THE BOOMTOWN RATS + THE HORN @ HAMMERSMITH APOLLO – 31ST OCTOBER 2025
Tonight is not just the London date of The Boomtown Rats’ 50th anniversary tour, it’s the exact 50th anniversary of the Rats’ first gig “in a Dublin hotel basement”, as Bob Geldof informs us. To say that there’s a party atmosphere is something of an understatement. Honestly, I couldn’t have planned this better if I’d tried!
However, before the celebrations get underway, there’s the small matter of support band The Horn to consider. The band describe themselves as “an indie rock band”. Well, it’s indie Jim, but not necessarily as we know it. The band are all dressed in white, and look and sound as if they’ve stepped out of a Top Of The Pops re-run from 1984. Vocalist Jonny Taylor has an extraordinarily plaintive voice, which makes him sound as if he’s constantly pleading for something: forgiveness probably. It becomes a little wearing after a while. They play their first single “from a while back”. It’s called Passion, something that the song is completely devoid of. It does have a reasonable guitar solo from Danny Monk though.
The band are clearly very good musicians. I just wish that they’d let rip a little. Their music is too clean and safe. Actually, add dull and bland to that as well. Their music is perfectly pleasant, but it doesn’t engage the audience one iota. It’s all somewhat anodyne. Addicted To Love sounds like a slightly faster version of True by Spandau Ballet. And why use that title??? Let’s name our bland 1980s sounding song after one of the biggest hits of the era. Drift Away is livelier than anything else that they’ve played so far, but frankly the bar isn’t very high. At least this song would have a pulse if it was checked for signs of life. Too Much Information is for anyone “who feels it all a little bit too much”. Well, these songs are unlikely to make the listener feel anything at all, apart from a degree of vague annoyance. They remind me of a far less interesting Hothouse Flowers.
Guitarist Danny is about to become a father. Well, congratulations fella! If the baby doesn’t want to sleep you could do far worse than put on some records by The Horn. The pity is that these guys are talented. It’s just that their material is aural mogadon. Perhaps whilst Danny is on paternity leave, he and the rest of the band could think up some more interesting songs.
After The Horn leave there’s a film, “A Boomtown Fillum,” about The Boomtown Rats to wake us up before the band take the stage. There’s an introductory film clip showing a rat running around the tiers of a birthday cake, accompanied by Happy Birthday Boomtown Rats. The cake explodes and hordes of rats come flooding out. Eight Boomtown Rats are onstage cutting into Rat Trap. The line-up is somewhat expanded, with a real live saxophonist. They didn’t have one of those when I last saw them forty years ago. The choice of opening track makes me wonder whether this is going to be a pension-funding greatest hits set. Not a bit of it, as the opener is followed by I Never Loved Eva Braun from Tonic For The Troops (1978). This ironic song was considered rather controversial at the time, and possibly still is.
Like Clockwork makes it clear that the emphasis of tonight’s show is largely going to be on the early part of the band’s back catalogue. Excellent! This is going to make a lot of middle-aged (and older) people very happy, as we all joyfully cascade down a whirlpool back to the late 1970s! Neon Heart and (She’s Gonna) Do You In continue this odyssey. Bob is on harmonica for the latter song, which also includes a ripping guitar solo from Darren Beale. The band (apart from Simon Crowe on drums) all end up at the front of the stage. Bob Geldof tells us “as you can see, we in The Boomtown Rats never skimp on the concept of male beauty”. If you say so Bob!
The band haven’t been unproductive during the 21st century, and they acknowledge this with the inclusion of Monster Monkeys from their Citizens Of Boomtown album of 2020. It’s apparently a love song. Well, yes, I can see that. Everyone in the Apollo tonight is a citizen of Boomtown, even if it is only for one night. Bob Geldof is both magnificent and hilarious in equal measure. He’s very aware of the Apollo’s history. He is “standing on the exact spot where Ziggy Stardust committed suicide”. He’s standing on the same stage where Bruce Springsteen made his first UK appearance in 1975. He tells us all of this in mock awe. Well, I think it’s mock…. Sir Bob Geldof is 74 years old you know. You’d never guess. He’s living proof of something my late father told me many years ago: blokes never really grow up.
Someone’s Looking At You continues the unashamed nostalgia trip. There’s CCTV footage on the backdrop, but this song predates the widespread use of CCTV by some years. I Don’t Like Monday features bassist Pete Briquette on keyboards. The lyrics mention a “telex machine” – old school tech. There’s a long pause after “the lesson today is how to die”. Just like at Live Aid. Bob talks about Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. It’s utterly tragic that forty years after Live Aid there is still famine in the world. It’s even worse that in one of the places Bob mentions the famine has been created as a weapon of war.
It’s audience participation time as the band play Against The World from 2021’s Out The Back Of Boomtown EP. Geldof asks us to sing “you and me against the whole fucking world”. We gleefully oblige. I’ve not heard the song before, and it sounds a bit Stonesy. It’s utterly storming though with a cracking distorted bass solo from Pete Briquette. We’re clearly roaring down the closing straight as the band dive into a fast and powerful She’s So Modern, before Banana Republic. This song is about Ireland, and briefly got them banned from playing in the country in 1980. The lyric “black and blue uniforms, police and priests” probably tells you all you need to know.
Diamond Smiles leads into final song The Boomtown Rats from Citizens Of Boomtown. The song is a celebration of the band’s legacy, and hopefully its future. There is no encore as the band have played virtually up until the curfew. This tour has seen the band have something of a rebirth. The energy and sheer joy emanating from the stage has been quite staggering. Hopefully there’ll be some more shows next year. I’ll be there!!!
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: ROBERT SUTTON
