They played 

• Trash Glam 
• (I Never Loved) Eva Braun
• Like Clockwork
• Neon Heart
• (She's Gonna) Do You In
• Monster Monkeys
• Someone's Looking at You
• I Don't Like Mondays
• Get a Grip
• She's So Modern
• Diamond Smiles
• Looking After No. 1
• Rat Trap
• The Boomtown Rats

Lisa wrote:

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I enjoyed the gig on the whole but yes it was quite pricey for the length of the gig. Fortunately my ticket was bought for me as a belated birthday present! I did enjoy the video - although I hadn't expected to given a comment I read from the Crawley gig ...

We found the sound for the support act was quite "muddy" which was a shame.

It was good to hear some different songs to the "usual" setlist and Bob was amazing in the way he moved around the stage. I do find Mondays uncomfortable with the pause and some of the audience reaction. It just doesn't feel right somehow with whooping/"jeering" etc. I find it particularly difficult given the tragedies that have affected Bob and wonder how he must feel with some of the subject matter of his songs now. Maybe you just see it differently when you are "middle aged" rather than a teenager who finds it all fascinating without realising the impact events have on other people's lives. But I wonder how many of the more vocal audience members are real Rat fans who know the lyrics and the stories.

Anyway the shorter length of the gig meant I arrived home just after midnight rather than the early hours so a bonus I guess.

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I just about made it in time for the video (busy day), so never got to hear the support act.  Was surprised when I arrived at 8:20pm that the Rats were on at 8:30pm.  Still given how much I had drunk that afternoon, probably a good thing I didn't get the opportunity to go to the bar before the show. 

Overall, I found the set to be a little lackluster.  Replacing Mary with Diamond Smiles wasn't a good move, and Get A Grip wasn't what was needed after Mondays. 

Writing of Mondays, the way to deal with the audience reaction on the pause is to not have it! It is not particularly dramatic anymore.  Interestingly there was a lot less of the whooping/"jeering" etc at Dagenham and there were two pauses in that section that night.  

I suspect there were a lot of non Rat fans there,  there was a very sudden take up of tickets in last day or two (a ticket giveaway to fill up the seats?).  The girl next to me in the front row sat disinterestedly cross armed throughout.  Again to hark back to Dagenham, where there appeared to be almost no Rats fans, the far smaller audience enjoyed it more.

On the plus side I was in the front row, mainly standing, so I had a superb view! And was able to have a sit down for the lesser songs. After the gig, I was handed a setlist while I was talking to a couple of friends who were sat elsewhere.  The second one I got!  (Last was at Whelans in Dublin with The Bradbury Rats)

I don't think I will see the Rats in their own right again, as they seem to make more effort at festivals (5 announced for 2022).  Festivals are cheaper.  You get to see other acts like Sham 69, Hugh Cornwell, From The Jam and Neville Staple for less than the price of a Palladium ticket.

Rats Fan wrote:

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 I missed 'Close As You'll Ever Be' after Mondays because although it isn't the best known track, then they all seemed to really relish performing that one and it was a great change of pace.

I also missed 'Joey' and 'When The Night Comes'. They were both epic numbers and made the Rats unique. 

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It is odd that Joey, Mary & Banana Republic which were pretty much mainstays in the Geldof solo show as well as the Rats gigs have all fallen off the set list.  The Barton Rats and the Bradbury Rats always played Joey & Mary (Sometimes twice!).  And as they had the sax player, why not play Joey as well?  I expected a longer show at the Palladium, as most bands that play there normally do a little extra.  Especially when they were starting at 8:30pm. The Damned played for well over 2 hours a couple of years ago.  The Rats played Peace Love & Understanding and Banana Republic on the Late Late Show recently, so its not as if there werent other songs rehearsed and ready to go.

I thought the gig was mostly good, just short and not that special. A bit half hearted, truth be told. Especially having spent over £50 for a ticket.

Rats Fan wrote:

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I agree. I expected a longer show. The show has been cut down a lot. I was in the grand circle and my ticket was around £33 + fees so at least it wasn't quite so much.

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The Rats shows are not as long as comparable acts.  From The Jam did 20+ songs when I saw them a couple of years ago, The Damned did 34 at Royal Albert Hall, whilst Elvis Costello did 33. Even old bands like The Who do 20+ and The Stones around 20.   And Bryan Ferry did 25 last time I saw him.

I remember thinking Blondie did a pretty abridged set back in 2014 at Shepherds Bush but checking setlist.fm, it was 16 songs (though half of them were newer not so great songs)

For the record, the Rats did 18 songs in Cork and Hurtwood back in 2013. as did Geldof solo back in 2012.

noelindublin wrote:

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Maybe there was some sort of time restriction in operation so that the gig had to end at tenish? 

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Unlikely.  When I saw The Damned at the Palladium they were on until 11pm, having started at 8.15pm on a Monday evening. They had a 20 minute interval during which Dave Vanian shaved his hair off! By comparison, they were coming on for the second act when the Rats were packing their bags.  On stage for over 2 hours.  

Oh and the films during the Damned concert produced by Hammer were in a different league to the nonsense at the start of the Rats gig.  Very similar ticket prices to boot.

https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/the-damned-at-the-london-palladium/

Doors and bars open 6:45pm
Arrival of the Funeral Cortege 7pm
The Circus of Horrors Cabaret 7:45pm
The Damned 8:15pm
Interval 9:30pm
The Damned 9:50pm
Show ends 11pm

And they did 3 hours at The Albert Hall

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2016/the-damned/

ArrGee wrote:

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noelindublin wrote:

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Maybe there was some sort of time restriction in operation so that the gig had to end at tenish? 

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Unlikely.  When I saw The Damned at the Palladium they were on until 11pm, having started at 8.15pm on a Monday evening. They had a 20 minute interval during which Dave Vanian shaved his hair off! By comparison, they were coming on for the second act when the Rats were packing their bags.  On stage for over 2 hours.  

Oh and the films during the Damned concert produced by Hammer were in a different league to the nonsense at the start of the Rats gig.  Very similar ticket prices to boot.

https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/the-damned-at-the-london-palladium/

Doors and bars open 6:45pm
Arrival of the Funeral Cortege 7pm
The Circus of Horrors Cabaret 7:45pm
The Damned 8:15pm
Interval 9:30pm
The Damned 9:50pm
Show ends 11pm

And they did 3 hours at The Albert Hall

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2016/the-damned/

Friday 20 May 2016 7:30 PM

Approximate schedule: 17:30: Restaurants and bars open 18:45 Doors open 19:30 The Damned (with 30 minute interval) 23:00 End

-- Edited by ArrGee on Friday 15th of October 2021 08:49:14 PM

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 I remember feeling being short changed at Bristol a few years back. It was a festival gig and Rats were about fourth from top of bill. Might have been Wynchwood? Saw them at Cheltenham too around the same time.

I think there's a fine art to doing the right amount of songs. You have to hit a sweet spot.Not sure if the Rats doing a three hour set would appeal. You have to leave the audience wanting more and have a certain mystique, rather than reproducing most of your back catalogue , sort of nevermind the quality feel the width basis. To quote Woody Allen 

"Half of art is knowing when to stop..."

Long gigs are a bit like long movies, sometimes you need a bit of editing. 

ArrGee wrote:

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noelindublin wrote:

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PS Eva B sounds fantastic on a good pair of headphones, Palladium version I mean. Same with some of the other Palladium tracks, you can feel a certain energy in the air, and lots of similar comments on FB. 

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 Interesting you write that, but in my opinion Dagenham was a far better performance and far more entertaining with Geldofs Dagenham Tales and his reaction to the confetti cannons at the end of the night "Hope you enjoyed that; they cost us a fcuking fortune!"  It was only 11 songs, but absolutely perfect.  And it cost me £51 less than The Palladium.  

Stone Valley was also a lot better. They played 15 songs (including Rat Trap twice), it cost me £11 less than the Palladium for the whole weekend and I got a couple of free pints of beer.

I dont suppose anyone else noticed, but there was very little Geldof banter between songs. It was all very business like. As if they had somewhere else to be off to. Or werent getting paid enough after giving away swathes of tickets (I cant believe it was sold out).

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 At the time I watched Rat Trap from Dagenham. Remember Geldof singing  something like 'I'm gonna get out of school/work in the Ford factory/get myself a little easy money etc'. Truth be told lots of the locals were  probably thinking those exact words back in 78, life imitating art.

I can only judge by watching Palladium video, as I wasnt at Dagenham so not really in a position to judge or compare performances. Geldof is often funny. I like his sense of humour and there has been some great banter and comments and observations at all the gigs I've been to. Never disappoints in that respect. Confetti cannons sounds like a classic . "Best band in the world (from Dun Laoghaire)" Nobody can dispute that!

noelindublin wrote:

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Truth be told lots of the locals were probably thinking those exact words back in 78, life imitating art.

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Maybe, but unlikely any of them were at the Dagenham show. I wouldnt say lots either.  The number of people who actually work (or worked) for Ford in Dagenham is very small.  Even in the late 1970s a lot of the assembly lines were based elsewhere like Halewood. They had (and still have) far more people working in Dunton which is near Basildon.   I was offered a job there.

For the record, most people I knew from the area in the mid 1980s worked in the City!  

EVENT INFORMATION

TIMES
Doors 18:30
Support 19:30 (Gabi Garbutt)
Interval 20:00
Boomtown Rats 20:30
Show Ends 22:15

And tomorrow for Richard Ashcroft

TIMES
18:30 Doors
19:30 DJ Wayne Griggs
20:25 Interval
20:45 Richard Ashcroft
23:00 Show Ends

So Strange