Simple Minds: Live In The City Of Diamonds – Worldwide – 2xCD [2025]

CD1

1. Waterfront
2. Love Song
3. Sons And Fascination
4. Sweat In Bullet
5. This Fear Of Gods
6. Let There Be Love
7. She’s A River
8. Once Upon A Time
9. Glittering Prize
10. New Gold Dream
11. Promised You A Miracle
12. Belfast Child

CD2

1. Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)
2. See The Lights
3. Book Of Brilliant Things
4. Don’t You (Forget About Me)
5. Alive And Kicking
6. Sanctify Yourself
7. Vision Thing
8. The American
9. Solstice Kiss
10. Premonition
11. Hunter And The Hunted
12. Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel

We put this on the want list when it was announced earlier this year and we made sure to pre-order so that it was posted off to The States where I live by April 24th. While I saw the 2xLP in a store I visited the day after that, it will probably be a while before I run into the double CD in a record store. It arrived last week and I’ve been living with “Simple Minds: Live In The City of Diamonds” for over a week now and I’ve got to say that it’s far more impressive than the nth live album [counting downloads] that Simple Minds have managed to release in a 46 year career that shows no signs of stopping has any right to be.

When I unwrapped it and popped it in the car for the stately commute to work, I purposely didn’t look at the song order on the back of it; preferring to let it work its magic without any expectations. I remembered only that it was a fairly impressive set list from the earlier post, but the details weren’t engraved in my leaky cranium. The opening track was the sturdy perennial concert opener “Waterfront.” It’s safe to say that a lot of their shows post-1984 either began with “Waterfront” or it was the very next song played. There’s a reason for that. “Waterfront” was a machine designed to get the heart pumping and the crowd bouncing like a unified organism. It was the red carpet to the world of festivals which were tempting the band to leave the clubs and theaters behind by 1982. It’s as bulletproof a song to set the stage for the night to come as they have in their canon of compositions.

I can’t say that it’s a flash move that’s lost any allure in the intervening decades! The pulse beat of that looped bass line with the synths and Charlie Burchill’s guitar arcing overhead like skyrockets accomplished its tasks handily. It primes the Simple Minds fan for excitement, which this set list certainly delivered! Case in point, my pulse quickened as the opening random wave synth of “Love Song” happened afterward. One sensed, “this is going to be good!”

Then they unleashed “Love Song” and things got much better than good! Charlie Burchill was letting the guitar rip in the intro, hanging skillfully in the netherzone between major and minor chords with his tone; lending a hint of Scott Walker to the proceedings. He was on fire here. Jim Kerr was matching him with power and intent. New keyboardist Erik Ljunggren was taking the effort to color outside of the song’s outlines with his synths adding subtle Jazz fills into the melodic payload.

Then at the song’s halfway point as Kerr’s voice began to ascend on the “some promised land” line, Sarah Brown seamlessly meshed with him to carry the note upward and onward! Then, at the middle eight; Kerr let loose with an emphatic grunt hook [new for him] as Burchill stuck his boot in the solo he was delivering. Then, best of all, Sarah Brown began the “flesh of heart” refrain at a high simmer; taking the energy to the boiling point as she and Kerr traded off on the climax of the dazzling number.

One of the traits I’ve always loved about this song was the incredible power of the song ending with all the instruments in unison, but not this time! Burchill got a beat or two to crashland his guitar for the grinding last word to this tour de force. I’ve found this a top five Simple Minds track for over 40 years, and I’ve heard it live plenty of times on numerous shows and albums. I’m here to say that this rendition is my favorite. Listen.

Then, as the gooseflesh was still tingling, the inexorable drum machine march that heralded “Sons + Fascination” cut through the air and I was incredulous as the band were making a blatant show of their ultimate strengths right up front in this show. Ged Grimes added that amazing bass line into the dance of the rhythms as the foreboding synths of Mr. Ljunggren added their mystery. Backing vocalists Sarah Brown and Gordon Goudie were contributing stentorian backing vocals that widened the impact of this Krautrock meisterwerk. Then as Charlie and Ged took solos, Cherisse Osei kicked in with the live drums in the climax that brought the tidal wave of the song crashing into the rocks of the shore.

Then the next song started on The One with the Art Funk of “Sweat In Bullet” swaggering into the setlist like it owned it. Grimes was going fretless on this one while Burchill was abetted by Gord Goudie’s rhythm guitar. The instrumental middle eight here was the calm among the middle of the storm as the strutting energy of the song kicked back in to take us out. The rhythm guitar cutting like a knife in the climax.

Just when I think it couldn’t get any better, then they delivered the coup de grace…”This Fear of Gods.” My eyes widened further and I muttered a “F…!” under my breath as I could not believe where this album was going. Against all odds, right up front with what was basically a mini “5×5” set to stun me into rapt capitulation. That loping synth loop abetted by the rhythm section with Burchill’s guitar wailing like an atonal horn. Alerting us to how everything was askew in the implacable, brutalist world of this stunning song.

Again, Sarah Brown was adding her considerable power to the buildup of the piece. Hearing her chant “lust, lust lust” in unison with Jim in the third verse was making the impact that much more powerful. The subtle Disco hi-hats of Ms. Osei in the chorus perhaps made us remember to dance under the spreading black clouds that this song brings to the horizon.

Then, as we began to dive deep into the song’s climax, Kerr let loose with only the second “let me see your hands” in the program so far. Demerits were warranted, for sure, for threatening to pull us out of the dark spell here, but ultimately even that old warhorse couldn’t throw us. The tribal energy here was stronger than even that. And when Sarah Brown began trading off “back on black” call and response with Kerr it was spine tingling. Kerr then evoked the song’s inspiration; Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” with all of the moral force he could muster as the song ground to a halt with a riff blasted by Burchill. Once more, this was the most compelling live version of the song I have on disc. Fully matching the pulse-racing thrills I had when seeing the band tear into this back in 2013 at the 9:30 Club. It’s never sounded better.

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