POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Bob Geldof Resurrects Rock Crank Credentials

The Roxy marquee on Tuesday advertised “Bob Geldof and the Happy Clubsters,” and the singer couldn’t have announced any more transparently his post-Live-Aid quest to shake off his sainthood and rejoin the world of rock sin.

Tuesday’s salvo in Geldof’s ongoing drive to have his canonization revoked began with the opening “Great Song of Indifference,” a nasty rant that could be heard as a satirical political broadside against apathy, or maybe just a cheeky statement of separation from the old bleedin’-’art image.

By the time he mocked U2 (announcing his engagement to model Naomi Campbell), resignedly acknowledged that his old Boomtown Rats tune “I Don’t Like Mondays” was “the only song you know this evening” and kidded around about beating up a tramp, the reality had really kicked in: Before and after Geldof did his famous good deeds, he was and is a typical rock crank with a sharp Dylanesque and Davies-like tongue.

Geldof’s material isn’t often as strong as those forebears’, but his irreverent attitude did make for a high-energy, spirited curmudgeonly set.

The initial stretch of the show wasn’t entirely promising: He started with a row of numbers in a heavily Irish-influenced style spotlighting the accordion, violin and mandolin.

Fortunately, he laid off the blarney as the set progressed, indulging increasingly with his zestful six-piece band in straightforward, happy-making club rave-ups.