Review: Simply Red at 3Arena, Dublin on Tuesday 1 December

Last night, 1 December, Simply Red brought their 30 Year Anniversary tour to 3Arena, Dublin.

The concert started with a video of snippets of the band’s songs from the last 30 years. Mick Hucknall then walked on to the stage, accompanied by a six-man band incorporating drums, guitar, keyboard and percussion. Mick opened the show with iconic hit ‘Holding Back The Years’ to which the crowd all sang along. The set-up provided for an intimate concert with the band. They continued to play their well-known hits ‘Say You Love Me’ and ‘For The Babies’, before launching into reggae track which was recorded in Jamaica in 1998, ‘Night Nurse’.

Mick introduced each member of his band, and the screens at the back of the stage displayed close ups of each musician playing their instruments during the song ‘It’s Only Love’. Simply Red followed this with ‘Your Mirror’ which featured a guitar solo from the band’s talented guitarist, Kenji Suzuki.

The atmosphere changed for their performance of ‘Stars’ as the audience rose to their feet singing and dancing, followed by ‘The Right Thing’, number one hit ‘Fairground’ and ‘Sunrise’.

The band left the stage but came back on to perform ‘Shine On’ and 1985 hit ‘Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)’, a song which launched their career. They left the stage again, however returned for the final time to perform ‘Something Got Me Started’.