Customer Reviews

Boomtown Rats - Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1978

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this DVD on a whim, not really sure what to expect as I had never seen the rats in concert. I was totally blown away by it. Bob & company were a really great live band. Extremely high energy combined with tighter playing and greater chops than one would typically expect from bands of that particular genre. Bob shows that he is also an amazing frontman. He does a great job engaging the audience.

Considering that this footage is 27 years old, the picture quality is quite good. Not as good as you might get with a concert filmed in the 21st century, but certainly more than watchable. There is the occasional piece of conceptual footage dubbed over the live action, but not enough to be really annoying. The audio quality is quite good. Good enough that you might just want to listen to the audio track without watching the DVD.

The inclusion of two promo videos from one of Bob's solo albums seems to be a bit of an odd choice for a bonus, but cool to see anyway. Might have been nice if they had tacked on a couple of the videos that didn't make it to the "Someone's Looking at You" DVD like "Up All Night", "Joey's On the Street Again" or "Me & Howard Highes." But these are all minor gripes, this is certainly a DVD worth owning if you're a Rats fan or a fan of the late 70s UK music scene. A great bit of history nicely captured on this DVD.

GO BUY IT!!!!

In 1979, I saw this show on German Television and I was hooked. What a great live band and this concert shows The Boomtown Rats at their best. I've been looking for this particular show for over 25 years. Thank You for finally putting this out!!!!! BRILLIANT!!!!! Every Boomtown Rats fan should own this!!!!

A must have for Rats fans. And anybody who just likes good, solid, "brilliant" rock and roll should take a look also. Some of the camera work is cheesy and dated, but this is the Rats in their prime. Geldof proves he belongs in the same showmanship pantheon as Ray Davies and Mick Jagger. The sound quality is phenomenal. Crank up the volume.

Although the sticker on the dvd describes it as a never before released concert by the Boomtown Rats, I believe this was actually available in the late 70's/early 80's under the name "A Tonic for the Troops" (i.e. the name of their 2nd album). I watched it back then on our Betamax player!

This is a great show. The sound quality is good for such and old concert. The enthusiasm of the band comes through wonderfully. Makes me wish I had lived in England back then. The mix of tracks is a nice representation of the Rats 1st and 2nd albums. Plus, you get to hear the rare "Doing the Rat", which I have never managed to find on vinyl.

The only reason I don't give the dvd a 5 star rating is because of the extras. There are three extra audio tracks, which are accompanied by sort of artsy, slow motion, re-cut video of the concert. Why didn't we simply get to see the actual footage from these extra songs? There are also two solo, studio videos by Bob Geldoff. I think they must have been made some time after he went out on his own. I found them depressing, after seeing his younger, more energetic stage performance with the Rats.

All in all however, a very nice piece of post-punk, new wave pop.

I was at this tour and remember it was a terrific show.This dvd captures the Rats magnificently .Great songs,great band.If you like the Rats...this is a must have.

I truly enjoyed this! The Rats have always been a great favorite of mine, and it is amazing to have this released for the first time (and, no, it has never been released before . . . the previous reviewer may have been thinking of a USA Network special called "Live at Musikladen" which was a concert from the Musikladen in Germany - Frankfort, I believe).

For as awesome as the music was and still is, I did find the graphics during Me and Howard Hughes a little distracting. But kudos to Geldof and Fingers for the sound. It was well-balanced, for the most part. The bass did get lost here and there, but considering how loud they always played live, I can only imagine this show was no exception ~ so, they probably had to REALLY adjust the sound! Excellent collection of music and memories. Highly recommend if you are a fan!

Great Concert of monster to New Wave and Punk Rock. Thsi is a Time Machine for the Great Groups and Rock Music.

perhaps this dvd is just not my cup of tea.. did not like at all.