THE BOOMTOWN RATS

ULSTER HALLFriday 18 October 2013

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 21 JUNE at 9.00am

Available from Ulster Hall Box Office 9033 4455 & all usual Ticketmaster outlets.24hr Credit Card Bookings 0844 277 4455Book on line www.ulsterhall.co.uk  / www.ticketmaster.ie

Almost 30 years since their last show in Belfast, The Boomtown Rats – Bob Geldof on vocals, Pete Briquette on bass, Simon Crowe on drums and Garry Roberts on guitar – have confirmed a return to the city to play the Ulster Hall on Friday 18 October.  Tickets go on sale Friday 21 June at 9.00am.

Once famously described as ‘licentious, festering reprobates’ and ‘leprous anti-establishment scumbags’ and banned from playing in their home country, it’s difficult to overestimate the shock and awe The Boomtown Rats inspired in late 70s Ireland.  The Rats set out to “disrupt, disturb and question what it meant to be young in the Ireland of the mid-70s”.

Formed in 1975 in Dublin The Boomtown Rats exploded out of Ireland in ’76 and their fast, loud, furious music and their fast loud furious attitude meant they became part of the burgeoning punk scene. Singer Bob Geldof’s defiant motormouth arrogance and flagrant disrespect for authority endeared him and his band to every youth who felt weighed down by the heavy handed blandishments of church and state.  In the UK The Boomtown Rats first toured with the Ramones and Talking Heads rocking and mocking the status quo alongside the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Jam and The Stranglers. They became one of the biggest bands of the late 70s/80s with a string of top ten hits and platinum albums, earning them Brit Awards, Ivor Novellos and Grammy Awards.  Making history as the first Irish band to have a UK no 1 hit with ‘Rat Trap’, they went on to top the charts in 32 Countries with ‘I Don't Like Mondays’ and racked up 6 era-defining albums: ‘The Boomtown Rats’ (’77), ‘A Tonic For The Troops’ (’78), ‘The Fine Art Of Surfacing’ (’79), ‘Mondo Bongo’ (’80), ‘V Deep’ (’82) and ‘In The Long Grass’ (’84).

Says Bob: “Age, curiosity and cash prompted our interest in getting together again.  Age and cash are self evident.  Curiosity about each other and what we did together in the '70' and 80's.  Curiosity about those songs that seem to have endured and the music and band that powered them.  When I sang again Rat Trap, Looking After No 1, Mondays, Someone's Looking At You, Banana Republic, She's So Modern etc, there was nothing I would change.  On re-hearing, on re-singing them I understood that they could have been written yesterday.  The circumstances within which they were written hadn't changed. Tragically and unfortunately I could sing those words with utter conviction. This isn't nostalgia, rather perhaps a time to be angry again.  Time to go back to Boomtown.  If only for a short while...”

The Boomtown Rats will release a new hits collection on August 5th ’13.  Entitled ‘Back To Boomtown: Classic Rats’ Hits’ it will feature all of the band’s celebrated hits including ‘Lookin After No 1’, ‘Like Clockwork’, ‘She’s So Modern’, ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ and ‘Rat Trap’ – songs with an immediacy and a message that is as pertinent today as it was when they were written - plus two new songs recorded by the newly re-formed Rats.  The full tracklisting of the album will be –

1.   The Boomtown Rats!2.   Mary Of The 4th. Form3.   (I Never Loved) Eva Braun4.   Neon Heart5.   Like ClockWork6.   She's So Modern7.   Lookin' After No. 18.   Someone's Looking At You9.   Me And Howard Hughes10. Joey's On The Street Again11. I Don't Like Mondays12. Having My Picture Taken13. Banana Republic14. Diamond Smiles15. Rat Trap16. Back To Boomtown

The digital version of the album will feature two additional songs – ‘House On Fire’ and ‘Drag Me Down’. 

Tickets for The Boomtown Rats Live at the Ulster Hall Belfast go on sale Friday 21 June at 9am.

FOR MORE CONCERT INFORMATION CHECK www.aikenpromotions.com