Sometime in 1971. Sunderland Locarno upstairs bar. I see a tall black guy in the corner of the bar and wonder who he is. I go up and have a quick chat. An hour or so later the band take the stage and the same tall black guy is fronting them. They are called Thin Lizzy and are pretty good too! The black guy is, of course, Phil Lynott. I am 14, Phil is 21.
1973 and I’m watching Top of the Pops. Thin Lizzy appear, playing “Whiskey in the Jar” which is in the chart at the time. I go out and buy the single.
1975 – late 1970s. The Lizzy, with a new line – up featuring twin lead guitars, one of whom has really cool, long, blonde hair and is an American called Scott Gorham become absolutely massive. I see them many times at Newcastle City Hall and headlining the Reading Festival. They are an absolutely first class live band. “The Boys Are Back in Town” becomes an anthem for us all.
Early 1980s. Middlesbrough Town Hall. Quite empty. Phil Lynott’s Grand Slam are appearing. Phil doesn’t look well. His face is bloated. The performance is not very inspiring.
4 January 1986. Phil Lynott passes away. He is 36. The cause is heart failure and drugs. Such a waste.
10 years or so later. I visit Dublin once a month for several years through work. I proudly have my picture taken next to a statue of Phil. Somewhere along the way I lose the photograph. However, I include here an image of the start you courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Early 2000s. Thin Lizzy are headlining Newcastle City Hall again. This new version of the band comprises Scott Gorham, drummer Brian Downey and front man Ricky Warwick, who sounds quite a lot like Phil Lynott. They are surprisingly good and do justice to the Lizzy legacy.
2012 and Thin Lizzy become Black Star Riders after writing new material and the departure of Brian Downey. Somewhere along the way Scott retires and the band continues. The new material sounds true to the Lizzy style and they continue flying the Lizzy flag high. They have become the natural progression in the next part of the Thin Lizzy saga.
2023 and Black Star Riders are headlining Newcastle City Hall. It is their tenth anniversary tour and Scott has re-joined his bandmates for this tour. Support acts are Michael Monroe (formerly from Hanoi Rocks) and Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons (Phil Campbell was guitarist in Motorhead).
We arrived late and Michael Monroe was already on stage climbing up onto the balcony. By the time I said to my carer Jackie “Quick. Take a photo” Michael was hanging down from the balcony and dropping back onto the stage. He was just as I imagined, a manic blonde showman. I never got to see Hanoi Rocks but I can imagine them as a crazy glam punk power rock band. The closing song is Credence Clearwater Revivals’ “Up around the Bend”. I tell my daughter Ashleigh who was a big Hanoi Rocks fan. That’s a Hanoi Rocks song she tells me so I figure they must have recorded it! It gets a great reception from the crowd who probably also think of it as a Hanoi Rocks song rather than a classic by Credence Clearwater Revival. John Fogarty is one of my heroes and one of the best gigs I ever went to was seeing him at Manchester Apollo. But that’s a story from a past blog entry! I buy Ashleigh a signed Michael Monroe CD and she is over the moon with it!
After a short wait, at 9:30 PM spot-on time, the Phil Campbell backdrop disappears and is replaced by a very impressive Black Star Riders drop. I suppose I’m amazed how much of a following the band has amassed in its own right. This is not the remnants of Thin Lizzy or a Thin Lizzy tribute band. This is a fully fledged rock band of its own right, led by the very impressive Ricky Warwick who continue the Thin Lizzy legacy in their own way, producing new songs which hark back to Lizzy and yet have a significance of their own. Magical. Phil must be up there proud of how his legacy continues to thrive and move onward and forward.
A few songs in and they perform a wild heavy version of the Osmond’s “Crazy Horses”. Well, I always knew it was a heavy rock song! After a few more songs they are joined by Scott Gorham who looks older, and yet cooler and still playing great guitar. His long mane of blonde hair has somehow been transferred to the young guitarist in Black Star Riders. There really is some sort of magic in the air! At one point in the set, they are joined by Phil Campbell and later on Michael Monroe comes on for one song also.
A few more songs into the set and we are treated to Lizzy’s “Don’t Believe a Word”. Class; it all takes me back to the 1970s. Towards the end they play “Jailbreak”. One more song and then it is 11 PM and time to go home, content in the knowledge that the legacy of Thin Lizzy remains safe in the hands and voice of Ricky Warwick and the rest of Black Star Riders. You have done a great job Scott, continuing to fly the Lizzy flag and somehow, miraculously, managing to hand it safely over to the Black Star Riders. I wonder what that young 21-year-old Phil I chatted to over 50 years ago would make of it all? Happy days
Setlist: Pay Dirt; Another State of Grace; Better Than Saturday Night; When the Night Comes In; Riding Out the Storm; Wrong Side Of Paradise; Crazy Horses; All Hell Breaks Loose; Bloodshot; Soldierstown; Don’t Believe a Word (with Phil Campbell); Blindsided; The Killer Instinct; Before the War; Testify or Say Goodbye; Tonight the Moonlight Let Me Down (with Michael Monroe); Kingdom of the Lost; Bound for Glory; Jailbreak; Finest Hour.
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