Simple Minds - Live at the Liverpool Summer Pops

Two years on from the last triumphant outing at the Summer Pops, Simple Minds came back to the city that is now becoming something of a second home for the band.

Front man Jim Kerr hasn’t learnt his lesson of two years ago. His energy levels may not as great as they where back in the 80s, but his willingness to cover every inch of the stage is still apparent.

Thankfully the stages are a lot smaller these days; otherwise the attendant St Johns ambulance would have been required. “I’m getting too old for this,” Kerr mused as he took a well-earned breather between songs.

Kerr was back home in one of his favourite cities and he is usually afforded the welcome of one of its favourite sons. He ingratiated himself further with the locals by calling the city the home of music and football, though he added playfully that Celtic were better. No doubt a nod to Kerr’s own idol Kenny Dalglish, who was sitting in the front row.

The band had a recently released album to promote and a number of the new tunes were played at the opening tonight. They don’t stray to far from the tried and tested Simple Minds template. Home was the stand out track from Black and White 050505.

It was the classics that the fans had wanted to see and hear and the band didn’t let them down. A ten-minute version of Ghostdancing, mutated into Van Morrison’s Gloria. With Kerr goading the crowd into a call and response of the G-L-O-R-I-A.

The anthemic hits Waterfront, Don’t You Forget About Me, Sanctify Yourself, and Belfast Child written for a vaster arena than this, all sounded perfect in this reduced setting.

The highlight of the night was the encore with the brilliant New Gold Dream putting the talents of the band to good effect. Guitarist Charlie Burchill is often overlooked in the proceedings as goes about his business in the usual manner. Kerr did his best to drag Burchill into the Spotlight at any given opportunity.

The set went over the 11.00pm curfew time but they still managed to include one final classic. They ended with Alive and Kicking and on this evidence the band certainly are.

Lets hope it won't be another two years before we wait for return gig.

The Who - Live at the Liverpool Summer Pops

It had certainly been a long time coming for The Who and their fans. The last time they stepped out in Liverpool was October 1971, at the Liverpool University. Tonight’s performance certainly made up for lost time.

Liverpool’s Summer Pops has put on some great acts down the years and bar a Paul McCartney gig or The Rolling Stones coming to town; this years main act The Who will certainly take some beating for the promoters to top next year.

The touts were out in force – charging £80 a ticket as the queues stretched up the dock road in anticipation of tonight’s gig.

The band haven’t released a record for nigh on twenty-four years, but Townshend and Daltrey have been busying themselves in the run up to this tour, with a new album due for release in September.

The new tunes sounded pretty good - the pick of which was the homage to the 50s Real Good Looking Boy - in which Townshend indulged in a trip down memory lane for his frequent trips across the Irish Sea to visit his extended family in Ireland.

The new tunes were kept to a minimum and they had the good sense to roll out the classics that the partisan crowd had come to expect.

There was something for everyone tonight the Mod classics of Quadraphenia were rolled out. Townshend proclaimed it a work of genius - no one in the big top would argue with tonight.

Townshend’s guitar playing tonight bordered on genius tonight too – with him belying the fact that years of guitar playing has rendered him partially deaf.

My Generation was given an airing, given the age of the band and that famous line surprised me. It is a song that was a trademark of the late and lamented bassist John Entwistle. Though bassist Pino Palladino played it with aplomb - it does not seem the same without the extraordinary presence of the Ox.

They have been through a lot together Daltrey and Townshend, many highs and lows, but on tonight’s evidence there is genuine warmth between the two. The two hours long show in the heat took it out of the two front men. Though the quality of the set never waned throughout and their verve and vigour certainly belied the 60 plus age of the two rock veterans.

Tonight’s gig will live long in the memory and all the classics were played such as: Won't Get Fooled Again, Baba O'Reilly, The Seeker, Behind Blue Eyes, Love Reign O'er Me, Pinball Wizard, and Substitute.

Luckily for some it would be only 24 hours for the wait for the next Liverpool for the second of two nights - Suddenly £80 a ticket is looking awfully cheap.

New Order - Live at the Liverpool Summer Pops

Saturday 8th July 2006

Set List: Love Will Tear Us Apart, Crystal, Regret, Twenty Four Hours, Krafty, Working Overtime, Transmission, Your Silent Face, Waiting For The Sirens' Call, Turn, Bizarre Love Triangle, True Faith, Temptation, The Perfect Kiss, Blue Monday, Ceremony, Shadowplay

They have always been something of a wilfully perverse band but late in the day they are finally playing the game that other careerist bands would take as read.

The addition to the set-list these days sees the inclusion of Joy Division classics. Which given their own body of work, must give them something of a headache in putting together a typical night’s gig.

Typically of the band they open up with the brilliant Love Will Tear Us Apart, a song most bands would save for the encore. In truth though there was probably no better opener for tonight.

There haven’t been many gigs in Liverpool by the band of late, despite professing a love for the city. The inclusion of the seemingly lost to the live arena Joy Division classics evokes the days of the late seventies and the now defunct Eric’s club. The club in which Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Steven Morris as well as many other luminary figures cut their teeth.

You couldn’t get a better opening set of songs at a New Order gig than what they opened with tonight. The afore mentioned Love Will Tear Us Apart as well as Crystal, Regret and Transmission set the scene for what followed.

There was something for in all in the set from all points of the bands career. They didn't just trot out a greatest hits set as a number of songs from the recent albums Get Ready and Waiting For The Sirens' Call all worked well with the older material.

Bernard Sumner even apologised for the rockier nature of the opening numbers from the set and promised more of the dancier numbers from the later in the proceedings.

Bassist Peter Hook was in typically belligerent mood all night as he had a running row with an overly aggressive bouncer at the front of the arena. He prowled the stage with his low-slung bass in his usual manner – he even confessed to playing Bizarre Love Triangle out of tune, but I think the crowd forgave (or weren’t ready to argue). Apart from that blip he was in fine form.

Even Bernard was in reasonably good form, granted he may not have the best of voices but it does a reasonable job and thankfully he kept the yelps and whistles down to a minimum, he even remembered the lyrics to a majority of tunes – which was a bonus.

The set closed with Perfect Kiss mutating into Blue Monday, which prompted everyone in the capacity crowd to jump out of their seats.

There was a richly deserved encore and yet another Joy Division tune on this occasion Shadowplay was given an airing. Though the bands return was delayed for a few moments. Instead of waiting for the sirens’ to call, it was more a call of nature that delayed proceedings with second guitarist Phil Cunningham lost in transit and his plight relayed to the 4000 people in the arena by Sumner – obviously nothing is sacred in this band.

It may not have been a festival, but the settings gave it that feel. New Order are certainly the perfect band for a Saturday night in a big-top, hopefully they will be back in Liverpool sometime in the near future.

Love with Arthur Lee

Liverpool Summer Pops, Wednesday 7th July 2004

One of the expected highlights of this years somewhat disappointing Summer Pops line up, last year promised and delivered us artists of the calibre of Paul Weller, James Brown and Burt Bacarach, this year has delivered the likes of Donny Osmond, Busted and Lulu.

A bit of a dream double header on paper; a quality band of today alongside a great band of yesteryear, sadly the crowd in the half-full arena did not seem to share the enthusiasm of the bands on tonight. The Zutons limbered up with a set comprising of their latest album ‘Who Killed The Zutons’ sadly the apathy of the crowd was apparent during their set as Dave McCabe The Zutons singer implored the audience to at least look interested. They seem to get better and better with each performance and they are certainly a band to see when they are performing in front of their own partisan audience.

Tonight and previous tours have been billed as the Forever Changes tour but Arthur Lee is keen to stress that he has more to offer than a justifiably classic album written and recorded almost thirty five years ago.

Unlike previous tours the band launched into a classic from Forever Changes straight away; ‘A House Is Not a Motel’, which certainly highlights the talents of Baby Lemonade, the new band performing under the guise of the Love brand.

‘Alone Again Or’ was again a highlight of the set as it always is and saw the arrival of the string quartet not for the last time tonight.

Arthur Lee was in prickly mood tonight and was slightly unhappy with the crowds’ demands for songs only from Forever Changes. He stressed hat he was in the process of writing some new material. He was trying to push some of his newer stuff, especially the catchy ‘All I Want Is You’ which is quite a entertaining tune but played in the company of his back catalogue it is obvious that the better stuff was written back in the 60’s.

Lee finally relented and played more tunes form the Forever Changes and other songs from that era. Lee’s mood wasn’t helped by the calls to halt is set at 10.30, the curfew time. This meant that a couple of songs had to be discarded before they finished with ‘She Comes In Colours’.

It was a bit of disappointing night a far cry from their previous gig in Liverpool, last year. No doubt the poor crowd didn’t help the atmosphere or Lee’s not so cheery demeanour.

Simple Minds

Liverpool Summer Pops, Saturday 24th July 2004

Back at the Summer Pops after last years triumphant performance under the big top at the Kings Dock. The bands heyday may have seen them play football stadiums, but this venue seems to be made for Jim Kerr as he uses ever inch of the stage to get the crowd up and ready for the gig.

He need not have bothered, no doubt the capacity crowd had been tipped off from last years performance and were up on their feet from the off, as the band launched into a set that was predominately their greatest hits.

At times it felt like being at the Nuremberg rally especially with the crowds collection of hands waving in the air. Kerr worked the crowd and his stage moves defy a man into his mid forties. He promised at the start that they would destroy the place and it was very nearly mission accomplished.

There were numerous highlights tonight ‘New Gold Dream; sounded fantastic and as fresh as it did when it was first released. There was very much something for everyone in the set tonight. No doubt the band probably wished they had written some popular slower songs, that would have enabled Kerr to take a well earned mid set breather.

Simple Minds certainly didn’t let the audience down with its choices on the set list and they managed to keep some energy in reserve for the pulsating encore that saw ‘Waterfront’, ‘Somewhere in The Summertime’, ‘Alive & Kicking’ and ‘Sanctify Yourself’ leaving the audience in no doubt that they had received value for money.

The rousing reception from the audience and Kerr’s reciprocal appreciation of the crowd left the audience looking forward to next year and on this form they may actually bring down the big top.