Tickets on sale to the public Friday, June 8
St. Petersburg, Fla. – (June 4, 2018) – Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts, Live Nation, and The Duke Energy Center for the Arts, Mahaffey Theater announced today that Simple Minds, as part of their Walk Between Worlds tour, will be performing in St. Petersburg, FL for one night only on Friday, November 9 at 8:00pm.
Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, June 8 at 10 am. Tickets may be purchased online at TheMahaffey.com, charged by phone at (727) 893-7832, or in person at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts, Mahaffey Theater Box Office. Ticket prices are: $65, $50, and $40.
Simple Minds are one of the UK’s most successful bands, having achieved six No.1 albums in the UK as well hitting the top spot in countless other territories including Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
“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.” Jim Kerr.
Taking in the innovative sheen of Promised You A Miracle and Glittering Prize, the anthemic sweep of Waterfront and Sanctify Yourself, the firebrand strand of Belfast Child and Mandela Day and the singalong wonder of Don’t You (Forget About Me) and Alive & Kicking, right up to date with 2014’s phenomenal Big Music album, Simple Minds have been creating a sound-scape for almost 40 years.
Simple Minds have been many things to many people: sound scapers, sound-shapers, soundtrack makers, serial chart-toppers. They have influenced acts as diverse as the Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream, Moby and The Horrors. They have been sampled by Nicky Minaj, David Guetta, Joey Negro and Freddy Bastone. They have provided memorable movie moments for directors Christian Carion (L’Affaire Farewell), Gregor Jordan (The Informers), Cameron Crowe (Elizabethtown) and, of course, John Hughes (The Breakfast Club). They have topped the British charts half a dozen times, with the studio albums Sparkle In The Rain (1984), Once Upon A Time (1985) and Street Fighting Years as well as the Ballad Of The Streets EP (both 1989), the concert recording Live In The City Of Light (1987), and the compilation Glittering Prize 81/92, and returned to the UK Top Ten with latest albums Graffiti Soul & Big Music.
Named after a lyric – ‘So simple minded’ to be exact – from David Bowie‘s seminal 1972 single The Jean Genie, Simple Minds evolved out of Johnny & the Self Abusers, the ‘rank and file’ punk group Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill had formed in April 1977. By the time Saints And Sinners, the sole Abusers single, was issued on Chiswick six months later, Simple Minds, featuring bassist Derek Forbes, drummer Brian McGee and keyboard-player Mick MacNeil, were already moving towards a darker, broodier sound that owed a debt to the Velvet Underground but also the Krautrock of Can, Kraftwerk and Neu!
Following their chart debut with the Life In A Day album in April 1979, Simple Minds recorded some of the most beguiling, inventive, adventurous music of the post-punk period and set the standard for the British alternative scene with the albums Real To Real Cacophony (also 1979), Empires And Dance (1980) and the pioneering ‘twin’ releases Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call (1981). The most prolific and fast-evolving band of a generation that also included The Cure, the Psychedelic Furs and Joy Division/New Order, in 1982 they went on to make the landmark New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84), which marked the debut of drummer Mel Gaynor and served as the template for U2’s The Unforgettable Fire two years later. Success was cemented by the bombastically anthemic Sparkle In The Rain in 1984.
Simple Minds went stratospheric with Once Upon A Time and became a band with a mission, the first to commit to the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert held at Wembley Stadium in July 1988, an event for which they wrote Mandela Day, included on Street Fighting Yearsthe following year. Following Mandela’s release, Simple Minds also played the Freedom Concert, again at Wembley Stadium, in April 1990, and the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute in Hyde Park in 2008. In the intervening years, they have graced the Top 20 with the shimmering singles Let There Be Love, See The Lights, Stand By Love, She’s A River, Hypnotised and Glitterball, and the album charts with Real Life (1991), Good News From The Next World (1995), Neapolis (1998) and Black & White 050505 (2005), and covered material by many of the artists who have influenced them on Neon Lights (2001). The regeneration was initiated by Graffiti Soul (2009) and completed by the critically acclaimed Big Music (2014).
In 2018, Simple Minds released their newest album, Walk Between Worlds. The album charted at #4 on the UK Album Chart and #1 on the UK Vinyl Chart, making it the band’s most successful album in over 20 years. Most recently, Simple Minds released a Gary Numan and Ade Fenton remix of their new single, ‘Summer.’ Click HERE for all download and streaming options.
About Live Nation Entertainment
Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com.
The Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater
The Mahaffey Theater, under the management of Big3 Entertainment, is one of Tampa Bay’s top-rated performing arts venues. Home to the Florida Orchestra, The Mahaffey hosts top-quality national and international artists and performances – Broadway, pop, rock, comedy, dance, classical and interactive engagements and exhibitions.
Located in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, the 2,031-seat cultural jewel boasts spectacular waterfront views and is located only minutes away from white sandy beaches and world-renowned museums. Additionally, the theater supports the highly successful Class Acts program, which enables school children to experience the performing arts through in-theater performances as well as in-school outreach and extension programs.
Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts
Founded as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2009, the Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts is dedicated to the success and future of The Mahaffey Theater and to the notion that through diverse programing and patron membership support, performing arts should be enjoyed by all of St. Petersburg’s citizens. It’s your theater!
The Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts is committed to supporting and presenting all genres of the performing arts at The Mahaffey Theater, funding arts education for school children through the Class Acts performance series and providing its member patrons with unequaled services, entertainment and cultural experiences.