Pretty sure When The Night Comes has been a staple in the set so far. What did change last night, probably deliberately to upset ArrGee , was Having My Picture Taken coming back into set as first encore, replacing Never Bite The Hand That Feeds.

Can't say I really noticed the 'block' in Close As You'll Ever Be - never really knew the words to that 3rd verse anyway so no idea what's right or wrong.

I thought it was another top quality gig myself - good crowd, again in 4 figures, who seemed well up for it, and the sound was pretty good too. The last 2 gigs have afforded opportunity for the video screen stuff as well, which seems to make whole show dynamic as the countdown and deafening gunshot bit at the start ups the ante immediately.

Not sure if others made it into the Cow before? Didn't meet anyone in there, just ArrGee inside venue.

suss wrote:

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 was Having My Picture Taken coming back into set as first encore, replacing Never Bite The Hand That Feeds.

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 That's cool. I was at Bournemouth but haven't heard them do 'having my picture  taken'. I hope in London we hear all of the aired songs so far.

Thinking about it the video might have been adapted a bit and used at Seenland Festival. The video guy was def on the trip (and having watched it in my view maybe on a trip?) so there probably was imagery.

Personally I think it all adds to the show, so no objections from me.

Have to confess that after 3 hours kip post Bournemouth and about 5 last night before in both cases heading to work to pay for these jaunts I didn't actually get round to trying DVD yet. Sleep was more the priority

Will let you know as soon as I've had chance to try it. Thanks for that again - another reason there was no need for petrol money.

manatthetop wrote:

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Have to give it to you Suss You are one hell of a guy. 1005 BTRs fan Are you going to every gig?? Fair play if you are. Big fan myself but have to draw the line somewhere

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I think suss has been to almost every gig in the last three years which is great as I always have someone to talk with on all matters Rats related no matter where I end up seeing them.  

manatthetop wrote:

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Have to give it to you Suss You are one hell of a guy. 1005 BTRs fan Are you going to every gig?? Fair play if you are. Big fan myself but have to draw the line somewhere

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 Cheers. Bit uncomfortable taking any sort of accolades for going I have to admit. Probably more comfortable with Mrs S view that it's one huge mid life crisis

Simple truth is the band had a massive effect on me, like all of us I assume, and for years after '86 I thought that chapter was well and truly finished. Even took a conscious decision not to latch onto Geldof solo, and even (hard to believe now) initially resisted opportunity to see Garry and Simon band for fear of disappointment, albeit probably a year or so after they restarted as I was that out of touch I didn't know they were on the road again.

Anyway, curiosity won the day and I was blown away by their set, and likened it to what I thought seeing Rats in say 77 must have been like (small venues, no frills, sheer power and so on). What really swung it was them agreeing to play a party I wanted to do before the band folded and opportunity lost, and since then it's been through loyalty as much as enjoyment.

Add to that the fact it gets me to places I'd never been (Belfast for one) and not least presents the chance to meet some really great like minded people, and it was easy to phase out my previous obsessive football supporting with a new 'hobby'. Lastly, there's the angle that one of these shows will be the last, and it's possible even they won't know that at the time it happens. So I keep going, just in case....

OCD moi??

So what's all this got to do with Cambridge?? Errrm....nothing

I wasn't sure what to expect after 27 years by my goodness me, The Rats are better than ever. The lights dimmed, the smoke rose and the opening bars of 'The Boomtown Rats' struck. The crowd raised their eyebrows to the big screen in anticipation. The tension built as the 'then and now' images of the band flickered above. Then on they came.....Gary still looking fit, Simon bound on with the enthusiasm from back in the day, Pete looking mature and dashing and then.......Sir Bob bound on in a Jaggeresque move, donned in a 'mock' snakeskin silver suit and they were off. First up the drums rolled and 'I never loved Eva Braun' took me back to my boyhood days and Geldof strutted, pouted, staggered and belted it out - in my view better than he ever did in 1976.

I shouted to my mate - 'Johnny Fingers doesn't look well' before we realised it wasn't him! (It was Stan Laurel I think). Also with Gerry Cott missing, the new guy on guitar was electrifying and showed the enthusiasm for the songs throughout the gig. Geldof in the meanwhile kept up the pace from start to finish, clearly there for the crack......didn't let us down with a few F****in this and F****in that's but I was so impressed with his performance. Hit after hit followed and all too quickly they were onto Rat Trap and "goodnight and thank you".............off they went but we wanted more. They quickly returned and encouraged the Cambridge crowd to take a photo of the band on their "F****n iPhones" before kicking into 'Having My Picture Taken' and then wrapping up with an emotional rendition of 'Diamond Smiles'. Good nights were said again and then they were gone. We turned to leave but......hang on......the lights haven't come up.............theres more smoke..............the bass line kicks in and they are back. "The Boomtown Rats" we all shout, encouraged by Bob with a white towel over his head and suddenly we are back in the 21st century with the song that opened the night and he was off again, still strutting, pouting and the enthusiasm of a 1976 rock God, never to be forgotten.

Fantastic show.......all agreed by everyone in the queue for the car park machine, nursing injured joints and cursing having to get up for work in the morning! 

Agreed, great review and spot on. Good to have a proper review and a fresh opinion; think we sometimes fall into the trap on here of just comparing set from last gig and not properly reviewing the event in isolation, so a decent review is very welcome.

Had forgotten about Bob the arab on last song till it got mentioned there