Thanks, Boomtown Rats! What are we going to do now?

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Thanks, Boomtown Rats! What are we going to do now?

bigbosscentral · House on Fire

Well said

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

a plagaristic poem based on The Day After The Revolution ... (with thanks to Jarvis C0cker)

Yeah, we made it
Just by the skin of our teeth

Perfection is over
The Rats are over
Boomtown is over
Joey is over
Mary is over

(Please leave the building quietly)

Eva is over
Billy and Judy are over
The Elephant's Graveyard is over
The modern girl is over
Mondays are over

The screaming and crying is over
The stolen dream is over
The tour is over
Irony is over
Time is up
Bye Bye

-- Edited by ArrGee on Monday 11th of November 2013 09:58:35 AM

Mark L · Loudmouth

I second that.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

We can speculate what they will do next, until they do or don't do something next lol. Life is lost without them already. Amazing band. The best...

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

Like so many of you. I hope this is not the end. Not just yet anyway. It was really great to see them back on the road again. What a great wee band. Loved the live shows and as for the songs Who could ever get used to not playing or listening to all them, great Singles or album songs. As Geldof said in 1986 RIP. But lets hope it's not another 27 years B4 they rise from the ashes again

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

BVD1965 wrote: Yep, thank you Bob, Garry, Simon, Pete, Darren and Andy

Who is Andy? I guess you meant Alan smile

BVD1965 wrote: And a final gig has to be in London or Dublin I think.

Can only be in Dublin, unless the aim is to just get as big a crowd as possible.

BVD1965 wrote: If they go on I hope that they won't do it hurriedly.

They better hurry, it's not like they are getting any younger. I can't see Bobby Boomtown surviving the sort of pace he has shown for much longer.

BVD1965 wrote: I can imagine that the average BTR fan doesn't like Van Halen

Can't fault your imagination though. biggrin

-- Edited by ArrGee on Monday 11th of November 2013 04:52:51 PM

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

manatthetop wrote:
Like so many of you. I hope this is not the end. Not just yet anyway. It was really great to see them back on the road again. What a great wee band. Loved the live shows and as for the songs Who could ever get used to not playing or listening to all them, great Singles or album songs. As Geldof said in 1986 RIP. But lets hope it's not another 27 years B4 they rise from the ashes again.

Looking back to the start of 2008 prior to when the original reunion sans Geldof and Briquette was first muted, http://boomtownrats.activeboard.com/t15255915/do-the-rat-in-blackpool/, it is amazing that it eventually led to what has happened in the last twelve months.

It is twelve months to the week since the Bradbury Rats played Blackheath Halls to a very sparse audience and none of us there that night would have expected the following twelve months to be the best time ever to follow this wonderful band. I suspect 1978 may have been better, but I was too young to be flying off to Dublin and Cork back then.

It is a good moment to draw a line under The Boomtown Rats. The only shame, with no disrespect to Aberdeen, is that whereas the previous end was a hometown appearance in Dublin, this time it is on foreign ground. I don't know if they will ever play again, but if they do, then one big night in Dublin should be how it all ends.

Lisa · Mondo Bongo

I think I may just go and buy myself a new kitchen. All those ads recently have just been so tempting!

Or I could listen to the brilliant Roundhouse CD to remind myself of a wonderful night .. Or maybe save up just in case they play IOW again. That was fantastic seeing them there and a really great festival! Would be great if they toured again next year, maybe in some smaller venues too (like near Southampton/London!) Pretty please ..

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Lisa wrote:
I think I may just go and buy myself a new kitchen. All those ads recently have just been so tempting!

Don't buy a kitchen from those fcuking kitchen spammers, it'll only encourage them. I will keep removing them, but they are a pain in the ar$£.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Oxford please too. I will come to Southampton area or anywhere along that coastline. They'd probably do well in Brighton.

There is a problem with The Boomtown Rats. They are so out of this world that no other live act can ever match up to them.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Jules wrote:
There is a problem with The Boomtown Rats. They are so out of this world that no other live act can ever match up to them.
I am a big fan, but there are plenty of other live acts that can match them and more. It may be heresy to say so around here, but the best concert I saw this year was Elvis Costello at the Albert Hall. The Stone Roses (plus PiL and Johhny Marr) at Finsbury Park were on a par with The Rats in Cork.
However, none match Pulp at The Albert Hall last year. Mrs. ArrGee said that was the best concert she'd ever been to and I agree.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

I saw Elvis Costello back in 1980, fabulous but didn't quite do for me what the Rats have. It's probably all that goes with it, following them round, meeting other fans and meeting the band, that makes it extra special. Never seen Pulp and not so interested in The Stone Roses.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Jules wrote:
I saw Elvis Costello back in 1980, fabulous but didn't quite do for me what the Rats have. It's probably all that goes with it, following them round, meeting other fans and meeting the band, that makes it extra special. Never seen Pulp and not so interested in The Stone Roses.

If Elvis Costello tours again with his Spectacular Spinning Song Book, nab yourself a ticket. You won't regret it. Alas for Pulp, that ship may well have sailed. Franz Ferdinand are back in the new year. They give a good live performance, though sadly they ain't visiting Oxford.

And if Bowie does decide to play, then go and see him (if you can afford it). I only saw him once on his Serious Moonlight tour and he was fantastic. I did have a ticket for his "farewell" tour back in 1990, but I got sacked from my job in Paris and couldn't afford the flight back out to see him play.

Marti-Anne · Like Clockwork

I rememberseeing Elvis Costello in the early 80s at Manchester Apollo. Dont remember how it went as the supporting act was The Pogues.

The Rats tour was not very well publicised. Very few people knew that they were back together so I suspect that there would have been full houses at all the gigs or even larger venues if more people had known.

Going to have to do the same as you guys and wait in hope that they have got the bug and want to come back again. Some new material would be great too!!!

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

I saw David Bowie on his Glass Spider tour in Wembley. He's excellent. Will keep my eyes open for Elvis Costello, yes I'd like to see him again. I will just have to push the Rats out of my mind and enjoy other live acts in a different way.

Derek The Dane · V Deep

WHAT A GREAT YEAR THAT WAS!!!!!!!!!!!.I would like to thank everyone who I met over the past year for all thier kidness and help.There are to many of you to mention here,and as it is written in the inner cover of ITLG,god bless and thanks.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Indeed, thanks to all of you for making it so much fun. Derek we missed you in the Autumn tour.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Derek The Dane wrote:
WHAT A GREAT YEAR THAT WAS!!!!!!!!!!!.I would like to thank everyone who I met over the past year for all thier kidness and help.There are to many of you to mention here,and as it is written in the inner cover of ITLG,god bless and thanks.

There is one person on this forum I would like to especially thank. suss. Not only did he generously let me stay in his hotel room in Dublin, he also gave me a lift home from Cambridge. And of course, not forgetting, letting the forum know about the public rehearsals.

I wish him well in his forthcoming divorce proceedings smile

BVD1965 · Banana Republic

Yep, thank you Bob, Garry, Simon, Pete, Darren and Andy (and Gerry for being on stage again in London)!!!! A special thank you to Bob to step over the past and giving 1000% every gig. Indeed, nothing's changed, but this worked out very good! For so many people a dream came true, to see you guys perform on stage, better than ever!!! Although this year is 2013, delete the 13 part of it, because this was our (and my) lucky year after 27 years of waiting for the unexpected.

I won't cry if they think this is their final final, but I wish that others can see them who were'nt there this year (you really should have been there...). And a final gig has to be in London or Dublin I think.

If they go on I hope that they won't do it hurriedly. Set your goals and create a good plan, especially if you want to make a new record. Hire a good producer. It has to be a fan, but otherwise who can coach them at the same time and who dares to say the truth. The truth about the song "The Boomtown Rats" is that is a weak song and it sounds like the KLF or Snap meeting some old rockers. There are certain good elements in it, especially the low bass part at 4:04, but overall this is not what a Rats fan wants in my opinion. This said, I think it is a good step to think about their sound and a little bit of experiment can't do wrong. So delete the overproduced "Cubased" bass drum and hi hat and keyboard parts and hey, this can be a good song! Garry, buy a better amp and listen how you sounded in the eighties. Get a good guitar technician and don't sound too similar as Darren on stage. Darren, exercise, especially your vibrato/bending. You can do better.

But there are other ways. After I became a fan of the BTR in 1977, a year later there was a group of Dutch Americans with the best entertainer and one of the funniest men (not the best singer!!!) of rock business: David Lee Roth and of course the best guitar player since Jimi Hendrix, Edward van Halen. OK, I can imagine that the average BTR fan doesn't like Van Halen, but to me, a guitar fan, they sounded, immediately from the first second when I heard them, from another world. And I'm a Dutch-Indonesian and also born in Amsterdam as well so maybe that explains a lot. But what happened to them can happen to the BTR. They didn't make a record for fourteen long years, but expectations of fans were extremely high though in 2012. What they did was to hire John Shanks, refreshed some old demos and mixed them with new stuff and made the best and heaviest album in almost 28 years. When I heard these new songs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aqVbFFghEE) for the first time I felt like 13 again. Goose bumps! So it's all possible for the BTR, but summer 2014 is early enough. If they want to go outside of England than they definitely need a new and good record and do a lot of promotion. Do they want that all? Well, to be honest, I don't think so, but I didn't think that I would ever see the BTR live again.

But as I said before on this forum: don't become a Michael Schumacher.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:
Well, the train is leaving Boomtown, so I guess that's it.
But in case any of the band happen upon the forum, I'd like to thank them for everything they have ever done. And especially for the last twelve months when I have had the best time ever being a fan of this marvelous band.
Don't know what I will write about now...

-- Edited by ArrGee on Sunday 10th of November 2013 09:54:29 PM

Thank them for everything they have ever done? Does that include Charmed Lives/Another Piece of Red? smile

They have just finished a very successful tour. I suspect there will be more gigs, but after a good bit of a break. No announcements have been made as to the future, so we shall just have to wait.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Should they continue, they will probably make announcements early in the New Year about gigs/festivals or whatever for a bit later. They will need to keep the momentum going somehow, but indeed need a break. Maybe Bob will do one if two more solo gigs in Germany in the meantime. That would make me very happy indeed.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Thank them for everything they have ever done? Does that include Charmed Lives/Another Piece of Red?
They have just finished a very successful tour. I suspect there will be more gigs, but after a good bit of a break. No announcements have been made as to the future, so we shall just have to wait.

Well, maybe not those. Nor Ratlife. Nor Ratified. Nor the eponymous song. Nor for their shoddy cover of Arnold Layne. Nor for doing nothing between 1986 and 2008. But thanks for the rest smile

I honestly believe it is over. I hope they return, but deep down it feels final.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

I thanked Bob for 37 years of amazing music the other night. , never mind the weaker stuff. There's a lot worse, and the rest of it outweighs that anyway.

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

100% right Jules. the good the bad and the not go good at the end of the day they are all Rats/Geldof songs and no matter what I have always supported him with or with out the rats. I have everything going even the not so good But that's just me I would buy it even if it was the worse they ever done. Thank god for Bob and the rats who have made a lot of us who support them get through are lives

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

manatthetop wrote:
I have everything going even the not so good. But that's just me I would buy it even if it was the worse they ever done.

Nah, it's not just you. I have bought all the rubbish as well. The Gung~Ho album, all the Geldof albums and the Ratified LP. Haven't got the Jiggerypipery albums, the Greengate records nor the Gerry Cott albums, but probably just a matter of time. Thing is I know I'll hate them!

BVD1965 · Banana Republic

ArrGee wrote:
BVD1965 wrote: Yep, thank you Bob, Garry, Simon, Pete, Darren and Andy
Who is Andy? I guess you meant Alan BVD1965: Yes, you're right. I'm sorry Adam.
BVD1965 wrote: And a final gig has to be in London or Dublin I think.
Can only be in Dublin, unless the aim is to just get as big a crowd as possible. BVD1965: Dún Laoghaire?
BVD1965 wrote: If they go on I hope that they won't do it hurriedly.
They better hurry, it's not like they are getting any younger. I can't see Bobby Boomtown surviving the sort of pace he has shown for much longer. BVD1965: Than they better don't do it at all, if they want to make a new record. If they're going to hurry I foresee some problems. It has to be a party for every Rat I guess. Or they don't care and are doing it for the money. But that's not the case in my opinion. Anyway, you can't earn anything nowadays by making a CD or download. If you go break even than you can be glad about it.
BVD1965 wrote: I can imagine that the average BTR fan doesn't like Van Halen
Can't fault your imagination though. BVD1965: ha ha ha, I knew you would respond like this!!! Yes, it's a thing I have to explain each time and I had to explain that already in 1978. But Van Halen means a lot to me just like the Rats. My family knew even some of the Van Halen family in The Netherlands.
That's the "problem" when you go to music school. You learn so much about other artists, instruments and music history that those image barriers don't exist anymore. I like Miles Davis, Mozart, Bob Marley, Sibelius, Curtis Mayfield, Steve Vai, Bach, Whitesnake, Van Halen, The Beatles, Stones, The Who and..... The Boomtown Rats . The only ones that I don't like are overrated musicians like Bruce Springsteen. 30 people on stage and all you hear are three chords. A phenomenon though, but definitely not mine.

-- Edited by ArrGee on Monday 11th of November 2013 04:52:51 PM

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

BVD1965 wrote: Yep, thank you Bob, Garry, Simon, Pete, Darren and Andy

ArrGee wrote: Who is Andy? I guess you meant Alan

BVD1965: Yes, you're right. I'm sorry Adam.

Adam, Alan, Andy, Alex, what's it matter? smile

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

It might matter to Alan

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

BVD1965 wrote:
Than they better don't do it at all, if they want to make a new record. If they're going to hurry I foresee some problems. It has to be a party for every Rat I guess. Or they don't care and are doing it for the money. But that's not the case in my opinion. Anyway, you can't earn anything nowadays by making a CD or download. If you go break even than you can be glad about it.

I don't want them to make another record. If they did they would probably want to play the songs live.

manatthetop · In the Long Grass

As geldof says every song writer/singer will write songs and the need to get it down on tape. In my opinion to them it's not about the money Just about getting the work out I for one would like to hear a new album. Why not?

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

manatthetop wrote:
Why not?

Ratlife EP

bigbosscentral · House on Fire

I would love to hear a new album. That would seem to be the logical next step. I would welcome it. I predict some summer festival appearances and overseas dates (Germany), a new album and a winter tour. Beyond that- not sure. But the Rats are not done yet.

Mark L · Loudmouth

Jules: I thanked Bob for 37 years of amazing music the other night

What did he say?

There has to be a Back to Boomtown part 2 - we need some focus on the last 3 albums, particularly ITLG. This would truly be going Back to all of Boomtown. Thus far, they have only revisited the older suburbs of Boomtown, not the newer estates. And whilst the older houses were generally built better and built to last, there were some great examples of more modern construction.

Regrettably, we could do without revisiting Charmed Lives - a 60's tower block in this analogy.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Nothing, he seemed a little uncomfortable. It was after he'd thanked me for my support. It was heart felt and so was my thank you. I was also a little uncomfortable and didn't know how to respond, as I wasn't expecting it.

. It meant a lot to me though for him to say that, so I just hope he was feeling the same afterwards.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Mark L wrote:
There has to be a Back to Boomtown part 2 - we need some focus on the last 3 albums, particularly ITLG. This would truly be going Back to all of Boomtown. Thus far, they have only revisited the older suburbs of Boomtown, not the newer estates. And whilst the older houses were generally built better and built to last, there were some great examples of more modern construction.

Regrettably, we could do without revisiting Charmed Lives - a 60's tower block in this analogy.

Given not many people know nor really care for the last 3 LPs that would be a disaster in the making. My one critcism of the recent tour was that there as a bit too much focus on the first LP to the detriment of A Tonic for the Troops. Blind Date, Living In An Island, Don't Believe What You Read and Howard Hughes (which got dropped) are likely to be more familiar than Neon Heart, Close As You'll Ever Be, Bite The Hand That Feeds and Do You In. They did seven out of nine of those songs regularly if you throw in Joey, Mary and Number One. Most of the audience are likely to have Surfacing and Tonic for the Troops yet on many dates there were only four songs off each of these.

Mark L · Loudmouth

I'm not suggesting they rerun the 1985 In the Long Grass tour but some focus on the later albums, perhaps by less reliance on the first album, would be great. Geldof has always said Drag me Down gets as good a reception as Mondays live, which was amply demonstrated at Live Aid, and Banana Republic & Graveyard went down well this time round. I should have thought House on Fire would go down better than some of the non-singles from album one and Dave, which Pete Townsend described as 1984's best song, would be delightful to hear again live. I don't see this as a disaster in the making at all, quite the contrary.

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

The first album is my favourite, by a whisker of the 2nd too. I was happy with the set list. Bob does Dave on his solo tours, so I don't see any reason why it could be on the Rats set list at any time in the future.

suss · In the Long Grass

ArrGee wrote:
There is one person on this forum I would like to especially thank. suss. Not only did he generously let me stay in his hotel room in Dublin, he also gave me a lift home from Cambridge. And of course, not forgetting, letting the forum know about the public rehearsals.
I wish him well in his forthcoming divorce proceedings

Don't be daft - seem to remember getting way more in recompense than was due for Dublin and Cambridge. If anything I owe you. And while we're at it where would we be without you running the forum so, to quote some US sitcom or another, 'right back at yer!'.

As for warm ups, I was just asked to alert so as many true fans as could make it had the opportunity.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

suss wrote:
And while we're at it where would we be without you running the forum...

Probably on facebook. I do very little running the forum. It mostly takes care of itself. The other day, I did clear out a load of users with zero posts whilst sorting out the kitchen spam (sorry, Lisa, you'll have to go to B&Q now), but it must have been the first time I logged in as admin for a long time.

I just read and write like everyone else. Well, maybe a lot more than everyone else.

Lisa · Mondo Bongo

ArrGee wrote:
suss wrote:
And while we're at it where would we be without you running the forum...
Probably on facebook. I do very little running the forum. It mostly takes care of itself. The other day, I did clear out a load of users with zero posts whilst sorting out the kitchen spam (sorry, Lisa, you'll have to go to B&Q now), but it must have been the first time I logged in as admin for a long time.
I just read and write like everyone else. Well, maybe a lot more than everyone else.

Don't worry, couldn't afford a new kitchen even if I did actually want one! Am sure there must be some sort of Monty Python joke I could make, but can't quite fathom it out confuse Needless to say no spam in my kitchen anyway - I am a vegetarian after all And probably not worth risking doing business with the kitchen spammers - they probably cook the books anyway .. biggrin I'm great in the kitchen though - Born to Burn! wink

Lisa · Mondo Bongo

Seriously, thanks for making my teenage years special with the music of TFTT and FAOS, then discovering the first album and the excitement of hearing what went before! The lyrics all so meaningful and powerful as well as the dynamic music. And thanks to Simon, Garry, Darren and various "Bobs" (!) for rekindling my interest and being the first live experience I had of all those wonderful songs. And yes, finally to see (almost) the original band together this year. It was great!

And a pleasure to meet some of the other fans along the way too ..