Roberts/Briquette/Geldof in Blackrock tribute to the 7th Rat (Dave McHale) --Sunday 21st June 2009

Scottie · Loudmouth

Roberts/Briquette/Geldof in Blackrock tribute to the 7th Rat (Dave McHale) --Sunday 21st June 2009

musicmania · A Hold of Me

RE: Geldof in Blackrock tribute to the 7th Rat--Sunday

Scottie · Loudmouth

Lucky you if you can go. It MAY be the nearest thing to a Boomtown Rats reunion, with Pete on base and a"few other guys from the band"

musicmania · A Hold of Me

Have my accommodation booked biggrin

Roll on tomorrow. I'll be there good & early to get my ticket!!! I'm NOT missing a 2nd Geldof appearance in one weekend. Will have a seriously early start Monday to get back for work at 8am but seeing Bob will be so worth it smile

I've had a few issues with my camera of late but fingers crossed no problems tomorrow & I'll have loads of pics to show ye Monday evening smile

-- Edited by musicmania on Saturday 20th of June 2009 07:01:28 PM

Derek The Dane · V Deep

Musicmania,please let us know everything about the show.It could possibly be as close as we can get to all The Rats getting together.

ArrGee1991 · Dave

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/geldof-back-on-home-turf-to-sing-tribute-for-friend-1783141.html

Garrick Roberts, Pete Briquette and Bob Geldof took part in a one-off musical tribute at Blackrock Rugby Club and sung Dave, from the In The Long Grass LP, the song that he wrote about his friend's plight .

Geldof was inspired to write 'Dave' after McHale's girlfriend died suddenly. "We had dropped Dave off in London after a tour," he explained. "He had a row with his girlfriend and she took off. Then he found her dead from a five-pound bag of heroin. I wrote this song the next day."

musicmania · A Hold of Me

RE: Roberts/Briquette/Geldof in Blackrock tribute to the 7th Rat (Dave McHale) --Sunday 21st June 2009

Derek The Dane · V Deep

3 Rats on the same stage..........come on guys do a proper reunion.

ArrGee1991 · Dave

Great credit to the three of them for turning up and help raise money. Doubtless there were a few who turned up simply on the off chance of seeing them and it raised a little more.

musicmania wrote:
I was thinking about the comments in todays Indo about him feeing uncomfortable being back in Blackrock & I was a little surprised by them & before the official preformance he seemed relaxed & in good form. I thought the hasty retreat after was maybe he had to be somewhere or emotions after the tribute to his friend. But maybe there was the underlying feeling of discomfort.

Must admit I feel similar with regard to returning to places from my youth. I don't go anywhere near my old school, though it's not far away, and don't really want to look back on it. I quite understand that, but it was great to do something for Dave McHale.

-- Edited by ArrGee1991 on Tuesday 23rd of June 2009 08:41:27 AM

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

I so wish I could have been there. And to see 3 rats together, incredible. Another sad story cry

Scottie · Loudmouth

I think you saw something very special. Looking forward to seeing the pics

musicmania · A Hold of Me

Ok the moment you all have been waiting for. Go to the following link which will take you to the photo album on my Bebo page which is public. Jules I'm sure has already checked out my Facebook page smile

http://www.bebo.com/PhotoAlbumBig.jsp?PageNbr=1&PhotoAlbumId=11085777411&MemberId=7840120655&PhotoId=11085865801

Also here is a link to an article on the Hot Press website. They tend to have longer versions in the actual magazine. I was check the next issue & post it here if they do print a longer version.

http://www.hotpress.com/news/5545105.html

I totally agree with you Derek that the guys should get together for a proper reunion. Wouldn't it be amazing if this tragedy made them realise life is too short & to grab opportunities when you can. When I think about my childhood & past I too have no desires to return to my homeplace & any time I have too is painful so when I think about what Bob said to those reporters I can empathise with where he is coming from. I think that is why we get so few appearances of him in Dublin.
At a quite point in the night I was reading a book of condolance & this is what Bob wrote : "You made it further than I thought! You were a great laugh! Well done on a cool life!" I took a picture but didn't think it would be appropriate to put on the net.
Suprisingly ArrGee I didn't really see that many people specifically there for Bob & the Rats. I'm sure there was a few but anyone I spoke to either was there for Dave some of the other acts. Even when Bob was on stage it was me & the press photographers at the front. I had them warned not to block my view smile Maybe I just was too excited & honoured to be there too notice but other people shared my views. It could of course being the lack of publicity. If it wasn't for the post here on Friday I wouldn't have known about it. I'm not in the habit of reading the Herald!

In regards the rest of the night we also had the musical delights of Johnny Logan, Mary Coughlan who I missed due to being outside chatting to Johnny Logan. For those who don't know Johnny he won the Eurovision for us twice himself & also penned the winning song another year for us. Those were the glory years. We can't even qualify now. I asked did he ever consider performing at it again to restore our credibility but we all agreed that none of us really have an interest in it anymore smile Johnny sang 3 songs. For the life of me I cannot remember what the 1st one was confuse Second was his best eurovision song, "Hold me now" & he finally sang "Knockin on Heaven's Door" which he dedicated to Dave. When we were ouside talking after we were discussing the lack of sleep this gig would entail. He had a gig in Belgium on Saturday & had to get a plane back to Ireland after 2 hours sleep. I on the other hand had a 5am start today to get back to work for 8am! We all agreed though that it was definately worth it for such a worthy cause.
Next up on stage was a woman I never heard of called Brid Harris. She had an amazing voice & done an excellent rendition of Princes "Purple Rain". In fact I'm stunned that she isn't bigger star than she is. Finally we had the house band Stepaside to wind things down even though I'm not sure 'wind down' is the right choice of words as they did a very psychedelic version of Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight". It sounded ok but I just don't think my ears were ready for it smile

In reply to Scottie, yes it was very special & I know I was very lucky to be there. I hope I have done the night justice with my descriptions on the 2 posts & apologies if I went on a bit but I fancy myself as a reviewer & someday & would love to do it for a living.

Derek The Dane · V Deep

Johny Logan is very popular here in Denmark.His concerts are allways sold out where ever he plays.I am glad you had a good time and thanks for the photos.

musicmania · A Hold of Me

Yeah that is true. He releases more albums in Denmark than he does here. I can think of a few more irish artists that have similiar tales! Glad you enjoyed the pics smile

ArrGee1991 · Dave

musicmania wrote:
I totally agree with you Derek that the guys should get together for a proper reunion.

Garry may still get on well enough with Bob & Pete to play things like this, but I don't see it as the precursor to a reunion.

http://www.boomtownrats.co.uk/the-boomtown-rats/interviews/40-interviews/107-garry-roberts-interview.html

musicmania wrote:
Suprisingly ArrGee I didn't really see that many people specifically there for Bob & the Rats. I'm sure there was a few but anyone I spoke to either was there for Dave some of the other acts.

I didn't necessarily mean rabid Rats fans, but possibly people who would have heard they were there and turned up.

Scottie · Loudmouth

The ashes were on stage too
http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/music/rest-in-peace-not-with-bobs-rocking-tribute-1785398.html

musicmania · A Hold of Me

I didn't take that seriously as I thought they were only joking about the ashes!

They were tossing this black thing around & I really thought this was a joke. I'm stunned if Bob was telling the truth as it came across as a bit disrepectful!!! I'd actually forgot it happened 'til now! That article exaggerates in places but yes Bob did suggest we all smoke the 'ashes' & all get high together. I feel a bit sick now thinking that it really was the ashes

It certainly didn't feel like there was 500 people there but then alot of the time there was many people outside but the figure does seem a little high. I'd be interested to know what was raised though & 500 people would be 7,500 smile

Jester · Lookin' After Number 1

Hi,

I am new on here, and have never written on one of these before, so please bear with me! I am a close birth relation of the late Dave McHale (MacHale as I thought him to be). I was wondering if any of you have online photos of the tribute to Dave in Blackrock. I tried to access 'MusicMania's' from last year, but the link was gone? I have only just learned of his death, hence the delay in finding this blog.

Thanks,

Jester

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

There are a couple of pictures here...

http://theboomtownrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/dave-mchale-tribute-sunday-21st-june.html

musicmania · A Hold of Me

Don't know why my other link isn't working. Try this one

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88552&id=708703400&l=40b5017cbb

For some reason I can't attach as a link so you may copy the web address into a new window.

-- Edited by musicmania on Sunday 25th of July 2010 02:37:14 PM

Jester · Lookin' After Number 1

Thanks very much Gwen and Argee. :) It really means a lot to see these. Dave was my uncle, but I sadly never met him (long story). It was especially nice to see the picture of Dave himself as I have been unable to find many on the web.

Thanks again :)

Jester