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Dublin\\u2019s Boomtown Rats surfaced at the London Gardens in March of 1980: my first live show of the new decade.\\xa0

They had been an obsession of mine over the previous 2.5 years since I had picked up their debut 45, the charging and furious \\u201cLookin\\u2019 After No. 1,\\u201d on a trip to the UK in \\u201977. \\xa0

At this point, they were three albums in, superstars in the UK, and just coming off an international smash, \\u201cI Don\\u2019t Like Mondays,\\u201d which went Top 10 here in Canada.

I kicked off a boatload of \\u201880s gig-going in this freezing arena on a bitterly cold night (the bolt opposite of the Bob Seger steambath at this venue in 1978\\u2026 so much for insulation), warmed up by an engaged and energetic Rats fronted by an animated Bob Geldof (\\u201cSir\\u201d and Live Aid were years in the future).\\xa0

My pal \\u201cSpecial Guests\\u201d\\u2014then of London, Ontario, now of Leeds, UK\\u2014who you first met in Episode 3 on The Ramones, returns with his recollections and reflections on the evening.

Stay tuned for onstage pyjamas, photo awkwardness, and how our present shapes the memories of our past.\\xa0

See the original 2010 blog entry here.

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NEXT PODCAST: I have already recorded episodes covering the next two live shows I saw post-Rats (EP 3, no.7\\u2014Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Ramones with The Demics and EP 10, no.8\\u2014Once In A Lifetime: The Heatwave Festival ) and done a podcast discussing the two shows I was slated to see that fall but were sadly cancelled (XTC in November and Bob Marley in December, as featured in EPs 9A & 9B, no. 20b\\u2014Waiting In Vain: 22 Performances I Missed).\\xa0

So, my next podcast jumps into 1981 and the sole live gig I saw that year: the first of three Police Picnics, hosted by the titular group.\\xa0

It was the second of four consecutive summers where I went to a big open air festival.\\xa0 While those other fests were more degenerate and adventuresome affairs, this was a more pop-and-pizza/June-Cleaver-style experience for us.\\xa0

And while free of mind-altered shenanigans, this first Police Picnic is long on great music and at least 3 killer sets including one by the original Specials playing one of their last gigs and my finally getting to see Iggy Pop for the first time.\\xa0

Special Guests also attended this festival and kindly stops by once again to share his memories of that day. \\xa0

Come back next time for pelting patrons, a crowd-shocking performance, and Catherine O\\u2019Hara sightings.\\xa0

Episode 15 (Concert no.009) The Police Picnic 1 with The Police, The Specials, Iggy Pop, Killing Joke, The Go-Go\\u2019s, Nash the Slash, John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett, The Payola$, Oingo Boingo, and the David Bendeth Band: The Boiler, The Grove, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, August 23, 1981\\xa0

Get a sneak preview by reading the original 2010 blog entry here.