Concert #8 - Simple Minds at the Greek Theater (April 16, 1986)

This concert came after almost three years of no live shows at all. Musically speaking, I'd been living in Oldiesville and I reached a point where I badly needed new music, new artists, new genres. Then one day, an Englishman I worked with gave me a VHS tape with two live concerts: Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. EC was so-so, but Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" show at the Wembley Arena just knocked me out. So I forced myself to listen to new stuff on the radio, and the result was Concert #8.

The Simple Minds had just had a huge hit in the States with "Don't You (Forget About Me)", from the movie The Breakfast Club. Their follow-up album, "Once Upon A Time", had also produced a few hits that were on heavy rotation on both radio and MTV.

The opening act was The Call, the American band whose song titled "I Still Believe" received quite a bit of airplay, and indeed, this song was the highlight of their set.

The headliners played a set that was later described by the LA Times as "suffering from sameness", not a totally untrue assessment. The crowd enthusiastically joined in on "Don't You (Forget About Me)". "All The Things She Said" and "Alive And Kicking", both from "Once Upon A Time", were also performed. I do remember their backup singer, Robin Clark, on her first-ever major national tour. She was quite a singer, but surprisingly, I haven't heard of her since then.

Going to the Greek Theater for the first time was quite an experience. That night was my introduction to the horrors of "stack parking", whereby you can drive out only after the cars around you are gone.