"Live In The City Of Angels is the spiritual sequel to our first live album Live In The City Of Lights. We
sincerely hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it." - Jim, 25th August 2018
- "The title itself is a riff or play on our very first live album, which came out in 1987, and which was called
Live In The City Of Light, because it
was recorded in Paris. I remember that night and we felt there was
magic in the air, it was a particular tour and we wanted to get it down. Through the years and at different times
as the band has evolved through different line-ups, different arrangements, we try and take a souvenir of where
we are at that moment of time as a live band. And there was magic in the air last year
because the tour that the album came from was
our first coast-to-coast American tour for decades. So we were excited about that. There was a bit of
trepidation prior because we thought "Does anyone remember us?" It had been a long, long time. We were glad
to see tickets sold out well in advance, and we had to go out and prove ourselves. First of all, they were welcoming
us like heroes, or long lost friends rather. And that makes you really want to deliver. And as the tour went on, we
thought "We should really try to capture this. We really should." - Jim, Interview with Matt Everitt, BBC Radio Six, 20th August 2019
- "It was a spontaneous decision and a bit of an old school decision as well because one might say the idea of live
albums, in general, don't have the currency that they once had back in the day. Because now with YouTube and all that stuff
you could say there is live stuff everywhere so what's the point? The real thing was the element of surprise started with the tour
itself, because we haven't done a
coast to coast tour in America for well over a decade and the reason
we hadn't done it for that long was when we were last there, it looked like it had gone – there didn't seem to be that much
demand for the band. So to get a chance to go back again, we thought, "This will be interesting, let's see how it goes." And
the tour virtually sold out coast to coast and thirty-one dates. On that last week, it might have been absence making
the heart fonder because every night was bedlam and we wanted to capture that."
- "As well as the fact that with Simple Minds there is always a development with the band, especially when we play
live with different line ups and different arrangements and all that - it was just time to capture it and it's obviously very much
a fans thing; it's a hardcore thing. People said, "Shall we film it as an in-concert video?" And we said, "No, let's just do it old
school style." It's also a nod back to our very first live album Live in the City of Light that
we recorded in Paris. At various stages in our career, we have always tried to document the live thing, and we felt it was
time again." - Jim, XNoise Interview with Mark Millar, October 2019
- A souviner of the band's Walk Between Worlds tour
was eagerly anticipated, although it took almost a year to be released.
- The majority of the main album was recorded at the Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, on the 24th October 2018. The decision to
record the album was only made a couple of days previously.
- Additional material for the main album was recorded at The Fillmore, Miami Beach a couple of weeks later.
Glittering Prize was taken from this concert.
- Other bonus material was recorded at various concerts and soundchecks from the tour. This was intended for a 40 track
limited edition release, which coincided with the band's 40th anniversary.
- It was originally intended to release the album in early 2020. This was mainly due to the availability of pressing
plants for the vinyl. However, a slot opened up in late 2019, and so the release of the album was brought forward. (This, and the
release of 40: Best Of a month later, pushed
Street Fighting Years Super Deluxe into early 2020).
- It was first announced in August.
- Promotion started on August 20th with an interview with Matt Everett on BBC Radio Six. The show featured an exclusive
first-play of Love Song. The track was digitally released the same day as a preview of
the album and some physical promotional CDs were also distributed.
- An exclusive preview of Don't You (Forget About Me) was unveiled on the 3rd
September. Again some physical promotional CDs were distributed.
- The final preview was the live version of New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) which
was issued on the 17th September.
- It was released on three formats. The standard editions (4LP and 2CD) featured almost the entire sold-out concert from the
Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, which took place on the 24th October 2018. The exception was
Glittering Prize which was recorded at The Fillmore, Miami Beach
a couple of weeks later.
- The Deluxe 4CD edition included another 15 tracks, bringing the tally up to 40 songs, a nod to the band's
40th anniversary. This bonus material was recorded during other concerts, rehearsals and sound-checks.
- The original cover artwork originally featured a shot of Jim looking out
over the lights of a city. The rear of the sleeve included a similar shot of Charlie.
The design was changed at the last minute to the familar 'winged Claddagh' which further cemented the relationship with
Live In The City Of Light. As the original cover was approved, it was
sent to various PR agencies, and some websites initially used this alternative image to represent the album.
- The Simple Minds Shop sold the various formats in packaged bundles, some of which included set-lists signed by
Jim and Charlie.
The set-lists were printed on heavy duty grey card and was more durable than the white A4 sheets normally printed for
concerts.
- Amazon sold a limited edition run of signed standard edition CDs as an exclusive. The front of the booklet
was signed by Jim and Charlie.
A theatre named after Orpheus, otherwise known as "The Father Of Songs."
That connection was hardly lost on us as we entered through the backstage
door of the elegant, former vaudeville theatre, now almost a century old.
In doing so we would be leaving behind the early afternoon sunshine,
typical of downtown Los Angeles, but our priority on Wednesday, October
24th, 2018, was to make thorough preparations for an imagined experience.
One that we had decided only days earlier might be worth capturing for
the record.
As fortune would have it, 'The Angels' were with us throughout that day
and night in California. Throughout our entire North American tour even?
That's an outlandish thought of course. But we have a right to believe in
all that we want to believe. While never forgetting even for a second, to say
thanks to all who have believed in us and our music over so many years.
Hope to continue to see you out there somewhere! - Jim
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