Simple Minds turning back the clock in Birmingham

In Room 849, in the somewheresville hotel, London, Jim Kerr picks up the telephone. It's been a busy day for the Scottish singer with Simple Minds; there have been meetings and then interviews, interviews, interviews.

"Och, hello," he says, in his distinctive Scottish burr. "I'm sorry I'm a little late. But good to speak with you. This is for the Wolverhampton Express & Star, isn't it?". . . and we're up and running.

Jim wants to talk about his band's current tour. His band hit the road earlier this month for a series of European dates as part of their 5x5 Live tour.

It started in Lisbon on Valentine's Day and took in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Belgium before arriving in Birmingham tonight (Friday, February 24) for just one of five UK dates.

5x5 is no ordinary Simple Minds tour. Kerr and co won't be dusting down their hits for tonight's show at the O2 Academy. Tracks from Sparkle in The Rain, their breakthrough number one album, will be ignored. There'll be no Waterfront, no Speed Your Love To Me and No Up On The Catwalk. Their Once Upon A Time record will also be left behind, so fans will have to do without Don't You (Forget About Me), among others.

Jim says: "5x5 Live is dedicated to our earliest albums. We'll be playing songs from our first five albums."

The shows will last for two-and-a-half hours and will feature tunes from Life In A Day, Real To Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance, Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Calling and New Gold Dream.

Those records were released during a prolific period from 1979 to 1982, when the band were at their most creative. They had a huge cultural impact, during the birth of the new wave electro scene in the late 1970s, through the dance revolution of the 80s and 90s, to the music of the Manic Street Preachers and the recent sound of The Horrors' Skying album.

Jim says: "I'm looking forward to it very much. The last few tours we've been playing those songs, whenever it came to that part of the set the band loved it the most.

"We'll relish the challenge of conjouring up the moods and the spirit of those fundamental shows. During the early years, I was out of my comfort zone, I was terrified most of the time. I'm a fan of the music that we created.

"I really loved it, you are never sure if people are going to hear it and feel the same was as you do. In those early days our hearts were in our mouths most of the time."

Simple Minds went on to become of Britain's most successful rock bands, selling more than 40 million albums around the world.

The 5x5 Live tour will highlight the period before Simple Minds became a multi-million-pound, hit-spewing, stadium-filling money machine.

Jim adds: "You know what, some of those songs, within the context of music made in that era, are more important than our hits. We didn't know what we were doing, we were free to do it, there was no expectation."

Andy Richardson