Former Boomtown Rat and activist for various causes Sir Bob Geldof has announced that he will be playing a special charity concert in Sydney in May.
The 59-year-old is flying in to perform at Star City’s Lyric Theatre on May 1. The show is being dubbed as the Rock and Rebuild show with all proceeds going towards the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund and the Australian Red Cross, supporting the communities devastated by the various disasters in Queensland, New Zealand and Japan.
The Music Network reports on the story, and has Sir Bob as saying, “To see the extent to which people’s lives have been devastated is heart-wrenching…I have experienced the generosity and compassion of the people of Australia, New Zealand and Japan first hand, so it’s quite humbling to be invited to lead the Rock and Rebuild effort, and give some support to those nations. Long after the cameras shift their focus the people will still be rebuilding their lives. It’s important that we keep them in our minds and continue to lend a hand.”
Geldof’s last album, which came out in February, was How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell (his first album since 2001’s Sex, Age and Death). He is expected to perform songs from that as well as classic Boomtown Rats material. Geldof has been outspoken in the past over Australian issues, commenting on the government treatment of aborigines as well as Australia’s foreign aid policy.
Tickets to the concert cost a cool $150 and can be purchased from ticketmaster.com.au. Also playing are local artists Danielle Spencer and Jon Stevens.
