ShareThe Boomtown Rats with special guests The Horns performing their Celebrating 50 Rat Years Tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Friday 10th October 2025.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
The Boomtown Rats were back performing on Friday night at the Royal Concert Hall and were celebrating their 50 Rat Years Tour with a set list that showcased all of their oldies.
But up first was The Horn, a five piece who are a tour-de-force in the British indie rock scene. Delivering a nine song set list they exemplified their ability to infuse their music with timeless pop qualities whilst maintaining a distinct indie rock edge.
The instantly recognisable Addicted To Love opened with a spirited guitar riff, front man Jonny Taylor’s wistful vocals, and an undeniably catchy chorus. Other songs such as Another Way, Do It Now and That’s The Way Life Is all served to show why The Horn are one of the most exciting upcoming bands on the scene.
Bob Geldof and The Rats received a great reception from a delighted crowd when they took to the stage and opened with Rat Trap, the first ever UK number one from an Irish Band. Following up with (I Never Loved) Eva Braun and Like Clockwork, Geldof paced around the stage like a caged animal.
Of course I Don’t Like Mondays was the centre piece of the set which had the crowd singing along and Banana Republic, which drifted along on Pete Briquette’s reggae bass line still sounded as angry as it did when it got them banned from touring their own country.
The likes of She’s So Modern, Someone’s Looking At You and Monster Monkeys saw Geldof pouting and strutting his hips in a way that few men of his age could get away with. And whilst sometimes his vocals were hard to understand, he remains the charismatic, outspoken and foul mouthed front man that he is renowned for.
Their final song was The Boomtown Rats from their last album, Citizens Of Boomtown and when the bass kicked in, it was loud enough to bring a night of nostalgia to a raucous end.
