powerful accordion solo from band member, Andy Alston.
Simple Minds opened their second night at the OVO Hydro with ‘Waterfront’ from their ‘Sparkle in the Rain’ album. As the consistent beat at the beginning of the song ringed through the speakers, the whole band made their way onto the stage and were greeted with a deafening cheer. With a load of flashing lights, lead singer Jim Kerr made his way from one side of the stage to the other, showing off as Glasgow’s greatest hype man. He goes on to execute the first song with the perfect amount of energy whilst breaking usual vocal form, keeping the audience well and truly engaged.
Kerr continued to keep the audience engaged as he spoke for the band saying “how delighted we are to be back in Glasgow… back in Scotland” followed by what can only be described as his signature microphone limbo move.
Throughout the show there are various links to previous albums, a favourite of mine being ‘Once upon a time’ with the album cover graphics shown on screens during the title track performance. It was an incredible way to show the band’s revolution since the 1985 album release.
Photo by Sophie Jones
Whilst there are multiple things worth talking about from the packed Hydro show, a personal favourite of mine is the safe atmosphere and whole sense of togetherness influenced by the band encouraging a sing-a-long to hit song ‘Let there be love’. An audience filled with some well travelled members, coming together to sing the lyrics “so let there be love”.
An incredible drum solo from Cherisse Osei led us into another well loved song, Belfast Child. As a sea of phones filled the air, with everyone ready to remember the fan favourite song. It wasn’t all high energy though, as Kerr took to stage to give a seven minute, heavy performance of the song which focuses on the troubles, slowing the tempo of the concert down drastically. This song is an amazing way to show off the unique vocal range of Kerr.
Just before the four song encore, the band introduced chart topping single ‘Don’t you (forget about me)’. The crowd immediately were back on their feet, bouncing, singing, shouting and dancing. The atmosphere turned electric once again leaving everyone wanting more.
From the 1970’s when my gran watched Johnny and the Self Abusers (Simple minds previous name) play in Mars Bar in Glasgow, to myself watching them pack out 2 nights in Glasgow’s famous arena, there’s one thing for sure they’re anything but simple.