Ross Bandstand,
Edinburgh
4 stars
Some bands really do
have all the luck, as the line-up to see in 2013 in Edinburgh proved
with an anthemic flourish this year. Local wannabes Bwani Junction
kicked things off with a brand of intelligent and infectious
African-tinged power-pop that was puppy-dog eager to please, but
which in the end sounded more Big Country than Fela Kuti. The View
too kept things straightforward, sounding somewhere between The Kinks
if they'd sang about the Tay rather than the Thames, and 1960s
novelty-jocks, Lord Rockingham's X1.
It was left to a
rejuvinated Simple Minds, though, to capture a full sense of
triumphalism. Entering to their synthesiser dominated instrumental,
Theme For Great Cities, original members Jim Kerr and Charlie
Burchill set the tone with a rapid-fire pre-bells triple whammy of
Waterfront, Love Song and Celebrate. With Kerr basking in the
shape-throwing beatific greatness of it all, it was a fabulous
opening salvo for a widescreen greatest hits set that recaptured a
lost of era of neon and chrome-lined aspiration.
I Travel opened the new
year with a form of electronic motorik metal that still sounds like
the future, while Don't You Forget About Me remains the band's
defining moment they never wrote. Kerr gets the crowd to sing along,
scatting and extending things like the sort of 1980s twelve-inch
remix they simply don't make anymore. Designer lager ads too are
recalled on the closing Alive and Kicking, a song overblown with
false optimism, but which, like the dad dancing Kerr indulges in to
Brian Ferry's Let's Stick Together before he leaves the stage, for
the moment, is perfect.
The Herald, January 2nd 2012
ends
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