| Live in the City of Light | |
| Type: | Live |
| Artist: | Simple Minds |
| Cover: | Liveinthecityoflight.jpg |
| Released: | 26 May 1987[1] |
| Recorded: | 12 & 13 August (mostly), October 1986 |
| Venue: |
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| Genre: | Rock |
| Length: | 82:22 |
| Label: | Virgin – SMDL 1 |
| Producer: | Bruce Lampcov |
| Prev Title: | Once Upon a Time |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Street Fighting Years |
| Next Year: | 1989 |
Live in the City of Light is the first (double LP / CD) live album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds. It was released in May 1987 to document their successful worldwide Once Upon a Time tour, and charted at No. 1 in the UK. The album spawned one chart single release, a live version of "Promised You a Miracle".
The album was recorded live mainly on 12 & 13 August 1986 at Le Zénith, Paris, France (Paris is nicknamed "La Ville de Lumière" which means "The City of Light", hence the album title), on the last dates of the Once Upon a Time world tour, with the only track "Someone, Somewhere In Summertime" recorded in late October 1986 at Sydney Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia. It features the band's 1986 touring lineup, which included second vocalist Robin Clark and percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos. Additional "fixing and mixing" was done at Castle Sound Studios in Edinburgh and Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York. Lisa Germano (at the time, a John Mellencamp band member who would perform on Simple Minds' next studio single, Belfast Child), contributed studio-overdubbed violin on "Someone Somewhere in Summertime"[2] and former Simple Minds member Derek Forbes contributed uncredited bass guitar overdubs.
Although the album was not recorded there, the inside of the gatefold sleeve curiously features a photograph taken at another show from the same Once Upon A Time tour: on 9 July 1986 at Piazza Grande, a square in Locarno, Switzerland.
Live in the City of Light was released as a double vinyl album with the band's logo in gold lettering over black sleeve. The package featured a 12" x 12" attached giant-sized booklet with state-of-the-art photography of the band's performance and outdoor session pictures. This art could not be reproduced faithfully on later CD releases (an original 1st pressing on double-fat jewel case and the USA version packaged in a long box on two separate discs).
All tracks recorded live on 12 & 13 August 1986 at Le Zénith, Paris, France except "Someone, Somewhere In Summertime" recorded live on 24 (or 30) October 1986 at the Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia.[3] [4]
Source[5]
Adapted from the album's liner notes.[6]
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] | 13 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[9] | 17 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[10] | 6 |