Twittering Ends!

Twittering Ends!

It’s been almost three months and the first part of our tour is kind of unwinding towards a full on break. The last couple of weeks have given us plenty time to recharge as to be fair the shows have amounted to only a gig here and there. With that being the pattern over the next fortnight also, it is conceivable that I could end the first part of the tour more relaxed that I was at the beginning, if I consider the fact I had just come off a gruelling three months promo tour prior to our first live date way back in May.

That three months promo schedule was crucial to the campaign launch for Graffiti Soul, the downside was that it prevented me from working on a fitness regime that I would normally take on prior to a heavy touring schedule. The upcoming few weeks break in September will allow me to do just that and I already look forward to returning bang on form for our Formula 1 show in Singapore on September 25th.

But first, I should say how pleased we are with the way things have gone this year. The record has been received very well and the live sets equally have gone up a level in my opinion. The new songs have refreshed and reenergised, as has a firmer determination to make sure that Simple Minds continue to evolve in the right way.

The 30th anniversary was a good thing to get sentimental about last year, but we also had to use it to catapult us on into a future beyond. I think we managed to do that with the new record and with our activities over the last seven or eight months. The Graffiti Soul Tour that kicks in officially in November will cement that further as we look forward to playing some more songs from the album including the title track itself, as well as Light Travels, Kiss and Fly etc.

And what a great feeling it is to have a proud and extensive catalogue of songs from the past three decades, while at the same time have no qualms that the new material is every bit as good as anything from the past and can live with the classics that make the backbone of the live set. Heaven!

The recent shows over the summer months have demonstrated to most comers that our band is as restless and ambitious as we need to be. We are in fact as hungry now to secure a good future for Simple Minds as we were when we were kids setting out on what has become a great adventure.

And while the music industry in every shape and form has its difficult challenges cut out for it, it is my belief that there will always be a home and a demand for selected artists that both know how – and do all – to deliver beyond expectations.
Our aim is to make sure that Simple Minds will be among them.

Thanks so much to all who came to see us this summer; your encouragement was vital!

In addition to that thanks to all who have interacted with me over these months via Twitter. It has been interesting for me albeit with mixed results. Certainly it was a good way to inform fans worldwide of the album campaign prior to release in particular; likewise it afforded a way to see what the feedback was to the music etc. Other than that I found it very limited, which it is on purpose and by nature. I have enjoyed some of the chat and the various humorous exchanges albeit sometimes I have been wildly misunderstood – as I myself have also misunderstood! In any case, what I want to say is thanks to the followers, my account will cease at the end of the month. Onwards and upwards!

Jim Kerr

pic by Sven