I covered this event at the Forum in Kentish Town. Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats were brilliant. Not only did he have the energy of a 30 year old, he had charisma and an enigmatic hold over the audience. His lyrics have as much relevance to todays world as they did in the 1970’s and 1980’s. His musical style has developed into a fusion of Rock and Roll, Blues and Punk Rock with fibres of electro techno running through it.
He is a great showman and the audience and fans loved his animated style of playing the harmonica. The audience were totally behind him with his rendition of ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ when Bob was clearly pained with singing the lyrics ‘what reason do you need to die.’ and effectively carried him through it, the rendition engendered tears in me and with others.
Despite Bob suffering a number of personal and deep tragedies recently he has shown the world that he will carry on, and continue to effect change through music and campaigning. Although Bob has been criticised for his repeat runs of ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas’ with claims that the recent re-working of the single contains lyrics that are offensive, and social media has damned him for holding wealth abroad with accusations of tax evasion, the fact remains he has done much to change peoples perception on the world and ways which we as the human race, together can make a difference.
Aeon 