Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers toured the UK in 1977, with a little known Irish band in tow, who blew them off the stage!
Terminal Romance UK Tour
June 16, 1977 Birmingham Town Hall
June 17, 1977 Cardiff University
June 18, 1977 Aylesbury Friars Club
June 19, 1977 Rainbow Theatre, London
June 20, 1977 Club Lafayette, Wolverhampton
The Boomtown Rats arrived in punk-drunk Britain in early 1977, self-aggrandizing Dubliners with a serious taste for classic rock, but dripping such vehemently snot-nosed arrogance that it was hard to hold that against them. Certainly their first major London show, opening for the newly ascendant Tom Petty, gave the passive onlooker plenty to think about -- graffiti that insisted "Rats Eat Heartbreakers" appeared all across town and, on-stage, they did. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
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4 comments:
I live in Cardiff - and saw the Cardiff gig at the students union - actually it was the UWIST building which formed part of the university. Good as the rats were, I can catagorically assure you that they did "ANYTHING BUT" blow Petty off stage. In fact, there were a number of duff notes played and for some reason that night, Geldoff couldn't hold a tune in a bucket.... sorry, but thats the truth....
I was there too. Anon is right. If you watch the Tom Petty doc they say Cardiff was the gig where they first realised they were going to make it. I was part of the Ents crowd and went and saw Petty support Nils Lofgren at the Capitol a month before (didn't stay for Nils). I pushed the legendary Dave Scott who ran Ents to book Petty as a main band - he got them to play the Great Hall of the Union (it was joint UC and Uwist union) for a crate of beer and a couple of hundred quid cos no-one had heard of them and they hadn't headlined before. Petty played Top of the Pops on the Thursday night for the first time and sold out Cardiff on the Friday. We'd never heard of the Rats and they were arrogant, obnoxious and rough but full of energy and fired up crowd for amazing Petty gig. After helping hump out Petty and the Rats kit, the next morning I stuck out my thumb and still singing "American Girl" hitched down to the last Stonehenge Free Festival...
I and some mates (Dai, Chris, Ken) had a band going at the time and saw Nils Lofgren with Tom Petty. Petty came close to blowing Lofgren off stage but ending (I think) with I Came to Dance Lofgren just about pulled it back. Petty was outstanding and we went to Cardiff Uni to see him again. When we heard that support was The Boomtown Rats we thought " Oh,s*** not another crappy punk band. What followed was one of the finest gigs I ever saw (and I saw a few). The Rats were brilliant and Petty followed them with a masterful set. Geldof as I remember it was a frontman for a bunch of fine musicians - in those days lots of vocalists struggled to do it live but I thought he was excellent. As for Petty, I followed them to some other gigs up country where they were never less than inspirational.
I was at Birmingham Town Hall in June 1977, after meeting Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at Virgin Records earlier in the day. It was my first ever gig, at 15 years old. The Rats cam eon first.... "Good Evening, we're the Boomtown Rats"... I remember both bands did Route 66 at the end of their sets, as encores (if I am remembering correctly. I'd better check the recording I made of the night, that I've never given to ANYONE, ever. Maybe it's time to dig it out and offer it to the bands for historical purposes!) I certainly never tried to profit off a bootleg when SO many others were doing the same. But I digress)...
I made friends with the Rats when they came and sat in the audience, surrounding me and I went backstage with them after the concert. I was hooked and The Rats' management and / or Ensign Records made sure I knew of upcoming Rats gigs in the area over the next few years. I went on to see the Rats 13 times between 1977 and 1982 (when I left the country to pursue dreams - still in Japan now after 20 or so other countries on the way!).
I have a great picture that was published in the Birmingham Evening Mail showing me wearing my Lookin' After No.1 armband on the front row of Birmingham Odeon months later.
I went on stage to "take pictures" at the Odeon at a later gig, when they played "Having My Picture Taken"... the lads were always gentlemen, and always a great show. It was an honour to know them back then!
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