Latest news with #TheBoomtownRats
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
‘They are c***s' - Bob Geldof hits out against Elon Musk and cuts to US aid at St Anne's Park gig
Geldof said the Trump administration 'declared a war on the weakest, poorest, most vulnerable people on our planet. They are c***s'. He was speaking at the Rewind Festival at St Anne's Park with The Boomtown Rats. During the gig, Geldof invited onstage his long-time friend, Midge Ure, co-writer of the Band Aid hit, Do They Know It's Christmas? Geldof and Ure organised Live Aid in 1984 to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and raised hundreds of millions of dollars. "We only wrote one song together, but it turned out to be the biggest selling record in British history,' Geldof told the crowd. Geldof then hit out against Elon Musk, who left the Trump administration and his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) this week, a brand new agency that was tasked with overhauling US government spending. 'A couple of Irish singers have been going around the world this week, Bruce in London, Bono in LA and us here, and all of us have said the same thing, that the strongest nation in the world, the most powerful man on the planet, and the richest ever human being in the history of the world, on the first of February 2025 declared a war on the weakest, poorest, most vulnerable people on our planet. They are c***s. "When that f******g hedge-trimming, catatonic f*****g ketamine fuelled Musk decided that he would cut US aid, food, medicine, since that moment he was wielding his hedge-trimmer 300,000 of the poorest people in the world have died because of that f**k.' President Donald Trump ordered a spending freeze on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in January, and has been operating at sharply reduced capacity since. It was reported that food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of the US aid cuts and risk becoming unusable. Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are mouldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation. The food stocks have been stuck inside four U.S. government warehouses since the Trump administration's decision in January to cut global aid programmes, according to three people who previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development and two sources from other aid organisations. ADVERTISEMENT Some stocks that are due to expire as early as July are likely to be destroyed, either by incineration, using them as animal feed or disposing of them in other ways, two of the sources said. The warehouses, which are run by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), contain between 60,000 to 66,000 metric tonnes of food, sourced from American farmers and manufacturers, the five people said. An undated inventory list for the warehouses - which are located in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai and Houston - stated that they contained more than 66,000 tonnes of commodities, including high-energy biscuits, vegetable oil and fortified grains. Meanwhile, two weeks ago singer Bruce Springsteen told the crowd at his Manchester gig that Trump was running a 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.' Trump responded by calling the Boss a 'dried-out prune of a rocker'. Also speaking this month, U2 frontman Bono, who has long campaigned for debt relief, aid and better trade for Africa, said Trump and Musk, the world's richest man, are squandering the potential of millions of people by making huge cuts to US foreign aid spending, "with glee it would appear". It was unwise policy as well as "the definition of the absence of love," he said.
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Climate
- BreakingNews.ie
Rewind Festival at St Anne's Park: Everything you need to know
The Rewind Festival at St Anne's Park in Dublin promises to help us turn back the clock on Sunday, June 1st, allowing us to indulge our secret love of retro beats. The event is due to feature the timeless tunes of Billy Ocean, The Boomtown Rats, Jerry Fish and Something Happens. There will also be opportunities to revel in nostalgia with ABC, Matt Goss, Midge Ure, Tiffany and Toyah. Irish act Boyzlife are also set to grace the stage. Advertisement So, if you're planning to be in St Anne's Park on Sunday, keep reading to find out everything you need to know. When is it on? Rewind Festival takes place on Sunday, June 1st at St Anne's Park in Dublin. What time should I arrive? Gates open at 2pm and the festival is scheduled to start at 3pm. Who is playing and when? 2pm - gates open Advertisement 3pm - show starts How do I get there and home again? Plan and book your travel arrangements in advance, allowing at least an extra two hours travel time to and from the venue. As traffic delays are inevitable, fans are encouraged by promoters to walk, cycle, use public transport and private coach services. By DART: The nearest DART station is Harmonstown Dart Station and they will run services to and from the concerts each day. By car: There is no public parking at the event, and car parks in St Anne's are not open to the public during events, so promoters have asked fans to use public transport and not to park illegaly or in residential areas as clamping will be in operation. By bus: You can get Dublin Bus No 6, H1, H2, and H3 to the venue from Abbey Street Lower. Marathon Coaches are also running return buses to and from the City Centre to St Anne's Park for the concert. Buses leave from Northwall Quay Bus Stop 7623 at 1pm on the day of the concert and drop off at St Paul's School, Clontarf. Return buses will begin loading from there on demand from 10.30pm, with the last bus leaving at 11.30pm. Approach routes: Allow at least an extra two hours travel time to and from the venue. That means, allow two hours on top of the time Google Maps is telling you it will take. Advertisement When you get to either of the two entrances, you will have to walk an extra roughly 1.3km from the park entrance to the ticket scan/entry. There are two entrances, and follow instructions on your ticket for entry to the venue, because your ticket will outline what route/entry to take. The green entrance on Sybil Hill onto the main avenue, and the blue entrance is on All Saints Road via Tennis Court entry. There is no entry or exit on Mount Prospect Avenue. Advertisement St Anne's Park is a residential area – organisers have appealed to all concertgoers to respect the local community by not littering, engaging in antisocial behaviour or parking illegally. Are there any tickets left? At the time of writing, there are limited tickets available on Ticketmaster. Concertgoers are advised to buy tickets from accredited sources only. What's the story with security? Under-16s attending the concert must be accompanied at all times by an adult over 25. Unaccompanied under-16s will be refused entry without refund. The promoter deems that large outdoor concerts are not a suitable environment for children under five, and all attendees must have a ticket. No queuing is allowed prior to the gates opening, and attendees are advised to allow time for security checks on the way in. If you do turn up early, you will be turned away at restricted area points around the event site. Regardless, you should aim to be within the venue 30 minutes before the show starts. Bags larger than A4 size will not be permitted. All bags may be searched, and this can be time-consuming, so consider going bagless for easier entry. There will be no cloakroom or storage facilities. No alcohol or food is allowed into the arena. Advertisement Other banned items at the event include – but are not exclusive to – umbrellas, garden furniture, camping chairs, e-scooters, e-bikes, selfie sticks, flares, glasses or cans. There is also no re-admission to the concert, so if you leave, you cannot re-enter. Can I take photos at the concert? Smartphones and small digital cameras are permitted, but cameras with long or detachable lenses or recording equipment are not. GoPros and iPads are also prohibited. What's the weather giving? Sunday is expected to be mostly dry, with the potential for some rain between 2-6pm. It should be mostly sunny otherwise though, with temperatures between 12 and 18 degrees during the day/night St Anne's Park is a standing-only venue, and all gigs take place outdoors on grass, so regardless of the forecast, dress accordingly for Irish weather – think wellies, boots or runners, layers, raincoats/ponchos and suncream. But remember, no umbrellas.
CBC
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Bob Geldof shares how he convinced Queen's Freddie Mercury to do Live Aid
The Irish musician and activist Bob Geldof is perhaps best known as one of the organizers of Live Aid, the massive two-venue benefit concert that raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia in 1985. Some of the biggest artists and bands of all time came together for that concert, including Paul McCartney, Queen, Madonna, Elton John and David Bowie. But how exactly did Geldof convince them all to give up their time for free on the same day? Ahead of the Toronto opening of Just For One Day, a new jukebox musical about Live Aid, Geldof joined Q 's Tom Power to reflect on the concert's legacy. He says Queen performed the best set of the event, but he almost didn't book them. WATCH | Bob Geldof's full interview with Tom Power: "It is one of the great rock performances of all time," Geldof says. "I mean, you've got to put it in context: what time of the day were they on? There were on about six. So they weren't a headliner at that stage. I think their star had risen and fallen is the truth. I was asked to call them and get them to do it. Frankly, I didn't care because if you want one word to explain why punk happened: Queen." After being pushed by promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Geldof reluctantly agreed to get in touch with the band to ask them to participate. "I was exhausted," he says. "I was really sick of calling people and begging. I put the moral armlock on The Who — Roger hated Pete and vice versa at the time. I had to really, really, really, really ask Pete. I had to write to him to get in contact with Roger and come back together and stuff like that. So I was tired of all this and I knew that Queen had just finished a world tour." In an attempt to gauge the band's interest, Geldof first spoke with Spike Edney, Queen's touring musical director and keyboard player, whom he had worked with previously in his band, The Boomtown Rats. WATCH | Queen performs Bohemian Rhapsody at Live Aid: "Spike said, 'I honestly don't think they'll do it, Bob. It hasn't been amazing. Everyone's tired and I think Fred's going to go off and make a solo album.' And that largely is a signal that a band's had it, you know, when the singer goes off." Geldof then turned to his friend, Queen's Roger Taylor, who directed him to Queen's manager, Jim Beach. Both of them told Geldof that Live Aid just wasn't really Queen's thing, but Beach said he could try talking to Freddie Mercury. A couple days later, the phone rang. "'Bobsy!" Geldof recalls Mercury saying to him. "'So what's all this about, darling?'" While the call wasn't that successful at first, and Geldof still didn't really care if he booked Queen or not, something popped into his head that managed to change Mercury's mind. "I said, 'Listen, Fred, honestly, if there was ever a stage built for you, this is it,'" Geldof recalls. "And he said, 'Well, what do you mean?' And I said, 'Well, darling, the world!' And there was this pause and he said, 'I think I know where you're coming from.'" Queen electrified the audience with a short but momentous 20-minute set that only included the big hits: Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, Hammer to Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. "As the play makes clear, [I was panicked] that people were too in love with the whole day," Geldof says. "I just thought, 'No one's remembered what this is.' So I was running up to the gantries at the top of Wembley Stadium, which are a long way up, and I ran into the BBC studios to say 'get a grip,' essentially. But on the way up, I heard this astonishing sound, whether it was Freddie doing 'Ay-Oh' or whether it was, you know, Radio Gaga. They were astonishing."
