Simple Minds to stage Princes Street Gardens benefit for appeal to help Ukranian children

Scottish pop and rock favourites Simple Minds are to stage a huge fundraiser during Edinburgh’s summer festivals to help children affected by the Ukraine conflict.

The band will be playing a benefit for the charity UNICEF’s Ukraine appeal in Princes Street Gardens in August.

Simple Minds will be playing all the tracks from their groundbreaking album New Gold Dream, along with a host of their best-known hits, on 13 August.

The band were already due to stage a show in the same venue the previous night, which was originally due to be held in 2020 but was twice postponed by the Covid pandemic.

Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr. Picture Jochen Luebke/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)

The two gigs will be stage a decade after Simple Minds headlined Edinburgh’s Hogmanay “Concert in the Gardens” in the same venue.

UNICEF has warned that 7.5 million children have been put at risk by the Ukraine conflict.

Its appeal website states: “More than 3 million people have now fled Ukraine, with the number expected to climb to 5 million.

“Homes, schools, water supplies and hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Children have been separated from their families and hundreds of thousands of people have been left without safe water, electricity or water. Explosives including landmines are a daily threat to children’s lives.”An announcement about the Simple Minds UNICEF benefit from promoters DF Concerts said: “As one of Scotland’s biggest bands and musical exports - having sold over 60 million records worldwide - Simple Minds will now play two shows under the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle this August.

“This second show on 13 August will not only be a special show to raise money for UNICEF, but Simple Minds, who are celebrating 40 years of hits this year, will also play the whole of their much-loved and revered New Gold Dream album, as well as some of their well-known hits like Don’t You (Forget About Me) and Waterfront.”

A statement from the band about the benefit gig said: “We can think of no better way to bring our upcoming UK/European Tour to a climax than performing not one but now two shows at Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.

“We aim to make the additional show even more special for our fans by playing in full a one-off performance

on 13 August of our career landmark New Gold Dream. All profits from that show will go to UNICEF.”

Princes Street Gardens will be used for pop and rock concerts for the first time in three years this summer.

Simply Red, Michael Kiwanaka, Travis and Sir Tom Jones are also playing shows as part of the “Edinburgh Summer Sessions” series.

DF Concerts are also staging a series of 8000-capacity gigs at the Royal Highland Showground in Edinburgh in June, with Madness, Fatboy Slim, Snow Patrol, James, 50 Cent and Biffy Clyro in the line-up so far.

The company will also be reviving its Connect festival at Ingliston in August. Massive Attack, Mogwai, The Chemical Brothers, Little Simz, Idlewild and The Twilight Sad have all been confirmed to date.

DF Concerts have also just announced that Stereophonics will be playing a headline gig at their new Dundee Summer Sessions event in June. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds were previously announced for the event, which will be held in Slessor Gardens, on the city’s waterfront.