Simple Minds are about to take North America by storm. The new wave legends have announced their largest tour of the United States and Canada in four decades. The shows mark 40 years since 1985, when Simple Minds achieved massive success with the chart-topping hit “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” and its parent album Once Upon A Time. “Been a while but absence makes the heart grow fonder,” the band’s Jim Kerr says. “Simple Minds are ecstatic at the prospect of touring so extensively in the US and Canada this coming Spring.”
The band’s 24-show run begins May 16 in Ridgefield, WA and continues through June 22 in Noblesville, IN. Along the way they’ll make stops at well-known venues like the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA; Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY; Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD; Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA; and Budweiser Stage in Toronto, ON. Each show’s artist presale begins Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 10 a.m. local time. Local presales begin 24 hours later on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. locally. The presales end at 10 p.m. on Jan. 30, followed by general ticket sales beginning Friday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. local time.
Simple Minds will be bringing new music on the road along with their catalog of old favorites. The band recently released “Your Name In Lights,” a new single to go along with the BBC documentary Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible. The film was directed by Joss Crowley and features interviews with figures like Molly Ringwald, Jimmy Iovine, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, and many more. It’s available to stream in the UK on the BBC iPlayer; details on North American broadcast dates will be available soon.
To go along with the tour announcement, Simple Minds will perform “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” on Jimmy Kimmel Live this Wednesday, Jan. 29. The song was an international smash, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1985. The song is included on Once Upon A Time, the 1985 Gold-certified LP that elevated Simple Minds to new levels of global renown. In the midst of that huge year, the band performed for a worldwide television audience in the American leg of the massive intercontinental charity concert Live Aid.
Buy tickets for the Simple Minds North American tour.
