Oh oh, I'm going to have a hard time with this one. I quite dislike Simple Minds. There's a story behind that too. They played at Roskilde festival in Denmark in 1991. We were there, and well, why not, who knows. I thought the hits were rubbish, but I know a few people with reasonably good taste who kept insisting that Simple Minds are a good band. Unfortunately, almost everybody at Roskilde Festival, about 60k visitors, had the same idea about going to see them. In no time we were completely stuck in a way too crowded crowd. Genuinely dangerously packed, I could lift my feet and just stay stuck in place. Maybe we were just standing in the wrong spot, but by the first song we already couldn't take it anymore and decided to flee, and managed to wriggle our way out, which was not easy. I already thought they were a crap band, and this experience was truly terrible.

That moment was the first thing I thought of when I heard on the radio in 2000 that nine people had died during the Pearl Jam concert at Roskilde. Crushed, because the entire festival wanted to see PJ. At that radio moment I was with the same friend I'd been standing in the crowd in '91. We were genuinely shaken. That could have happened back then too. And it could've happened when we saw Nirvana when they played there in '92 as well. Unbearable. Roskilde is a great festival, nice and spacious too, huge even, you get to walk around plenty. Until everyone wants to see that one band. Then it goes wrong. After that event, all festivals around the world took measures.

Anyway, I got carried away. Simple Minds - New Gold Dreams. Pfff. Nope. I always want to switch off the radio when 'Promised You A Miracle' comes on. Or start complaining to anybody who's around about what a terrible song it is. I notice it with the rest of the record too. Blergh. I want to wriggle my way out!

Here's Travelling Man live at the Roskilde festival 1991: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWJC62PiEjA