Bob Geldof

Published on 07/12/2005 02:17

BOB GELDOF ***

PERTH CONCERT HALL

IT MUST have been humbling for a man used to delivering rabble-rousing speeches to hundreds of thousands of people to have to ask the audience at the back of Perth Concert Hall to congregate at the front of the stage because "I don't like performing to empty seats".

The show got off to a lively start with the merry Irish jig, Great Song of Indifference. Alas, it was followed by a descent into a rather dull, if passable, Celtic version of Blood on the Tracks-era Dylan. The low point saw Geldof rather curtly shouting down a girl in the front row desperate to hear Boomtown Rats material (and yes, the word "fookin'" was liberally employed).

She was vindicated though, as the closing salvo of shiny pop gems such as I Don't Like Mondays, Joey's on the Street Again and Mary of the 4th Form brought the five-piece band alive and caused the entire seated audience to spontaneously rise to their feet for the first time in the evening.

It served as a clear signal that, in the fans' eyes at least, Geldof's post-Live Aid material does not bear up well in comparison with the songs which gave him his very first modicums of acclaim. Rolling out the hits was the only thing that saved this performance from mediocrity, although it also served as a reminder that there is a talented singer-songwriter lurking within the driving force behind all things Live Aid and Live8.