It seemed like an eternity from Rome to Milan. But finally this Tuesday it came round and I was going to see Bob Geldof again. We were travelling with others, Ian and Tina, from the official bobgeldof.info website, and Liz and Ian, other life long fans. It would be good to spend time with people who really knew about Bob Geldof. Normally, when I mention his name I get ‘Wasn’t he with the Boomtown Rats, didn’t they do a couple of albums?’ or more likely ‘Oh yes he did all that for Africa.’ I was going to meet people who knew that there was more to him than that.

Our flight from Luton was at 6.35 am, so we started out just before 3 am. We were all too exhausted to look around Milan, so agreed to meet at 4.30 pm, after a rest, to go and find the venue. Tina and Ian were meeting Willo then, so we’d tag along. The venue was a lovely place, in a nice setting. The best part of Milan we had seen since we got there. This place was normally used for classical music.

We arrived to the sound of Bob doing a sound check. We heard that a piece of equipment had been dropped on the plane and Bob was ‘doing his nut’ over this. On hearing the band, I knew immediately that all the hassle was worth it and was beginning to feel excited. After 2 hours of various Rats and solo songs (which sounded fantastic, as ever) Bob and some of the band members emerged. Bob almost immediately took to his mobile phone. Someone was getting an ear bashing at the other end from Bob. He was doing that thing of pacing around the floor whilst on the phone, only he when he did it it was much exaggerated. Rather like a caged animal. We waited again. Vince and Pete were about too. We had our photos taken with them both. Then I saw Bob coming towards me, I smiled across hoping to get his attention and that he’d come over. He smiled back at me and came straight over, seeming very pleased to see us there, asking us all how we were with some kind of familiarity. Of course, Tina and Ian were known to him, and they’d already spoken, but I think he recognised Liz and Ian. He was in a hurry, as always, as they were going back to their hotel, but I had a hug and a couple of kisses, before he greeted the others too. There was no time to say anything, but I asked for a photo, after Liz had hers taken with him. The band was then whisked off in their bus, along with Tina and Ian back to their hotel (which was 2 minutes walk from ours).

Liz, Ian, Howard and I found a nice restaurant nearby and had a meal and shared some red wine, before returning for the gig. Tina had told us that there were reserved seats for us in the second row. The first row was reserved from MTV people. A white spot on our wristbands indicated this. We made our way to the second row and found some good seats. Liz had spotted some people she met when was last in Milan and introduced us. They sat with us.

We were told that there was going to be an interview as part of the show, that it started at 9.30 pm and would finish at 11 pm. Not too much time for music then, so we thought. The presenter introduced the band. Someone shouted out ‘Crazy’ from the back. Bob looked a little quizzed, the host said ‘they’re your fans you should know what they are talking about.’ Bob mustn’t have heard as he gave that expression on his face which said ‘they’ve lost the plot.’ Being a TV show, there was no support band, so it was straight into the band with Indifference. That’s always a good song to warm up with. Bob was really enjoying himself up there that was obvious, as were the rest. He didn’t talk as much as usual between songs, there were fewer stories and those stories he did tell were brief and less detailed.
Part way through the music stopped and Bob sat down to be interviewed. Bob seemed very fidgety, playing with his hair and his hands, rocking his legs etc. We couldn’t work out whether it was nerves (he said he doesn’t get nervous) or the sign of a man always on the go who just can’t sit still. He constantly chewed gum, throughout singing and talking. They discussed the Rats early days and Bob’s life, also LiveAid and Africa. When they talked about LiveAid, Bob said anyone could have done what he did, but he had the time. His musical career was failing and he was looking for something new. Whether or not they could have done it, does anyone really think they would have? I think not. Vince joined in and took some stick about his weight from Bob (actually I thought he’d lost weight since I last saw him.) Bob seemed impatient and bored while she (the host) translated all that had been said into Italian. She asked him if he would invite her to Stockholm when he wins the Nobel Peace Prize and pay for her air fair. He smiled and said of course he would, the ceremony is held in Oslo. He got plenty of laughs from the audience.

The band went back on stage and I didn’t think they were going to stop performing, doing song after song after song. It must have been around 12 before they finished. We made our way outside and found the others again. Tina said they had been called in for a meeting with the band and that they were going to be taken out for a meal. It didn’t look as though Bob was going to reappear and we were exhausted. We also needed to be early again to get to the airport for 8 am, so Liz, Ian, Howard and I found ourselves a taxi back to our hotel.

I can’t remember the order of the songs or all of them, but here are some:

Indifference
Joey
Mary
Rat Trap
Mondays
Beat of the Night
I Cry Too
One For Me
Scream In Vain
Attitude Chicken
Walking Back to Happiness
Banana Republic

To view 90 minutes of the gig go to: http://www.mtv.it/music/eventi/storytellers/geldof_scheda.asp
To see my photos: www.fotothing.com/julesk

there seems to something weird happening to my link to see my photos, it adds something at the beginning which doesn't show up, so just cut and paste www.fotothing.com/julesk into your url address space. Sorry for the inconvenience. Look past the pictures of my pussy cat.

-- Edited by Jules at 20:28, 2006-10-08