Dark clouds are continuing to gather over the 25th annual Lent Festival - literally. Since the opening of the festival on Friday, rain has dashed the organizers’ dreams of large crowds three times. On paper at least, this year’s festival had every chance of setting a record. After all, it is celebrating its 25th anniversary and featuring crowd magnets as Geldof and Stereo MCs. (The group was also left without a large crowd because of poor weather, which forced them to perform in the Festival Hall on Sunday.)
At 9:40 p.m., the man who is interested in only two things - politics and music - took to the stage following the opening act. The gray-haired singer, born in 1951, released his most recent solo album in 2010. "Apparently, we visit Maribor every year, so it’s nice to see you again," joked Geldof. He continued: "I know that you would like to hear all the songs we performed last year, so we’ll play them. We’ll play lots of f******* songs tonight. Some of them are old - from 40 years ago."

The legendary organizer of the Live Aid charity concert and the former frontman of the Boomtown Rats, a man knighted by the Queen, has been in the news for everything but his music in recent years - including the tragic death of his daughter Peaches.

The Irish musician, best known internationally for his songs "Rat Trap" and "I Don't Like Mondays," had many jobs in his life, including a stint as a journalist, before he became a musician. In the early 1980s, he had several successes with the Boomtown Rats and then became involved with charity work. Since 1986, he has performed solo.

Geldof at Lent
Geldof took to the stage at Lent alongside guitarist John Turnbull, keyboardist Alan Dunn, violinist Vince Lovepump, bass guitarist Peter Brinquette, and drummer Jim Russsel. "I’ve been here three days. It’s a wonderful town. I had a nice time, and the people are very friendly. The wine is great. The girls are beautiful and the guys are ugly. Truly a nice place," joked the singer, who also met with President Borut Pahor before his performance.
On the stage in Maribor, Geldof played his recent classics - the same lineup he performed four years ago in Osnabrück. Accompanied by lightning bolts on a screen and in the sky above, Geldof warmed up the crowd with folk compositions such as "The Great Song of Indifference" and "A Sex Thing." "What the hell," he exclaimed to the audience when it remained silent despite being asked to take part in the singing o the evening’s introductory song. However, the ice was soon broken and the man of the evening had some consolation in the fact that the crowd was not just waiting for a single song from his lineup.

But Geldof did not allow himself to get distracted. While chewing gum, he made a journey from harder rock beats ("Systematic 6-Pack") to ballads such as "Dazzled by You," where he changed the final lyrics to "Oh, this summer evening in Slovenia. It’s rainy, sweaty, and sexy."

Klavdija Kopina, MMC; translated by J. B.