Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 11th April 1979
There had been some to-ing and fro-ing between Gary Moore and Brian Robertson for some time, with Gary replacing Brian for a few spells. This time however, the disagreements between Phil Lynott and Brian Roberston had got to a point where the two could no longer work together. Brian left, and Gary Moore joined as his permanent replacement. Thin Lizzy was now Philip Lynott, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, and Gary Moore. This line-up recorded “Black Rose”, the ninth Thin Lizzy ninth studio album, which is generally recognised as one of the band’s greatest and most successful recordings, and features “Do Anything You Want To”, “Waiting for an Alibi” and “Sarah” as stand-out tracks.
Lizzy went out on a UK tour during March and April 1979, to promote “Black Rose”, supported by Irish punk pop band The Vipers. The tour included two nights at Newcastle City hall.
I nearly didn’t make it to this gig. Marie and I had tickets to see Thin Lizzy at Newcastle City Hall on their second night at the venue; Thursday 12th April 1978. Then Kate Bush announced her first tour which included a concert at Sunderland Empire on the very same night. Dilemma. What do I do? We decided that we had to forego the Lizzy concert (I can’t remember what I did with the tickets, I may have sold them or given them away….) so that we could go and see Kate Bush. 
However, the pull of Thin Lizzy soon got the better of me, and I somehow managed to get a ticket for the first Lizzy concert on Wednesday 11th April 1978. Not sure how I managed this as the show was sold out; I may have gone through on spec on the night and scored a ticket outside the venue. Anyway; Result! I saw Lizzy one night, and Kate Bush the next, and it didn’t get much better than that in 1979.
Lizzy were, as always excellent. Gary Moore fitted in seamlessly; he came from the same musical and cultural background, was an old mate, and had played with the band before on many occasions. However, his stay with the band was short-lived; he walked out on them a few months later, during a tour of the USA.
Setlist: Are You Ready, Bad Reputation, Get Out of Here, Do Anything You Want To, Don’t Believe a Word, Waiting for an Alibi, Jailbreak, Got To Give It Up, Still in Love With You, Warriors, Roisin Dubh (Black Rose): A RockLegend, Cowboy Song, The Boys Are Back in Town, Suicide, Me and the Boys, Rosalie, Emerald, Baby Drives Me Crazy, The Rocker
PS Note the misspelling of “Thin Lizzie” on the ticket 🙂
Archive for the ‘Vipers’ Category
22 Oct
Vintagerock's Weblog. 