REVIEW: Children need punk rock and The Boomtown Rats at All Together Now delivered
Bob Geldof and The Boomtown Rats at All Together Now on the Something Kind of Wonderful Stage.
You wouldn’t call The Boomtown Rats timeless; that’s for Disney movies and first dance songs.
But whatever that energy is and make it rock and roll, that is what The Boomtown Rats brought to the Something Kind of Wonderful stage at All Together Now in Waterford this Sunday afternoon.
A huge crowd turned out to see Geldof roar, roll and dance his way across the stage in a way that a 20-year-old pop star would envy.
And the crowd loved every second.
Geldof referenced songs they first played fifty years ago, like '(She’s Gonna) Do You In' and 'I Don’t Like Mondays'.
He pointed out to at least one set of parents in the front row that their children were too young to be watching him up on that stage.
But you know what, children today need punk rock.
They need someone who stands up and says what they feel in the moment.
No diplomacy, just honesty and that’s what Geldof is most known for.
Watch a video clip below as Bob Geldof speaks of the effect of seeing Palestinian flags in the audience
Children today watch live-streamed genocide on their phones and feel helpless.
But 50 years ago, children watched news-broadcast clips of war and screamed about it.
The Boomtown Rats used 'I Don’t Like Monday' to comment on Palestine and the invasion of Ukraine.
He said they have been playing that song for fifty years, and every time they were thinking of a new horror.
Referencing the Palestinian flags at what appeared to be every gig that weekend, Geldof said:
“Here in front of you, seeing your flags, I’m full of those exhausted women and starving children in Palestine.”
The crowd erupted in cheers.
“I’m thinking of those brave people dying now as we stand in this tent enjoying ourselves, on the frontline in Ukraine,", the crowd cheers again, and Geldof continues singing one of the most famous songs about the senselessness of violence.
The crowd loved it.
They sang every word of 'Rat Trap', 'Like Clockwork' and all of the songs they grew up with or are growing up with.
Geldof declared that they would never forget that afternoon.
One photographer may have had the picture of the weekend as Geldof commandeered him from the wings to take a photo of the band and crowd.
Thousands more have turned out for the more current big names across the weekend.
But this Sunday afternoon proved that it's hard to beat The Boomtown Rats!
