The Darkness Photo: Simon Emmett.

Rats and Darkness join Queen and Lambert

Queen and  Adam Lambert have confirmed The Boomtown Rats and The Darkness as special guests for their open-air concert at Marlay Park on 08 July, subject to licence.
 
Formed in Dublin, The Boomtown Rats exploded out of Ireland in 1976 fronted by singer Bob Geldof whose defiant motormouth, arrogance and flagrant disrespect for authority endeared him and his band to every youth who felt weighed down by the heavy-handed blandishments of church and state. They first toured with the Ramones and Talking Heads rocking and mocking the status quo 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’ and racked up 6 era-defining albums.
 
The Darkness released their Number 1 debut album Permission to Land in 2003, which went five times platinum and sold over 1.5 million copies in the UK alone.
 
The Darkness headlined Ireland’s Oxegen Festival in 2004 and won three BRIT Awards the same year for Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album. They also won two Kerrang! awards for Best Live Act and Best British Band. They released their latest album Pinewood Smile last year.
 
Queen + Adam Lambert return to Dublin this summer following unprecedented demand from Irish fans left unable to attend their incredible sold-out 3Arena show last November which boasted this set list packed with hit after hit:
 
We Will Rock You, Hammer to Fall, Stone Cold Crazy, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites the Dust, Fat Bottomed Girls, Killer Queen, Don't Stop Me Now, Bicycle Race, I'm in Love With My Car, Get Down, Make Love, I Want It All, Love of My Life, Somebody to Love, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Drum Battle, Under Pressure, A Kind of Magic, I Want to Break Free, You Take My Breath Away, Who Wants to Live Forever, Last Horizon, Radio Ga Ga, Bohemian Rhapsody, Day-Oh, We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions