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THE BOOMTOWN RATS – Live in Germany ’78
Gonzo 2015
From Punk to Pink: Irish filth and fury
rock off their germs.
Because of their singer’s humanitarian
respectability and knighthood, many tend to forget how artfully visceral THE
BOOMTOWN RATS could be and that there was more to the group than Bob Geldof’s
manic front: here’s why this CD/DVD combo comes as a treasured document of its
era. The quintet’s rawness was a short, passing phase, as suggested by “Banana
Republic” and “House On Fire” from 1980 and 1980, where the players’ prancing
gets in the way of a proper lip-syncing, but they’re only the visual bonuses,
while the March 1978’s performance both bares the band’s nerve and coats it in a
well-rehearsed theatricality. It’s quite symbolic, then, that Geldof, knowing
the concert’s to be televised, zips up his trousers in front of the audience to
make it all tight and almost indecent, yet incandescent, too.
There’s a very camera-conscious action going on,
the closer “Lookin’ After No. 1” conjuring up frantic, frenzied, caricature
animation, as the staged pandemonium breaks loose and, previously indifferent,
studio spectators go wild roused by Bob’s jerking gestures. Geldof gets off the
leash with such an intimacy from the start, once “Close As You’ll Ever Be”
brings about compulsive leaps and bounds from a Jagger school of move. The
disregard for the rhythm, though, is just for the show, because the singing is
on the money – even after the vocalist falls on the drums riser – and Garry
Robert’s Keefy guitar cuts it right. The ensemble deliver all but one tracks
from their self-titled debut and at the same time look into the future as far as
the following year to present the hectic version of “It’s All The Rage” and go
for the rock cabaret with another B-side, “Do The Rat,” which justifies Johnnie
Fingers’ striped suit. His keyboards also add a retro touch to “Neon Heart” as
if to contrast the six-string escapades of Gerry Cott whose RAMONES style gets
picked up with a “Gabba-gabba what?” question preceding the bluesy
harmonica-enhanced “(She’s Gonna) Do You In” and the choruses of “Strange” –
anthemic, though sharp.
That’s how it also goes for the then
just-released “She’s So Modern” single from the yet-to-be-out “A Tonic For The
Troops” LP proving to be infectious even for those punters who’d hardly heard it
before, albeit “Don’t Believe What You Read” from the same album arrives too
faux punky to get its hooks across leaving it for “Mary Of The 4th Form” to
shake and rattle the crowd. The band were still rock ‘n’ roll in 1978, and the
replica of the tour documentation included in the package testifies to that
transitional time before Bob The Gob hogged it in search for sainthood.
***1/2
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | Live in Germany '78 DVD/CD - £14.99 |
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