The King's Hall Showgrounds is the venue for Wednesday's big open-air concert in Belfast, headlined by those white soul warhorses, Simply Red. Since their debut hit, Money's Too Tight To Mention, in 1985, Mick Hucknall (left) and his band have raked in the dosh, earning more than £300 million and racking up around 40 million album sales, plus numerous hit singles such as Holding Back The Years, A New Flame and Something Got Me Started. The band's carrot-topped singer and ageing lothario takes home around £2 million a year in royalties, and has reputedly notched the names of Kathy Lloyd, Catherine Zeta Jones, Steffi Graf, Helena Christiansen and Tracy Shaw on his ever-expanding belt (jealous? me?) These days, Simply Red's MOR soul sounds simply old and creaky, and their most recent album, Blue, yielded only one half-memorable single, Say You Love Me. Wednesday's gig is Belfast's last big outdoor concert before the Millennium, and Hucky will be backed by a 13-piece band in a theatrical setting. Support is by Belfast's own Brian Kennedy.
Kevin Courtney.