Simple Minds + The Anchoress @ Symphony Hall, 21 May 2017
If you thought that seeing Simple Minds’ “Acoustic” tour late on a Sunday evening at Birmingham Symphony Hall would involve sitting back and relaxing then you were wrong. By the end of the first chorus frontman Jim Kerr was out in the audience dancing with fans and the whole house were on their feet dancing.
The show opened with a drum solo from Cherisse Osei who was looking glamorous in a black and white sequinned top with a wind machine in her hair, before going straight into ‘New Gold Dream’.The majority of the tracks were from their new ‘Acoustic’ album but they also treated us to some other hits such as ‘Mandela Day’, ‘Big Sleep’ and ‘Speed your love to me’. Fan favourites ‘The American’ and ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ got the crowd singing along, and it was really interesting to hear songs like ‘Chelsea Girl’ and ‘Sanctify Yourself’ re-worked and explored in a different way.
One of my highlights was when Jim gave the stage to guitarist Gordon Goudie for a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Andy Warhol’. This was followed by backing singer Sarah Brown taking on a cover of Patti Smith’s ‘Dancing Barefoot’. She really has a fabulous voice and I’m glad she got the chance to show it.
The high-energy level was maintained throughout the performance and Jim enjoyed some banter with a few overzealous fans — ‘These people have paid a lot of money to be here to see us, not you’. He joked that after a career spanning four decades ‘I’ve still got the eyeliner and Charlie’s still got the hair’. He’s also still got a great rapport with the ladies, giving us a few cheeky winks and breaking out some dance moves.
The ‘Acoustic’ album has been 20 years in the making, being put off several times because they didn’t want it to be ‘boring’. This show was definitely not boring. The reason why it finally happened was that a man from Switzerland offered them a lot of money to make the album.
On hearing of the Swiss deal lead-guitarist Charlie Burchill wasn’t really interested in the money, saying ‘ask him for chocolate as well’! Speaking of Charlie, who’s the only original member of the band left alongside Jim, he played some great solos on his acoustic, particularly during ‘Sanctify Yourself’.
Visually there was fantastic light show and a huge, bespoke chandelier they’re carrying around with them for the whole tour. The sound quality was spot on and mixed to perfection, as it always is at the Symphony Hall.
I can’t finish this review without a paragraph on support act ‘The Anchoress’, Catherine Anne Davies.
I’d not heard of her before the show but her stripped-back acoustic performance really highlighted her phenomenal voice, and I actually got shivers down my spine on more than one occasion. She described her debut album, ‘Confessions of a romance novelist’, as a ‘concept album’ that was influenced by her ‘bad taste in men’, so there’s a good mix of get up and fight songs like ‘P.S. F**k You’, and hauntingly beautiful melodies such as title track ‘Confessions of a romance novelist’. Catherine’s also a part-time member of Simple Minds and joined them on stage to sing ‘Promised you a miracle’ during the encore.
The Anchoress Setlist
- Long Year
- P.S. F**k You
- Confessions of a romance novelist
- What doesn’t kill you
- Bury Me
- Lovers Voice
Simple Minds Setlist
- New Gold Dream
- See the Light
- Glittering Prize
- Mandela Day
- Chelsea Girl
- Big Sleep
- Stand By Love
- Someone, Somewhere in Summertime
- Speed Your Love to Me
- Waterfront
- Andy Warhol (David Bowie cover) sung by Gordon Goudie
- Dancing Barefoot (Patti Smith cover) sung by Sarah Brown
- The American
- Don’t You (Forget About Me)
- Sanctify Yourself
….
- Promised You A Miracle
- Alive and Kicking
Review: Chrissie Duxson
Photographs: Chris Bowley