News: Simple Minds Announce November Arena Shows
2 min read
(UK) Following the acclaim of their 16th album Big Music and current tour, due to demand and to cap off what has been a remarkable year for the band, Simple Minds will play three arena shows in November.
Big Music sees the band rekindling the energy and attitude, the mystery and magic that made them one of the greatest bands on the planet. It’s a swaggering collection that reiterates the band’s world-class credentials; a culmination of a decade of stealthy rediscovery that has seen the band make two albums, 2005’s Black & White 050505 and 2009’s Graffiti Soul, before reminding us all of their legacy with the acclaimed X5 boxed set and subsequent 5X5 Live album and tour.
With a touring cast that now sees Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill joined by stalwart drummer Mel Gaynor, keyboardist Andy Gillespie, bassist Ged Grimes, backing vocalists Sarah Brown and Catherine AD (additional keys and guitars), Simple Minds have a settled line-up that enables them to look and feel like a proper band again. Made with an array of collaborators old and new – including co-writer Iain Cook (of Glasgow band CHVRCHES) and producers Andy Wright and Gavin Goldberg – Big Music is an irresistible mix of artistry and accessibility.
Simple Minds have undergone rightful reappraisal and renaissance in recent years. More relevant than ever, they have been lauded in recent times by NME (included in their ‘100 Most Influential Bands’), The Guardian and Mojo, and artists including The Horrors, The Killers, King Creosote, Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream and Radiohead. Last year the band played to 130,000 people in the UK alone – the most ever in one year.
Big Music is an album that combines a sense of sonic euphoria with some of the most personal lyrics Jim has ever written. It does justice to the Simple Minds legacy, an album that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Empires And Dance, New Gold Dream and Sparkle In The Rain. Simple Minds are “widely regarded as one of the best live bands in the world” (BBC Breakfast) and over a 30-year career have been responsible for some of the most innovative and enduring anthems in rock music.
Jim Kerr had this to say regarding the band’s special guests The Stranglers: “Stranglers always were one of our favourite live acts. We know our audience will appreciate seeing both bands together during this arena tour.”
SIMPLE MINDS BIG MUSIC TOUR 2015:
*TICKETS GO ON SALE 10AM FRIDAY 24TH APRIL
THU 26TH NOVEMBER – LONDON THE O2 ARENA | TICKETS
FRI 27TH NOVEMBER – LEEDS FIRST DIRECT ARENA | TICKETS
SAT 28TH NOVEMBER – GLASGOW SSE HYDRO | TICKETS
