Bob Geldof at Hull City Hall - Thursday 1st December 05 (3/4) By Steve Rudd

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4).

For some reason they were never very successful compared to the Rats' albums - which is a great, great shame. Bob must be annoyed at their lack of commercial success, but the good thing is that they have all gained widespread critical acclaim upon release, with his most recent album having been the fantastic Sex, Age And Death, from which he played Pale White Girls. The opening song of the gig, once Bob and his band had taken their places, was one of his most well-known solo songs in his Great Song Of Indifference which got the crowd suitably riled up and in the mood.

After the haunting Pale White Girls came Birthday Suit, then the obscure yet bewitching Harvest Moon, Hippy Angel and Mudslide.

Beat of The Night, from his debut solo record Deep In The Heart of Nowhere is another eerily engrossing beauty, as Bob narrates a spine-tingling story of the calibre that his Da used to regale him with when he was a kid. Then came perhaps the most famous and best-loved Rats anthem of all, I Don't Like Mondays. Back in 1985 when Bob performed this at Live Aid he paused when he came to the line ... And the lesson today is how to die, just so the worldwide audience of millions could effectively take stock of both his lyrics and the very cause that everybody was raising money for, attempting to help relieve famine in Ethiopia as they were.

This time round there was no pause, and Bob seemed relieved to get through the song with his voice still intact. He admitted that flu was killing him, but he still soldiered forth with other classic Boomtown Rats tunes, the hugely catchy Rat Trap and the equally-as-melodic Someone's Looking At You.

Mary of the 4th Form energetically stampeded as though it had only been written that afternoon, before Bob took a bow and thanked the crowd very much for coming. No sooner had he and his band left the stage they returned, however, proceeding to hack out the glorious Diamond Smiles before diving headlong into a frenzied instrumental version of the song that kicked off the night's music, that good old Great Song of Indifference, as traditional Celtic influences forced the vast majority of the otherwise all-seated crowd to their feet once more.

The first time that the crowd had got to its feet was when the band had first left the stage, naturally rewarding them with a standing ovation. Once the last note of The Great Song of Indifference sadly ebbed away and the house lights came up, it really was all over, with fourteen songs having been played in total (excluding the Indifference reprisal). I was stunned. Stunned by how great Bob's solo material is, and by how amazing he is on stage: exuding confidence, dry wit and charm simultaneously throughout the show. Mind you, he's the same off-stage as well.

Incredibly, as I was buying up some merchandise after the gig I heard a rumour that Bob might sign some stuff if anybody who was interested in having some posters and CDs signed wanted to hang around for a bit while he came down from the gig high. Full of flu as he was, most rock stars in a similar position wouldn't give their fans the time of day, even for the sake of signing a few autographs. But those few people who had heard this rumour, and had chanced hanging around for the best part of half an hour after the gig, were substantially rewarded when about ten of us were ushered backstage to meet the man.

I was the last person to greet him and he recognised me immediately from earlier. Ah, Chris... he smirked - and I had to laugh. He kindly signed a poster and photo while I asked if he felt any better for having played the gig. The answer was an explicit No - I feel bloody awful, relayed in his thick Irish accent that sounded slower and more laboured than usual given his tiredness.

Continued....next page (4/4)

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