Simple Minds and The Stranglers wow 3Arena

HP's lady with the lens Julia Schimkus was front and centre for the night; check out her photo gallery right here.
Tonight is clearly parents’ night out. Before The Stranglers even take the stage the arena is filled with 30 and 40-somethings ready to cut loose. Plastic cups held high, they dance to the music blasting from the speakers - Bowie, Talking Heads, Blondie - blurry memories of the ‘80s no doubt flashing through their minds.

The Stranglers walk on to psychedelic carnival music, immediately launching into the driving 'Toiler on the Sea'. They follow this with '(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)', Baz Warne’s blasé-punk vocals whipping the crowd into a jumping frenzy. Before the set ends, they treat the audience to hits 'Golden Brown' and the blatantly-suggestive 'Peaches'. "Spread it all over my peelin’ skin baby/that feels reeeeal good,” drawls Warne. They finish with the anthemic 'No More Heroes' before commanding everyone to “enjoy the rest of your fucking night!”

And enjoy it we will. The arena is good and ready for the main act, having gone back for multiple rounds of drinks (the amount of group selfies now occurring is both staggering and hilarious). By the time Simple Minds struts on stage, this crowd is beyond ready to dance. Luckily, these Scots provide just the tunes to do so.

The set is high-energy from the get-go, opening with Sparkle in the Rain hit 'Waterfront' and moving into 'Up On the Catwalk'. Everything about tonight is a throwback, from Charlie Burchill’s atmospheric guitar riffs to touring singer Catherine AD’s red vinyl dress. By the time they launch into 'Don’t You (Forget About Me),' it’s clear that the dream of the ‘80s is alive in Dublin. The crowd sings along flawlessly to this track, hitting every inflection of the impassioned “la da da da’s.”

The lads are obviously happy to be in Dublin. “We always want to give 100%, but there’s some places you want to give more than that,” says frontman Jim Kerr. “Thanks for singing and dancing and making us feel like rockstars!” he yells. The fact that U2 was here the night before doesn’t unnerve him in the slightest; “We hear some of our pals were here last night…we don’t give a fuck!”

The night ends with power anthems 'Alive and Kicking' and 'Sanctify Yourself'. Notably absent is 1989’s “Belfast Child,” a track that would have been welcome in lieu of those performed by the band’s touring singers. But we’ll forgive them for cutting the night short - the audience had to get home to relieve the babysitters anyway.