Events/Press Releases -
Aiken and Vicar
BOB GELDOF
& Special Guests
The Mighty Stef
Vicar Street,
Saturday 19th May 2012.
Tickets on sale Now.
Bob Geldof returns to Dublin’s Vicar St for his first headline show in Ireland since 2005.
Bob Geldof is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his compositions "Rat Trap" and "I Don't Like Mondays". He co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas? One of the best-selling singles of all time. He starred as Pink in Pink Floyd's 1982 film Pink Floyd the Wall. Geldof is widely recognized for his activism, especially anti-poverty efforts concerning Africa. In 1984, he and Midge Ure founded the charity supergroup Band Aid to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. They went on to organize the charity super-concert Live Aid the following year and the Live 8 concerts in 2005. Geldof currently serves as an adviser to the ONE Campaign, founded by fellow Irish humanitarian Bono. A single father, Geldof has also been outspoken for the fathers' rights movement.Geldof has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II, and is a recipient of the Man of Peace title which recognizes individuals who have made "an outstanding contribution to international social justice and peace", among numerous other awards and nominations.
Upon returning to Ireland in 1975, he became the lead singer of the band The Boomtown Rats, a rock group closely linked with the punk movement. In 1978, The Boomtown Rats had their first No. 1 single in the UK with "Rat Trap", which was the first new wave chart-topper in Britain. In 1979, the group gained international renown with their second UK No. 1, "I Don't Like Mondays”. This was equally successful, as well as controversial;
Geldof left the Boomtown Rats in 1986, to launch a solo career and publish his autobiography, is that it? which was a best-seller. His first solo records spawned the hit singles "This Is the World Calling" (co-written with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics) and "The Great Song of Indifference". He also occasionally performed with other artists, such as David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Thin Lizzy. A performance of "Comfortably Numb" with David Gilmour is documented in the 2002 DVD David Gilmour in Concert. In 1992, he performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert with the surviving members of Queen at the old Wembley Stadium, singing a song he had co-written with Mercury, called "Too Late God".
Along with U2's Bono, he has devoted much time since 2000 to campaigning for debt relief for developing countries. His commitments in this field, including the organization of the Live 8 concerts, kept Geldof from producing any more musical output since 2001's Sex, Age & Death album.
After Live 8, Geldof returned to his career as a musician by releasing a box set containing all of his solo albums entitled Great Songs of Indifference - The Anthology 1986 - 2001 in late 2005. Following that release, Geldof also toured, albeit with mixed success
He has released a new album “How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell” on the Mercury Record label. It is his first album since 2001’s “Sex, Age & Death” and is his fifth album as a solo artist (his eleventh if you include his work in his band the Boomtown Rats). The album features 14 new Geldof compositions recorded with his band in his home and in various friends’ studios and produced by his longtime collaborator Pete Briquette.
Tickets on sale Monday 13th February at 9am, priced €33.00 (including booking fee) available from www.ticketmaster.ie & Ticketmaster outlets nationwide. 0818 719 300 - Republic of Ireland customers 0844 277 4455 - Northern Ireland customers 00353 1 456 9569 - International customer
www.bobgeldof.com
DARA O’BRIAIN,
The Nualas: One Night of Dignity.
PAUL SIMON,
Rhys Darby 
