It was worthwhile to see Scottish group Simple Minds rock Fort Canning on a Sunday night - if only to see how they have transformed from a 1980's New Age band to a pop/alternative rock group with a sound vaguely akin to U2. Still judging from the number of bald heads in the 5,000 strong crowd, most fans - at least in Singapore - remember Simple Minds for their anthemic 1980's hits like Waterfront or Alive & Kicking. The show started with Stay Visible, the opening track from the group's latest album Black & White 050505, released last year. It was a solid opener, but the band really hit their stride in Home, allowing original band members Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill (amazing as ever on electric guitar) to strut their stuff.

Lead singer Kerr, while he can scream and work the crowd with the best of them, sounds unconscionably sexy when he sings in the lower registers. His voice dipped into a deep, sensuos purr when he hit the chorus of Home. Midway, though, the show lost some of its momemtum, with some members of the standing crowd choosing to sit down through the slower numbers - with the rather large exception of the thumping 1983 classic Waterfront, which had the audience literally galloping on the grass. Chalk it up to enthusiastic efforts to entertain the crowd. The whole group, in fact, put in a good effort. After hearing Kerr joke about the heat, or seeing Burchill towel off after a particularly good guitar riff, it wasn't hard to overlook a few sour notes. The show, however, didn't really kick off until the moment everyone had been waiting for - seeing Simple Minds perform their 1985 world-wide chart topper Don't You Forget About Me. After that, the crowd was dancing, singing and hand-waving for the rest of the show, cajoling the group into playing five more songs in two encores.