Rats sent back as Bottler sells out Australian shows

AUSTRALIAN fans have turned their backs on The Boomtown Rats, with their reunion tour Down Under for this month cancelled due to poor ticket sales. But (Bottler) Brendan Graceâ€â„¢s tour sold out in advance, with additional concerts having to be added in Perth and Sydney. A headline in one Australian publication read â€Å“Rats sent back - Bottler goes to Outbackâ€Â and even though he toured only two years ago, Brendan Grace is obviously delighted that the crowds are coming out in even larger numbers than ever to see him this time in Australia. The reason given for the cancellation of the Rats tour was poor ticket sales and this was despite Sir Bob Geldof recently visiting Australia to announce the bandâ€â„¢s reformation and to promote the Aussie dates. It seems Australians just didnâ€â„¢t care, even in Perth where Geldof once worked on radio, and where he visited on St Patrickâ€â„¢s Day, making a highly publicised appearance at the Irish Club in Subiaco. But the ticket sales never took off and all the gigs were axed. Initially announced for five shows across the country the band had to cancel its Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane dates in April because they hadnâ€â„¢t attracted enough interest. Last week it was announced the gigs in Perth and Sydney were also being axed, with ticketholders urged to seek refunds. At the same time Brendan Grace had sold out four shows in Perth and his concerts in Sydney were also sold out in advance, with the promoters trying to accommodate the fans by adding extra dates. Speaking after he performed at the concerts in Perth, Brendan said he was delighted that the fans, many of them younger generation Irish, had not forgotten him. â€Å“The two shows in Rosie O Gradyâ€â„¢s venue were fabulous, lovely people attended, and very hospitable hosts. â€Å“In fact the whole tour is a sell-out, thank God, I was on radio with Brian Corr in Perth and of course Frank Murphy in Fremantle,â€â„¢ he added. Frank was the producer of the Gay Byrne programme on RTÉ radio for 18 years. He also worked on the production of The Late Late Show during Gay Byrneâ€â„¢s era as host and now lives in West Australia where he works as a broadcaster and has been teaching communication studies at one of Perthâ€â„¢s top private colleges. â€Å“Itâ€â„¢s amazing in a kind of tragic way to see so many younger Irish lads and lasses out here in Oz and no doubt even more so for the mammies and daddies and entire families back home in Erin, but they are working and itâ€â„¢s an ill wind, I suppose. â€Å“However if it is any consolation to the folks at home, I can report that those Iâ€â„¢ve come in contact with are very upbeat and supportive of each other,â€Â says Brendan. â€Å“Perhaps itâ€â„¢s the fact that BG is now possibly the elder lemon of Irish comedy performers: I am overwhelmed at the respect and appreciation I get from a younger generation of Irelandâ€â„¢s finest out here. I feel both honoured and humbled that the word â€Ëœlegendâ€â„¢ is delivered to me by so very many and from teens through 20s, 30s, 40s and 50 somethings theyâ€â„¢ll say â€Ëœhey man, we were brought up on you and Bottler!â€â„¢ Itâ€â„¢s lovely and it doesnâ€â„¢t make me feel like an old man,â€Â he added. Brendan says that while he canâ€â„¢t speak for his wife Eileen it still makes him feel confident that she wonâ€â„¢t be trading him in for one of the younger models such as Des Bishop, Tommy Tiernan or PJ Gallagher! He also says that while the young Irish emigrants are very far away from home, with the rapid advent of Skype and iPhone technology, itâ€â„¢s now a little less distressing being able to see and speak to loved ones back home. â€Å“Last night for instance, my tour manager Frank Gillespie (my son-in-law) a Tyrellspass man, came on stage during my show with his iPhone and my two grandsons were there in full, living colour Patrick and James. James, my Late Late Show co-star from last year if you remember, sang over the sound system Molloy Malone with my full Australian audience singing along with him. â€Å“It was incredibly amazing. He even told a short joke. Now thatâ€â„¢s technology at work,â€Â says Brendan. He also spoke about the great ambassadors for Ireland that the young Irish are in the land Down Under. â€Å“Hereâ€â„¢s my final word for the folks at home, your beautiful sons and daughters here in Oz, while they really miss you and love you, they are Irish to the core, no matter where they travel and they are flying the flag proudly. â€Å“Above all they are looking out for one another and despite the failure of the Irish system, fed by greed and incompetence and the indifference of those who claim to be our leaders, they ooze optimism and fortitude. So take consolation if you will, theyâ€â„¢ll be back! And weâ€â„¢ll be there to cheer them home,â€Â he concluded. Brendan and Declan Nerney currently have the single Things Are Changing Fast on release with all proceeds going to the Irish Cancer Society and they performed it on The Late Late Show last month a few days before Bottler headed off on his Australian tour, which is currently continuing. BOTTLER, the character created by Brendan Grace, is to be the subject of a major new TV series to be screened by TV3 either at the end of this year or early in 2014. Costing over €600,000 to produce, the animation series will also feature other characters from Brendanâ€â„¢s routine, including Rashers and Pockets, and will be set in 1960s Dublin. Each show in the ten-part series will be introduced by Brendan as a 60-year-old Bottler reminiscing, in a humorous way, of course, about the Ireland of half a decade ago. â€â€ TG.