Pete Briquette has opened up about his time with The Boomtown Rats and how, after 50 years in the business, the band are still extremely busy with sold-out tours
They’re celebrating their 50th anniversary, but The Boomtown Rats’ Pete Briquette admits he had a very different outlook on the band’s future. Briquette, Bob Geldof, and Simon Crowe will next month embark on an almost sold-out tour and launch a special documentary commemorating their 50th anniversary.
Speaking to the Mirror, Pete, 71, said: “If I come back 50 years, I thought 50 years ago what I’d be like in 50 years’ time – I had this vision of being in a special old people’s home for musicians, we’d all be a distant memory.
“We’ve had our busiest year ever with the Rats’ 50th birthday and then of course, Live Aid’s 40th birthday and Band Aid’s 40th, it’s been fantastic.”
Pete, from Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, in Ireland, says it was an “honour” to have played a part in both Live Aid and Band Aid. “There are two things young people are impressed with in my career, if I’m talking to young people, one is that, and the other is the fact that we did a tour with the Ramones and Talking Heads – anything beyond that, they’re not interested, they don’t care about hit records, or anything else.
“It’s great for being involved in that. That final moment at Wembley, the Rats played Feed The World at the very end, that’s where the lead singer of The Rats was, alternatively, Freddie [Mercury], Elton [John], Bono, [David] Bowie, George Michael, Sting, and our normal geezer at the front, Geldof.
“That is just a great moment to always remember, playing that song, that iconic moment, Bono sings that line, Wembley sings that line with him. It’s great to be part of it. I mean, it’s good to be part of such a great rock and roll band. My life has been lived in a rock and roll world, playing with this band. I’m not going to pretend it’s amazing, and I feel extraordinarily lucky.
“To be playing a sold-out tour and all these festivals over the summer, it’s been an incredibly busy and fantastic year.” Pete says the “unique moment” will always be etched in his mind due to the chords being sung line for line at Wembley Stadium, adding he is “extraordinarily honoured” to have played a part in the iconic performance and song.
But after five decades, he says it’s “really nice to be relevant,” ahead of their upcoming tour. He added: “Most people our age become invisible, you become aware of that once you get into your 50s, 50s and 60s, you become invisible to later generations, they don’t see you in the room, they don’t see you in the street. This avoids that for people like me, I’m a very lucky man.”
While most artists would celebrate their fifth decade in music with their bandmates at a quiet party, The Rats will instead be celebrating at a concert at London’s Eventim Apollo on October 31. “It’s going to be a great gig,” he said, before explaining that there’s going to be a special half-hour film beforehand documenting their rise to fame and cementing themselves as one of the world’s greatest rock bands.
But the film is still being made; however, it will feature unseen footage of the band from the past five decades, as well as “funny stuff from the past.” However, Pete explained that The Rats use “certain criteria” to choose their setlist. This includes how the song sounds live, whether it’s a hit, and what fans want. “We’re forever leaving out songs,” he laughed, adding: “It’s not good, but it has to be done—it’s painful.” But one band he has respect for is Oasis, who on their mammoth Oasis Live’25 tour, have performed B-side tracks and had the whole sold-out crowd singing along to every word.
The Rats have inspired a whole generation, but Pete admits to being inspired by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones growing up. “I’ve always had a musical reference,” he said. Nowadays, he still listens to BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 – but his music choice is very different. “I love Fontaines DC and Kneecap. They’re Irish bands by coincidence, but I mean, Arctic Monkeys are a fantastic band, but before that, it was Radiohead that I loved. There’s always been a band that I love at the time.
“Fontaines are my favourite at the moment. Music is very important to me, it’s part of my core, part of my DNA, part of what makes me happy or sad, or if I’m sad, it’s music that I reach out to.” However, he admits that while there’s a resurgence in bands, there’s also a “lack.”
He added: “There are very few bands now, which is sad, a band is unique. What comes out of that band is a unique thing that’s only unique to that band; there’s a certain connection that people have. I think any one of the Stones playing with someone else becomes nothing but the minute they get together, they are The Rolling Stones.
“Me comparing us [The Rats] to the stones is a bit weird, individually, we’re like nothing, but as a band, we’re a complete powerhouse.” Reflecting on Kneecap, Pete said: “It’s not the politics I like about Kneecap; they’re a bit silly to be saying things. You can say those things without saying them where you get in trouble.”
Source: Mirror
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