Princes Street is magic

Princes Street is magic

Glaswegian Jim thinks Princes Street is magic.

There are few bands with the sort of massive sound which does justice to big open-air events.

However Scots supergroup Simple Minds know exactly how to project their anthems to build the maximum amount of atmosphere. So when they take to the special stage in Princes Street Gardens, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, for a spectacular T in the Fringe show on August 28, anyone in earshot will be in for a treat. I caught up with frontman and singer Jim Kerr when he made a trip to London for some painful dental work. “I guess it’s the result of years of a bad Glasgow diet,” he laughed.

Jim is feeling inspired at the moment, as he and the band have spent most of the year playing to adoring crowds around the world and promoting their most recent album, Black & White 050505, which gained some of their best reviews in more than a decade.

He says he’s particularly looking forward to the Edinburgh show – the last date of an exhausting world tour. “It’s a magical location. We’ve been lucky enough to play in some unique places, but I’m very fond of Edinburgh. When we first formed there was a shortage of venues in Glasgow, so we did a lot of shows there. “We’ll be filming the show and it’ll look great with the castle lit behind. Mind you, there’s always a chance the elements will play a part in the event – you wouldn’t want to bet on it being dry!” he laughed.

One reason for recording the show for posterity is because the band have their 30th anniversary coming up. “It’s a tricky one,” Jim admitted. “Firstly, we thought ‘Let’s just ignore it’, but then I thought ‘Hang on, why not do something special?’ ” Then the next problem emerged – they aren’t quite sure exactly what to count as their actual anniversary! “It could be taken from when we first formed, or we might wait a couple of years and do it on the anniversary of our first album being released,” Jim explained. “Whatever, I think we’ve proved to ourselves we can carry on and that we’re not finished just yet. One of the reasons we’re bringing the touring to an end this time round is we want to work on new songs.”

Filling a set with material isn’t a problem for a band with a back catalogue like theirs. It’s harder to know what to leave out, as so many of their songs are perfect for big outdoor occasions.

“It’s a great problem to have,” said Jim. “When we started out, there wasn’t the vogue for big outdoor events, particularly in the UK. It’s not every type of music that works when you’re standing in a field with 40,000 people. Even some great artists, like Elvis Costello and Van Morrison, don’t really go down too well there. We started to write songs like Waterfront and build them so they would work in a situation like that.

“I remember when U2 first played Wembley Stadium and we were going to be playing it later. I talked to them and they said they thought a place that size was a bridge too far. But then we got on stage and started doing Waterfront. It worked perfectly and I just thought to myself ‘This is a piece of cake!’” he laughed.

Jim also finds playing big festivals interesting because he gets to meet up with other acts. “Sometimes I’d love to be part of the audience and watch other acts, but doing the shows just leaves me knackered. Basically, at a show like Edinburgh the audience are the stars. We’ve had other acts watch us and be incredibly complimentary. I think it’s because we attack every single gig with absolute relish. The desire we still have sometimes shakes people, especially when there are groups who are considered veterans after two years,” he said proudly.

The bedrock of the band’s success and continued longevity is the creative relationship between Jim and guitarist Charlie Burchill, which is still grounded in deep friendship after so many years. “Sometimes Charlie and I can be driving to a gig sitting beside each other in the back of a car and it’s hard not to be sentimental. Sometimes it’s felt like it’s me and him against the world, even though we have very different lifestyles now,” Jim laughed.

The fact that the band seems to have been reborn of late means the future seems very bright indeed for Jim. “We’ve been touring for almost a year, so we feel on the last lap now. But we crave to write new songs and we feel really energised. Six years ago it was like getting blood out of a stone – nothing was working. In fact, six years ago I would have said we wouldn’t last another six weeks and the most worrying thing was that I felt ok about that. But these things are cyclical – sometimes it’s effortless and sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. All I know is that we’ve been blessed so far and everything feels really good at the moment.”

It looks as though Simple Minds’ return to Edinburgh could be a fitting celebration and a launch pad for their fourth decade of music-making.

For more info about the band, go to their official website at www.simpleminds.com

By Kevin Bridges for The Sunday Post.