14 Mar, 2012 The Already Legendary 5X5’s!
I smiled when someone referred to the recent Simple Minds tour as the “Already Legendary 5×5 Tour”. Surely a dollop of irony was being used, especially considering that the tour had only finished one day´s prior. But no, it was a serious comment from a knowledgeable person, summing up how he felt in hindsight about the tour. Similarly experienced others – who go back a long way with SM – have coincidentally made comments that correspond, apparently convinced that the 5×5 tour was as good as any tour in Simple Minds’ history. Hence their “already legendary” tag!
We are delighted that the tour seemingly lived up to the considerable advance expectation. Truth is though, when it comes to opinions on which is best and how and why, I am hardly in the position to judge through being too near the centre to have a complete overview. That does not mean that I don´t have an opinion however, it just means that my opinion is skewed.
The Street Fighting Years tour, documented so well in the Verona concert footage, always seemed like a particular live achievement to me. In many ways that tour was the peak of what we had worked towards throughout the previous decade. Therefore, if pushed to decide I would have more often than not said that SFY was probably the best SM tour to date.
Until that is, you might remind me of “Live In The City Of Light”. In that case I would most likely say that “The Once Upon A Time” tour featuring Robin Clark and John Giblin could easily state a claim to being our best. I am sure you can see a pattern here, for if I were to listen to a recording of some of the Sons and Fascination era live recordings, featuring Derek Forbes and Mick MacNeil, undoubtedly there would be elements within it that I would pick up on forcing me to be convinced that Simple Minds never sounded as good before or since. All of this being the case, what I am saying is that I could never choose definitively which was superior.
More to the point perhaps, I am not even sure how you can credibly compare tours that feature not only mostly different line-up´s of musicians, but also such completely different set-lists. Other differences? Well, SFY/Once Upon A Time were mostly arenas and open-airs gigs, whereas the recent tour had us purposely playing in clubs. Some people love the big spectaculars; others prefer the intimacy of being up close. I like both equally.
What I can say with some conviction is that the 5×5 tour was perhaps the most enjoyable tour for the longest time. Apart from the fact that the band played out of their skins, there was a fabulous freshness and a renewed determination within everybody associated with the tour.
And with plenty of smiles through out, it was a real pleasure to be a part of it.
Jim Kerr