The brilliant resource ‘U2 & Dublin ’76 to ’80‘ published a photograph yesterday from the 1976 ‘Falling Asunder’ music tour which had never been digitised before.
The Boomtown Rats, Cheap Thrills, Nightbus plus Billy McGrath (tour organiser) and Phay McMahon (lights). July 1976
This groundbreaking ‘rock revue’ showcased The Boomtown Rats, Nightbus and Cheap Thrills and was the first nationwide tour of Irish rock bands. A 29-seater bus toured all over Ireland in July 1976 taking in at least 15 different venues.
The ‘Much More Music Disco’ and the ‘Taylor Lightshow’ were part of the four-hour package. Admission was usually £1.
The Munster Express (16 July 1976) wrote
Each of these bands play a different and varied set musical set of which at least fifty per cent is original material. The Rats music has been described as a sound summit of Rhythm and Blues whereas others prefer the funky sound of Nightbus or the more pastoral mellow music of Cheap Thrills
JULY 1976
14th – Little Theatre, Gorey, Wexford
15th – Atlantic Ballroom, Tramore, Waterford
17th – City Hall, Cork
18th – Caroline Ballroom, Clonmel, Tipperary
19th – Town Hall, Killarney, Kerry
20th – Mount Brandon, Tralee, Kerry
21st – Glentworth Hotel, Limerick
22nd – Town Hall, Westport, Mayo
23rd – Hotel Ormond, Nenagh, Tipperary
24th – Teach Furbo, Galway
25th – The Crescent, Athlone, Westmeath
27th – ?, Newbridge, Kildare
28th – National Stadium, Dublin
29th – Town Hall, Dundalk, Louth
30th – White Horse, Drogheda, Louth
In terms of identifying the individuals pictured.
Front row (from l-r)
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
I thought 3rd from left was Charles O Connor of Horslips fame!…..if not he’s a ringer for him!
Bob Geldof deserves a mention of having the idea in the 1st place – we used the UCD Ents office to get the ball rolling – the photo location was a bg derelict house that was ‘falling asunder’ (!) on the UCD Belfield grounds up near RTE on the Stillorgan Road – and after so many gigs (15) on the trot all 3 bands esp the Rats were so tight no wonder couple of months later they blew UK away – Nice find Tx B
Awesome photo,
Night bus and Deke were the freedom of my teenage years, started me on the path to a job in the industry