Review: Simple Minds, Leeds O2 Academy

Such was the case for Simple Minds at Leeds’s O2 Academy.

An earlier than billed start ensured the first songs were missed before being squeezed into a crammed hall to see Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill leading the band through Up on the Catwalk.

The favourites kept on coming for the largely male, 40-something audience who were lapping it up, particularly with All The Things She Said from the Once Upon A Time album before the band closed the first half of the set with a pulsating I Travel from their electronic, pre-stadium rock 80s phase.

Returning after a 10-minute interval, an intro to Book of Brilliant Things eventually led into two songs which were among the highlights of the night. A driving The American ensured the hand-claps and audience singalongs were cranked up to new heights, before a gloriously delirious version of minor 1981 hit Love Song swiftly followed.

She’s a River was also well worth including in the 130-minute set, while the charismatic Kerr – whose voice sometimes got lost amid the flurry of sound being blasted out – demonstrated how easily he can still work a hall, always displaying a genuine warmth towards the crowd. As you would expect, Don’t You Forget About Me provoked the biggest cheers of the night, before New Gold Dream, the title track from the album most people consider their finest moment in 1983, was a fitting end to the main set. The encore began with Sanctify Yourself, then Space, before the noise levels were soon ratcheted up to maximum effect again for the opening bars of the grand finale Alive and Kicking.