Scottish stadium rockers Simple Minds are one of the new additions to this year’s Isle Of Wight festival.
Beginning as the Glasgow punk band Johnny And The Self Abusers, Simple Minds emerged as a power pop group. Swiftly moving to the left-field the band began to take on Krautrock influences, and became one of the most forward thinking groups in Britain.
The band maintained a cult fanbase until touring with U2 showed them a different approach to being in a rock group. Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr began writing songs of world peace and racial tolerance including ‘Belfast Child’ and ‘Mandela Day’.
Simple Minds have been inactive for some time, but the band’s classic early 80s line up has reformed in an attempt to recapture the magic contained in those recordings. The group have confirmed some enormous live dates, and in fact recently played the historic confines of Edinburgh Castle.
Frontman Jim Kerr commented: “We are very excited about playing the Isle of Wight. This is the first time Simple Minds have played the festival, so as you can imagine, we’re really looking forward to it.
We’ll be performing songs from our new ‘Graffiti Soul’ album and some classic gems.”
Completing the Sunday night Main Stage line-up are The Pigeon Detectives, The Script, Goldie Lookin Chain, Judy Collins and Arno Carstens.
Other surprises at this year’s festival include a special performance from The Charlatans. The baggy survivors are set to play a headline slot as well as curating a weekend’s worth of fun in The Big Top.
Headliners for this summer’s event include Neil Young, Pixies and The Prodigy.
Isle Of Wight festival takes place between June 12th – 14th.
