What Is It Like to See Simple Minds Live?
Jim Kerr stops the biggest song of the night to make an arena sing the wordless "la la la" of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" back to him in French, then Italian, then Japanese, until the whole room realises the best hook he ever wrote has no words at all.
What to Know Before You Go
- 1The night opens on "Waterfront."
The band walks on in near-darkness to the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" on the PA, then the "Waterfront" bassline hits and the entire room stands. Be in the room for it.
- 2Save your voice for the end of the main set.
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" lands near the finish and Kerr stretches the "la la la" outro into a conducted, multi-language singalong that can run past ten minutes. This is the moment people talk about afterward.
- 3Openers change by territory, so check your date.
UK 2024 arena dates were supported by fellow Scots Del Amitri (Justin Currie in fine voice). The US 2025 run stacked two supports, Modern English then Soft Cell, with fans rating Modern English the stronger of the pair.
- 4It's a two-act night in the UK, a triple bill in the US.
UK doors were around 6:30pm with Del Amitri near 7:15pm and Simple Minds around 8:30pm. The US shows run longer because of the two-support format.
- 5Sarah Brown is not just a backing singer.
She harmonises with Kerr on "Once Upon a Time" and takes the lead on "Book of Brilliant Things," so watch her, not only the frontman.
- 6There's a real drum solo mid-set.
Cherisse Osei gets a genuine feature spot, not a throwaway fill, usually deep in the second half.
- 7Know a couple of the deep cuts.
Alongside the hits you'll get early art-rock material like "Theme for Great Cities," "This Fear of Gods" and "Oh Jungleland." If you only know the radio songs, cue those up first.
- 8Merch
the classic album-artwork designs (New Gold Dream, Once Upon a Time) are the pick over generic tour graphics. Details in the [Merch](#merch) section.
At a Glance
- Show Length
- 2h
- Songs Per Show
- 17 to 19
- Costume Changes
- 0
- Setlist Variety
- Fixed hits core, a few rotating deep cuts
- Punctuality
- Runs to schedule
- Venue Type
- Arenas
- Career Shows
- 2,350
- Touring Since
- 1978
Highly road-tested
Long-tenured veteran
What It's Actually Like
It's About Uplift, Not Spectacle
There are no lasers, no video-wall theatrics, no dancers, no set that transforms. Simple Minds run a lights-and-band show and point everything at one target: a room full of people singing 40-year-old anthems at full volume. The payoff is the big communal "woah-oh" and "la la la" moments where an arena becomes a single voice. It works because the songs were built for it. When "See the Lights" reaches its cathartic "woah-ohs" and the crowd takes over, you understand why people keep coming back for a show with almost no production tricks in it.
Jim Kerr Is a Slow-Motion Showman
Kerr is well into his sixties and he does not run the stage. He works in poses instead: a crouch, then arms flung wide and a lean backward, then a stretch along the monitors, then a reach over the barrier to grab a hand in the front row. It reads as movement slowed down for effect, and it is oddly hypnotic. During the ballad "Let There Be Love" he climbs down to the security barricade and sings his way along it, fan to fan. He keeps up a running joke about pacing himself, telling one 2025 crowd, "We're still just warming up. I haven't even taken my jacket off."
“As it turns out, the universal language is 'la, la-la-la-la.'”
The Between-Song Talk Is Tailored to Your Town
This is the detail that makes a Simple Minds show feel like it's for you specifically. Kerr stops to reminisce about the actual old venues the band played in whatever city he's standing in. At a 2024 AO Arena show he name-checked a former local stadium gig and got loud partisan booing from a football-partisan crowd, joked about an old club that "most of you are too young for" remembering, and worked the rain into the banter. When a singalong runs too long he plays the reluctant grown-up, once reminding a Saturday crowd that the band still has a curfew and has "to get up to work."
The Band Behind the Two Originals Is a Genuine Draw
Only Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill remain from the classic lineup, but the touring band is a selling point rather than an asterisk. Bassist Ged Grimes, drummer Cherisse Osei, singer Sarah Brown, guitarist Gordy Goudie and keyboardist Erik Ljunggren play tight enough that reviewers have called them a well-oiled machine even on nights they skipped soundcheck. Osei's mid-set drum solo is a real spotlight, and Brown is a featured voice, not decoration. Burchill's guitar work is worth watching for the opposite reason to most lead players: no fretboard sprinting, just measured, tasteful solos designed to land rather than dazzle.
The Setlist Argument Fans Keep Having
The set leans hard on the classic 1980s albums, but it is not a pure jukebox. Early, atmospheric, Krautrock-tinged material sits in the middle of the show: the instrumental "Theme for Great Cities," the pulsing "This Fear of Gods," the buzzing "Oh Jungleland." This is the one place fans genuinely disagree. Some want more of the wall-to-wall 80s singles and less of the deeper and newer stuff; others prize exactly those album tracks and consider them the reason to see this band rather than a covers-of-themselves tribute. Either way, there is "very little from the 1990s onward," so if that's your era, temper expectations.
A Seated Show That Turns Into a Standing One
Book a seat and you may spend most of the night out of it. Simple Minds arena crowds tend to rise the instant "Waterfront" starts and never really sit back down, to the point that reviewers openly wonder why the shows are seated at all. The demographic is Gen X in force, men in their 50s and 60s next to couples and groups of women in their late 30s and 40s, and by the back third of the set the aisles and rows fill with people dancing. The feeling on the way out is joy rather than nostalgia-tinged sadness, a room of middle-aged fans who got to be 20 again for two hours.
Alive & Kicking Tour (2024-2026)
The band's biggest run in decades, sprawling across UK and European arenas and theatres, a US leg the band bills as their largest North American headline tour in four decades, and Australia and New Zealand dates in early 2026. It's tied to a 2025 live album, and the setlist is a hits-forward survey of the whole career.
The Production Stays Lean, the Projections Do the Work
Don't expect the staging to escalate. The visual heavy lifting comes from stark monochrome back-projections, and they matter most on "Belfast Child," which several attendees single out as the emotional peak of the UK shows: a hushed, folk-melody moment that briefly stills a crowd that has otherwise been on its feet all night. If you're seeing a hometown run at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, expect that partisan-crowd energy dialed up further.
The Shape of the Set
A typical night opens "Waterfront," "I Travel," "Glittering Prize," moves through "Let There Be Love," "Once Upon a Time," "This Fear of Gods," "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" and "New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)," makes room for the early instrumentals and "Promised You a Miracle," lands the Osei drum solo, then builds through "See the Lights" to "Don't You (Forget About Me)" closing the main set. The encore is usually "Book of Brilliant Things," "Alive and Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself." UK 2024 dates also folded in "Belfast Child."
The Fan Verdict
Strongly positive on the band itself. The recurring praise is that they sound bigger and tighter than the reputation of a heritage act would suggest, and that Kerr's voice, with its gentle gravelly vibrato on the ballads, has held up where many of his peers' have not. The recurring gripe is purely about setlist balance, the eternal hits-versus-deep-cuts argument, not about the performance. Nobody leaves complaining about the singing.
Going to a Show?
Seeing Simple Minds on this tour? Add the date to Concerts Remembered now. You'll have the setlist and your own notes from the night instead of trying to remember it a year later.
Simple Minds · artist guide
Simple Minds crowd traditions
Three documented rituals. None of them need anything from you in advance.
Just show up
The Multilingual "La La La"
PermanentKerr stops "Don't You (Forget About Me)" near the end and conducts the crowd through its wordless outro in French, Italian, Japanese and more.
Everyone Stands the Second "Waterfront" Starts
PermanentThe band walks on to the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" on tape, then the "Waterfront" bassline hits and the whole room rises at once.
Kerr's City-Specific Reminiscing
PermanentBetween songs Kerr recalls the specific old venues Simple Minds played in whatever town he's in, so the banter is different every night.
Concerts Remembered Artist Index · traditions documented from fan communities, tour reports and press · reviewed September 2026
Merch
Simple Minds merch is straightforward, and the one thing worth knowing is what to buy rather than how to fight for it. Alongside the official tour store the band sells at venue stands, and the pick for longtime fans is the classic album-artwork designs, especially the "New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)" and "Once Upon a Time" logos, which turn up on tees and reissued designs and read better than generic tour-date graphics. Reliable, current, Simple-Minds-specific pricing and sellout intel isn't well documented by fans, so treat the stand as standard heritage-act fare and buy the design you actually want to wear.
Simple Minds · tour history
Simple Minds went from clubs to arenas in 45 years
Room size by tour. A bar spanning two rows is a tour that played both.
| Year | Tour | Room size |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Early Eras | Theaters and clubs |
| 1985 | Once Upon a Time Tour | Stadiums and arenas |
| 1989 | Street Fighting Years Tour | Stadiums and arenas |
| 2012 | 5X5 Live | Theaters and clubs |
| 2020 | 40 Years of Hits Tour | Arenas |
| 2024 | Alive & Kicking Tour | Arenas |
Concerts Remembered Artist Index · 6 documented tours · room size as described in each tour entry · reviewed September 2026
Simple Minds · turning points
What made Simple Minds's show what it is
4 moments that changed the live show, or changed who is in the room.
2012
The 5X5 tour that put the art-rock years back on stage
Playing five songs from each of the first five albums pulled the band's 1979 to 1982 art rock catalogue back into rotation, and early cuts like 'Theme for Great Cities' and 'Oh Jungleland' have stayed in the mainstream setlist since.
1988
Jun 11 · London, UK
The band writes an anthem for Mandela's birthday
Simple Minds wrote and first performed 'Mandela Day' for the Wembley tribute, and the anti-apartheid material carried straight into the openly political Street Fighting Years shows that followed.
1986
Aug 12 · Paris, France
The Paris nights that captured the stadium era
By this tour Simple Minds had grown into a stadium headline act, topping the Milton Keynes Bowl bill two months earlier, and the Le Zenith nights were recorded for the double live album 'Live in the City of Light.'
1985
Jul 13 · Philadelphia, PA
Live Aid seals the American breakthrough
Their Live Aid set, built around US No.1 'Don't You (Forget About Me),' sealed the American breakthrough, and the song has been the fixed main-set-closing singalong at their shows ever since.
Concerts Remembered Artist Index · each moment sourced on its card · reviewed September 2026
Tour History
Alive & Kicking Tour
The band's largest run in decades across the UK, Europe, North America and Australasia, tied to a 2025 live album.
40 Years of Hits Tour
An anniversary greatest-hits tour cut short by the pandemic.
5X5 Live
A deliberate dive into the pre-fame catalogue: five songs from each of the first five albums.
Street Fighting Years Tour
The overtly political era, built around "Belfast Child," "Mandela Day" and a cover of "Biko." The most earnest, message-forward version of the live show, straight out of the band's [Wembley Stadium](/venues/wembley-stadium) tribute the year before.
Once Upon a Time Tour
The commercial and scale peak.
Early Eras
The art-rock and post-punk years of New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) and Sparkle in the Rain, when the atmospheric, Krautrock-tinged live identity, all "Theme for Great Cities" and "I Travel," was built before the stadium anthems arrived.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's a lean, uplift-focused arena show with almost no production tricks, where the whole point is a Gen X crowd singing 40-year-old anthems back at full volume. Jim Kerr works the stage in slow-motion rock poses, reminisces about the specific old local venues the band played in your town, and turns the end of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" into a multi-language crowd singalong. People leave elated rather than wistful.
Around two hours, with roughly 17 to 19 songs. The band walks on to the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" on tape and opens with "Waterfront," and the main set closes on an extended "Don't You (Forget About Me)" before a three-song encore. In the UK they play to a venue curfew, and Kerr has been known to cut a runaway singalong short because of it.
Both, and this is the one thing fans argue about. The set leans on the classic 1980s singles but always makes room for early art-rock material like the instrumental "Theme for Great Cities," "This Fear of Gods" and "Oh Jungleland." There's very little from the 1990s onward. If you only know the radio songs, look up a couple of the early cuts first so the mid-set doesn't catch you cold.
Yes, and better than the "heritage act" label suggests. Reviewers consistently say the band sounds bigger and tighter than expected, and Kerr's voice, with its gravelly vibrato on the ballads, has aged well where many of his peers' have not. Only two original members remain, but the touring band (Ged Grimes, Cherisse Osei, Sarah Brown and others) plays tight enough that the lineup change isn't the story. The performance is not what fans debate; the setlist is.
They run to schedule rather than making you wait. On UK 2024 arena dates doors were around 6:30pm, Del Amitri went on near 7:15pm, and Simple Minds took the stage around 8:30pm. US shows start earlier in the evening but run longer because two support acts play first. Either way, be in your seat for "Waterfront," because the room is on its feet from the first note.
It depends on where you are. UK 2024 arena dates were supported by fellow Scots Del Amitri, with Justin Currie in strong voice and a set of songs that have aged well. The US 2025 run was a triple bill with Modern English and Soft Cell, and reviewers rated Modern English's set the stronger of the two supports. Check your specific date, because the support changes by territory and leg.
If you have any affection for the songs, yes. This is a band that plays for communal euphoria, and the multilingual "la la la" of "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and the woah-ohs of "See the Lights" deliver exactly that. First-timers are often surprised by how physical Kerr still is and how personal the between-song talk feels. The honest caveat is the deep-cut content: if you strictly want a wall-to-wall singles show, you'll wish two or three slots were different.
The extended "Don't You (Forget About Me)" singalong is the peak, followed closely by the euphoric "Alive and Kicking" and "Sanctify Yourself" encore and the hushed "Belfast Child" on UK dates. Watch for Sarah Brown taking the lead on "Book of Brilliant Things," Cherisse Osei's mid-set drum solo, and the moment the "Waterfront" bassline pulls the whole room to its feet at the very start.
Yes to both. They played Live Aid at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium in July 1985, performing "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and "Promised You a Miracle" as their American breakthrough peaked. Ten years later they played the Pyramid Stage at [Glastonbury](/festivals/glastonbury) in 1995, a set that still circulates as a soundboard recording among fans. Their most historically loaded night, though, was the 1988 Nelson Mandela tribute at Wembley Stadium, where they debuted "Mandela Day."
The core setlist is fairly fixed, so the songs won't surprise you the second time. What changes is Kerr's between-song reminiscing, which is tailored to each city's history, and the deep-cut slots, which rotate. Fans who follow multiple dates go for the crowd energy of a hometown run and the differences in banter rather than for setlist roulette, so one show gives you the full experience and a second is about the room.
Simple Minds Links
Remembered recently
Recently remembered
A fan kept this one: Simple Minds at Rochford Wines. The setlist, the seats, and what they want to remember about the night.
Seen Simple Minds live? Your shows deserve to be remembered too.
Track your concertsThis guide is based on fan accounts, touring data, and community discussion. Claims we can’t source are left out rather than estimated, and the charts render only where the sample is large enough to trust. It is not sponsored by or affiliated with Simple Minds.
Cite this guide
Concerts Remembered, "Simple Minds," concertsremembered.app/artists/simple-minds, updated September 2026.