Members Gig Reviews

THIN LIZZY

Olympia Theatre,Wednesday,12th April,2006.

Live and Dangerous,my first ever Rock Album...............and what an introduction.

From the opening riff of " Jailbreak " to the closing notes of " The Rocker ",for a 14 year old this was just mindblowing stuff. I fell in love with Lizzy the day I got that album and twenty seven years on, not a lot has changed.

Obviously,the band's line up has changed through the years,Eric Bell, Brian Downey, Brian Robertson,Gary Moore, Snowy White and Darren Wharton have all been and gone. Last night's line up featured Scott Gorham on guitar, Michael Lee on drums, Marco Mendoza on bass and John Sykes on vocals and guitar.

So,it was with a great deal of trepidation that I went along last night. I mean,how would Sykes and Co. ever fill the shoes of Ireland's ( and mine ) first rock legend,the one and only Phil Lynott.

I needn't have worried.

From the moment the set kicked off with an up tempo version of Whiskey in the Jar it was obvious that Sykes had no intention of trying to emulate Philo,quite the opposite in fact,his sole objective was to try do the songs justice, while constantly referring to the great man in almost reverential tones.

From there the set contained hit after hit, Don't Believe A word,Chinatown,Waiting for an Alibi, Are You Ready, Jailbreak,Cold Sweat,Do Anything You Want To Do and of course,Emerald..................bam de bam bam,all the classics,one after the other.

A quick break for the three guitarists allowed Michael Lee display the full reportoire of his drumming skills in an eight minute solo version of Sha La La La La which was folllowed by one of my all time favourites, Still in Love With You. This for me, was the only low point of the evening as for me,nothing can replace Philo's vocals and Brian Robertson's amazing guitar solo on the live version of that song.

The obligatory Cowboy Song / Boys are Back In Town combo followed Warrior,with a time delay of about thirty seconds between the end of Cowboy Song and the start of The Boys, while the enraptured audience wondered whether or not this new version of Lizzy would adhere to tradition and run one into the other. Of course we were not disappointed.

A quick break and the first encore,Dancing in The Moonlight was followed by another favourite, in Philo's own words......." A number recorded by Bob Seger, a number called .....Rosalie "

Then they were off again before a last visit to the stage for an eight minute version of Roisin Dubh, The Black Rose..........." Oh tell me the story of the young Cuchulainn, how his eyes were dark, his expression sullen............" what ridiculous lyrics, typical of Philo.

Then it was over, what a show.......................

The audience ranged from 12 - 60,among them, Joe Elliot from Def Leppard, actor Liam Cunningham,a very animated Gerry Ryan who was giving it loads all night and the guest of honour, Philo's mother Philomena who's presence added an authenticity to the event.( Oh yeah and she rocked her way through the show as well as anyone.)

So there ya have it,an altogether magic experience in the most intimate of venues.

Rolo.