Summer Concert Tour 2024 Line Up

SIMPLE MINDS are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” (1985), which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Other hit singles include “Glittering Prize” (1982), “Someone Somewhere in Summertime” (1982), “Waterfront” (1983) and “Alive and Kicking” (1985), as well as the UK number one single “Belfast Child” (1989).

They were the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s. Simple Minds have also achieved considerable chart success in the United States, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy and New Zealand and continue to record and tour.

They have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. Cumulatively their Top 40 singles sat on the New Zealand charts for 127 weeks throughout the course of the 80’s through to the mid-90s. An equally amazing 11 albums also making the NZ Top 40 album charts collectively achieving a staggering 148 weeks on the charts with Glittering Prize 81/92 and Sparkle In The Rain both reaching No.1.

In 2014, Simple Minds were awarded the Q Inspiration Award for their contribution to the music industry and an Ivor Novello Award in 2016 for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. Other notable recognitions include nominations for both the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction and MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction for “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” in 1985, nomination for the Brit Award for British Group in 1986 and for the American Music Award for Favourite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group in 1987. “Belfast Child” was nominated for the Song of the Year at the 1990 Brit Awards.

Over the past 10 years Simple Minds have rekindled the magic that made them a vital artistic force in their early days which has found themselves referenced by younger artists and playing to hundreds of thousands of people every year, all over the world. 2015’s Big Music was described by MOJO magazine as “their best album in 30 years”, and both 2018’s Walk Between Worlds and 2022’s ‘Direction Of The Heart’ were acclaimed across the board and became their most successful albums in over two decades, culminating in their largest US tour to date.

In the words of Jim Kerr “One of the things I’m most proud of is that people say to me what Simple Minds are you talking about? The avant-garde, the art-rock, the pop, the ambient, the instrumental group, the political, the folk, the stadium band? We’ve been on one hell of a journey. To play all those different styles but at the same time be quintessentially Simple Minds is an amazing thing.”

Simple Minds are:
Jim Kerr (vocals), Charlie Burchill (guitars, keyboards), Gordy Goudie (acoustic guitar), Ged Grimes (bass), Cherisse Osei (drums), and Sarah Brown (vocals).

Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee. They took their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders movie Paris, Texas.

The band released their debut album Southside in 1989, along with the debut single “I Don’t Want a Lover”, which was a top-ten hit on the UK Singles Chart and peaked within the top ten of the charts in many other European countries. Southside entered at number three on the UK Albums Chart and number 88 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States and sold over two million copies worldwide.

With the release of their White on Blonde album in 1997, it entered at the top of the UK albums chart and became their biggest seller. To date it has been certified six times platinum in the United Kingdom. Follow up album The Hush (1999) was also successful, entering at the top of the UK albums chart and certified triple platinum.

34 years since they recorded ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’, Texas, one of the UK’s most loved bands, have gone on to produce ten studio albums, selling over 40 million records worldwide. No less than 5 albums have appeared in the New Zealand Top 50 album charts from the late 80’s through to 2000.

When lead vocals and founding member of the band, Sharleen Spitiri, looks back over all these tracks of her years, what’s the overall sensation? Satisfaction of a job well done? The best is yet to come?

“No’ bad for a hairdresser fae Glasgow!” she says, an old joke but still a good one (and a true one). “But I gotta be honest: I still feel like I’m really close to the beginning. And the energy and the vibe between us all – as a band I don’t think we’ve ever been happier, and I don’t think we’ve ever been tighter. And I don’t think we’ve ever been more definite about who we are.”

Texas are:
Sharleen Spiteri (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Johnny McElhone (bass, guitar, keyboards), Ally McErlaine (guitar), Eddie Campbell (keyboards), Tony McGovern (guitar, backing vocals), Cat Myers (drums)

Collective Soul’s albums Collective Soul and Disciplined Breakdown prove the bands popularity with New Zealander’s, having reached Number 1 & 3 on the NZ Album charts respectively in the 90’s, with over 40 weeks between them on the album charts.

It’s somewhat of an understatement to say Collective Soul frontman and chief songwriter Ed Roland is unwaveringly driven in his desire to double down on doing more of what he does best — making music, sweet music, both in the studio and onstage.

“People ask me if I have a hobby, but for me, it’s just music,” Roland confirms. “I mean, I don’t know what else to do, because that’s what I love to do. I live in the studio — but then the time comes when I go, ‘Well, now I wanna go play live.’ I just love the creation of music, and the process of finding out what’s gonna happen with it next. That kinda defines it all for me.”

In following his ever-tenacious muse, Roland is always looking to connect with his current Collective Soul bandmates any which way he can. Actually, the word current is a bit of a misnomer, since Roland truly believes the Collective Soul of the here and now is as permanently intertwined as any group of musicians he’s ever worked with over the course of his illustrious career. “I mean, this is the band for the rest of my life. This is it, man.”

Collective Soul’s latest album release Vibrating simply sends the band’s artistic spirit into the next stratosphere.

“Our fans have already picked up on that,” agrees Roland, “because they’ve been waiting for Vibrating for over three years now — and I can’t wait for them to hear it. They’re excited because previous albums See What You Started and Blood set such a high standard for where we’re going as a band — and it’s only going to continue getting better with Vibrating. I really do believe that.”

The next logical acceleratory step, of course, resides in taking Vibrating out on the road where the band belongs, and test-driving how this electrifying new material meshes with indelible Collective Soul setlist classics like “Shine,” “December,” “The World I Know,” “Gel,” “AYTA,” “Why, Pt. 2,” “Precious Declaration,” and “Heavy” — in addition to more recent, Blood-spawned tracks like “Right as Rain,” “Observation of Thoughts,” and “Over Me.”

“We’re ready to go,” declares Roland. “Most of us grew up together and knew each other as kids, so that helps with the live chemistry. I’ve always said this about this band — we know when to knock each other out, and we know when to hug each other. We won’t put up with any crap, but if you’re feeling down and need help, we’ll pick you up. We’re coming up on 30 years as a band, so we have to be friends first and foremost to keep it all going. If we aren’t friends like that, then we’re not going to have longevity in our career in order to continue doing what we love to do. That’s just the bottom line.”

Seeing eye to eye, and ear to ear, is part of the secret sauce of why Collective Soul continues to both record and play together at an uncompromised level of high quality. “That’s the end goal for everybody in this band,” agrees Roland. “Just because I write the songs doesn’t mean I’m the only one who wants it all to come out right. We all want it to be right — and that’s because this is a band that acts like a band.”

Working in tandem, sharing unbridled opinions, and listening to what everyone else has to say without recrimination are all key proponents in fostering Collective Soul’s perpetual harmony. “That’s the forte of this band,” Roland acknowledges. “We discuss things together, we figure them out together, and we make sure to get everything right. That’s how we love to do it. And I say this out of confidence, and not out of ego — we’re really, really good at it, too.”

It’s clear heaven continues to shine its light down on Collective Soul, a formidable five-man band humming along in unison with many more good vibrations of their own to share with the masses far and wide. There’s a reason Collective Soul are made for everyone — so be sure to see and hear them for yourself first-hand.

Collective Soul released their highly anticipated 11th studio album, VIBRATING, August 12, 2022 on their label, Fuzze-Flex Records via AMPED Distribution. It’s available now on CD, vinyl and digital formats everywhere music is sold.

Collective Soul are:
Ed Roland (lead vocals, additional guitar, keyboards), Dean Roland (rhythm guitar), Will Turpin (bass guitar, backing vocals, percussion), Johnny Rabb (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Jesse Triplett (lead guitar, backing vocals)

PSEUDO ECHO are one of Australia’s leading recording and touring acts, introducing audiences to a new sound in an era of pub rock

After sellout shows across Australia, Pseudo Echo will be here with their “Ultimate” tour, following the release of the “Ultimate” double album & DVD, chronicling their expansive forty year music career.

Making history along the way, Pseudo Echo became the first unrecorded band to appear on the legendary Australian music show “Countdown”. Following the release of gold and platinum albums “Autumnal Park” and “Love An Adventure”, the band achieved world-wide success with the release of their international hit “Funky Town”, establishing themselves as one of the most iconic, multi-award winning bands in Australia.

The “Ultimate” tour features a six-piece line-up, performing a hit-filled set, including Funky Town, Listening, A Beat For You, Don’t Go, Living In A Dream and Love an Adventure, faithful to the original sound.

Also, for the first time since the eighties, the band perform feature tracks from the much-loved stadium rock “Race” album.

Pseudo Echo are:
Brian Canham (vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Tony Featherstone (bass synth/keyboards/piano), James Mudd (keyboards, keytar), Matty Ray (keytar), Sammy Paul (backing vocals)