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Boomtown Rats

Boomtown Rats
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Bob Geldof was originally invited to be the band's manager, but he soon found himself nominated to take on the role of lead vocals by guitarist Garry Roberts, who originally had that job and didn't want it. Playing the guitar was difficult enough for him, without having to sing as well. Geldof's ridiculous harmonica playing impressed the others hugely and sealed his fate.

The band's early influences were Dr. Feelgood, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors and Bob Marley, among many others. Gerry and Pete arranged the band's first gig for Halloween 1975, for a fee of £60 - not bad for 1975, under the name of The Nightlife Thugs, at the Bolton Street Technical College, where they - and Johnnie, were studying Architectural Technology. Just before the band went on stage, they changed their name to The Boomtown Rats, who were a gang mentioned in Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, "Bound For Glory".

The Rats were soon causing a buzz throughout the whole of Ireland.

After last years storming of the Isle of Wight Festival stage an exhilarated Bob Geldof said “It’s weird. I’d forgotten how powerful a band The Rats are!” Others hadn’t. What was only meant to be a brief “re-grouping” turned into a triumphant sell out UK tour, a block-booked 2014 Festival season and the announcement of ‘Ratlife’ the second half of The Boomtown Rats’ second coming.

Beyond nostalgia both press and audience agreed that those many classic Ratsong’s had indeed stood the test of time morphing from the radical, upstart transgressive rage of the mid-70’s into tunes for the ages with a tragic contemporary resonance. The audience, ranging from the Rats’ contemporaries to the newer, younger curious crowd wondering what the fuss had been about, immediately recognised the timeless frustrations and rage of the Now embodied in the Rats’ tunes and performance.

2013 - to the present day

Boomtown Rats Bob Geldof, Simon Crowe, Garry Roberts, and Pete Briquette reform

Age had indeed not withered them, but made them more potent. At a time of cookie cutter anodyne musical drivel the visceral Shock of the Old from its original purveyors is one of contemporary music’s great treats and revelations.

Classique has been working with International Artistes from around the world for over 20 years, whether they are ‘A’ list celebrities, Chart Toppers, performers from TV talent shows or Celebrity DJs. Along with our in-house production team, we pull together all the details – dealing with flights, transfers, accommodation and riders for all the major artists and their teams.

As the UK’s No 1 booker of celebrity artists we deal with everything for you and work constantly with management companies throughout the world, where we have built up great relationships and have the latest information about who is available and who would work best for your event.

Please contact us for any ideas for your event and we will work with you, always understanding time constraints and budgets.

Unfortunately we are unable to request autographs or personal Meet & Greets (unless part of a Classique event and pre-arranged) and we suggest contacting the artist's own websites or fan sites. Apologies, we are also not able to ask for Video calls / personal birthday requests / free / gratis / charity / reduced fee performances from any of the artists – again please contact your chosen artist through their own websites.
We are however very happy to pass on your thanks to any artist that has appeared at your event arranged and organised by Classique.

The majority of prices will be plus vat at the current UK rate of 20%.

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