This Spring, thanks to Talk Radio 702 and Real Concerts, Simple Mind’s fans in South Africa will have the opportunity to see and hear Simple Minds revisit the many chapters of their storied career and much more on the group’s (bands) Greatest Hits Live tour. They will be playing on the 1 & 2 November 2013 at the Big Top Arena at Carnival City in Johannesburg and 3 November at Grand Arena at GrandWest Casino in Cape Town.
Simple Minds are arguably one of the best live bands in the world. Spanning a thirty year career, they have been responsible for some of the most innovative and enduring anthems in rock music. The band scored a string of hit singles, and are best known for their 1985 hit “Don`t You (Forget About Me)” (UK #7, US #1), from the soundtrack of the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club. Their other more prominent hits include “Alive and Kicking” (UK #7, US #3) and “Belfast Child” (UK #1).
Having topped America`s Billboard chart, the Glasgow band have achieved six No.1 albums in the UK as well hitting the top spot in countless other territories including Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is that people say to me what Simple Minds are you talking about? The avant-garde, the art-rock, the pop, the ambient, the instrumental group, the political, the folk, the stadium band? We’ve been on one hell of a journey. To play all those different styles but at the same time be quintessentially Simple Minds is an amazing thing,” says frontman Jim Kerr.
Simple Minds have influenced acts as diverse as the Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream, Moby and The Horrors. They have been sampled by Nicky Minaj, David Guetta, Joey Negro and Freddy Bastone. They have provided memorable movie moments for directors Christian Carion (L’AffaireFarewell), Gregor Jordan (The Informers), Cameron Crowe (Elizabethtown) and, of course, John Hughes (The Breakfast Club). They have topped the British charts half a dozen times, with the studio albums Sparkle In The Rain (1984), Once Upon A Time (1985) and Street Fighting Years as well as the Ballad Of The Streets EP (both 1989), the concert recording Live In The City Of Light (1987), and the compilation Glittering Prize 81/92, and returned to the UK Top Ten with Graffiti Soul, their most recent studio album, in 2009.
“When we started Simple Minds, our objective was to be considered as one of the great live bands. A band that had the desire to go all around the world – playing everywhere and anywhere,” added Kerr.
Tickets are now available through Computicket.
