FRESH from a raucous appearance at the Isle of Wight festival last weekend, the Boomtown Rats have announced a UK tour.

Sir Bob Geldof and the boys reach the O2 Academy on October 22.

Formed in 1975 in Dublin The Boomtown Rats exploded out of Ireland in ’76 and becaming part of the burgeoning punk scene.

In the UK, The Boomtown Rats first toured with the Ramones and Talking Heads alongside the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Jam and The Stranglers.

They became one of the biggest bands of the late 70s/80s with a string of top ten hits and platinum albums, earning them Brit Awards, Ivor Novellos and Grammy Awards. Making history as the first Irish band to have a UK no 1 hit with Rat Trap, they went on to top the charts in 32 countries with I Don’t Like Mondays.

Bob Geldof says of the tour: “Age, curiosity and cash prompted our interest in getting together again.

“Age and cash are self evident. Curiosity about each other and what we did together in the ’70s and ’80s.

“Curiosity about those songs that seem to have endured and the music and band that powered them.

“When I sang again Rat Trap, Looking After No 1, Mondays, Someone’s Looking At You, Banana Republic, She’s So Modern etc, there was nothing I would change.

“On re-hearing, on re-singing them I understood that they could have been written yesterday. The circumstances within which they were written hadn't changed.

“Tragically and unfortunately I could sing those words with utter conviction. This isn’t nostalgia rather perhaps a time to be angry again.”