"When Simple Minds turned up at "Le Zenith" in Paris, bang in the middle of August 1986, naturally we brought plenty of our own powerful lighting with us. In keeping with the times, it was two centuries later after all, truck loads of stageing and sound equipment also accompanied. Additionally we had also brought a mobile recording studio. As was necessary. Having decided only some weeks earlier that Le Zenith, the multi-purpose, 6,500 capacity indoor arena was where we wanted to record our first ever live album."

"But why Paris? After all our popularity at that time meant that we were touring non stop and in almost very corner of the world? Even more pleasing, the audiences we played to each and every night had created a constantly overwhelmingly energetic atmosphere. Which was precisely the vibe we wanted to set the tone for our live recording. That said, somehow no two concerts were ever the same, and each show felt like its own unique event and with no exception."

"Nevertheless, I seem to recall that the Simple Minds audiences in certain cities seemed to go above and beyond within their reaction. Creating an "overload noise" that I am sure I will remember for my entire life. Glasgow, Dublin, Brussels, Rotterdam, Dortmund Toronto, Lyon, Rome, Sydney, certainly did. As did so many others. All mentioned would easily have fitted the bill in guaranteeing to bring out the the best in Simple Minds live. But Paris, well somehow it was different?"

"Only a year or so earlier we had played in Le Zenith during our Sparkle In The Rain Tour. And for various reasons had been convinced that we had given our best ever performance, both band and audience contributing to create - no other word for it - some kind of live "zenith". It was truly a night where live magic hung heavy in the air, and no doubt that memory had lived on inside us. Being so it was probably understandable that we might want to try and recreate that same kind of show once more. In doing so giving ourselves the almost impossible task of capturing that very same magic on our live album."

"And so it was we returned to "The City of Light" more than 12 months later. Fully charged up with the task of trying to capture the energy and fire that was always part of Simple Minds live. And perhaps even more ambitiously, trying to recreate some rock n roll history of our own. Because that after all is what a live recording should surely be all about?"

Jim,
17th August 2017

"But it is not really ours. We adopted and adapted the idea from the famous Galway Claddagh rings. Just like they in fact adopted and adapted from "mani in fede" ("hands [joined] in faith") style rings - all of which in fact date from Roman times, when the gesture of clasped hands was a symbol of pledging vows... love,loyalty and friendship."

"I liked the idea of all of that stuff and suggested to art designer Malcolm Garret that it would work well for our group, following on from the style of symbols he used for our New Gold Dream / Sparkle In The Rain albums. He agreed, and used our heart/hand symbol on the cover of our next album "Live In The City Of Light." Three decades later and you can see it positioned strategically on stage at these current Simple Minds Live Acoustic Concerts, as well as on the inside artwork of the Acoustic album."

Jim,
26th April 2017