28 Aug, 2007 Something clicks
On a chilly enough Edinburgh night almost a year ago from now, we played what was to be the last concert date of our quite extensive Black and White tour. It was more than a blast!
Set up bang in the middle of Princess Street Gardens and with Edinburgh castle perched on the rocky precipice above us. There we were live from the craggy rock face! We easily found that night to be a quite electrifying experience and instantly up there among the most memorable of all our concerts.
Among a fair amount of friends and family members we as usual had a more than wonderful audience and I am equally confident that the band delivered on our side of the bargain. It may have been the very last set of an extensive tour, thankfully there was no hint of fatigue evident during the two hour set.
Backstage afterwards, I recall we felt that it was one of the most intense and energetic shows of the whole jaunt and resultantly there was both a quiet pride and a fair amount of relief that an enjoyable and successful tour had concluded with so much good feeling in the air. In fact as concerts go it was almost perfect and a genuinely great way to say thanks and goodbye – albeit for the moment!
As always on those end of tour occasions there were an amount of mixed emotions that the months of touring had eventually come screaming to a stop. Bewilderment even that it was time to once again say bye to the touring life and all that it includes, i.e., the people and the friends, and of course the music and the rituals that make up for so much of it.
Alternately I have to admit that sensing we had easily achieved what we had set out to do with our show, night after night and city after city, I was in a nice way looking forward to stepping out of the group circle, least for a while. Quite ready to take a pause for breath if the truth should be known!
But that was then!
Being back in Edinburgh some days ago I realised that I was in a spot only some metres from where we played on that delightful evening twelve months ago. Simultaneously it was then that something clicked within and almost instantly I was charged up with the renewed want to get out and get to performing as soon as possible. More than that, it felt that some part of me was evidently coming to life again after being put in deep dark storage for…well, for too long.
That feeling has continued over these days that have followed and I don’t expect it to diminish. This time last year we needed the hiatus, and now it is time to throw ourselves deep again in to energetic creativity. Having spoken to Charlie Burchill yesterday I know that he is of the same mind entirely. As is Mel Gaynor and most probably Eddie Duffy too.
My long time friend Martin Hanlin has been asking over these last few months when I felt we would get a working momentum back. Without knowing why, I usually responded that exactly one year from finishing our last campaign, we would cross a psychological divide and only then self propel into the next phase of Simple Minds.
Was merely a notion but it seems more than likely that it has come to pass! I really am now looking forward to the weeks and months ahead!
Jim Kerr