Simple Minds
Live In The City Of Diamonds
★★★
BMG
In the spirit of 1987’s Live In The City Of Light (Paris) and 2019’s Live In The City Of Angels (LA), Live In The City Of Diamonds finds Simple Minds in Amsterdam (rather than the actual city of diamonds, Antwerp) last April. It’s short on surprises beyond Jim Kerr namechecking Joseph Conrad on the oldest song, 1980’s This Fear Of Gods, and there’s nothing from this century. Yet for all the potential water-treading, cloudbusting singer Sarah Brown leavens the testosterone (“That’s rock’n’roll,” bellows Jim Kerr at the end of She’s A River, with a relish that may not have impressed his younger self), and it’s a stirring romp through most of the hits. The songs still stand up, not least the much-maligned Belfast Child, which is all the better for being expanded over 10 luxuriously languid minutes.
Simple Minds Live In The City Of Diamonds is out April 25 on BMG.
ORDER: Amazon | Rough Trade | HMV
Tracklisting:
Waterfront
Love Song
Sons And Fascination
Sweat In Bullet
This Fear Of Gods
Let There Be Love
She’s A River
Once Upon A Time
Glittering Prize
New Gold Dream
Promised You A Miracle
Belfast Child
Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)
See The Lights
Book Of Brilliant Things
Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Alive And Kicking
Sanctify Yourself
Vision Thing
The American
Solstice Kiss
Premonition
Hunter And The Hunted
Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel
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