Thin Lizzy: LET IT ROCK!

[editor]

Was there ever a better live rock band?

Killer on the Loose, Dancing in the Moonlight, Rosalie, Cowgirl's Song, Don't Believe a Word, Jailbreak and the best summer gang song ever, The Boys are Back In Town.

Thin Lizzy! I salute you!

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Is there any air guitar occurring?

 

[editor]

Is there any air guitar occurring?

Never been big on air guitar but if a song really gets me going, I slap a circular rubber practice mat on the other swivel chair, whip out my drumsticks and voila! Instant pretend drum kit! (The back rest doubles up as a hi-hat with the wall being a crash cymbal - although hitting the all is not a good idea).

I don't know if you're read my blog recently, but it details my current battle to resist buying a proper drum kit...

 

[Tort]

One of the best live bands of all time, although they were absolute dreadful the first time I saw them at Milton Keynes Bowl. Lynott was completely fucked up. Also saw them 3 times on the farewell tour and also their last ever UK gig at Reading.

I'm a Rockerrrrr!

 

[pilchardman]

Never saw them live myself.

Were they better than Nazareth?

 

[clandestino]

I'm a Rockerrrrr!

are you a roller too, honey?

never saw them. wish i had, but i was just too young. one of the finest bands ever. someone should play 'johnny the fox...' at the next offline!

 

[hiccup]

Now ZZ Top, there's a proper rock band

 

[marty21]

bizarrely, lesley "the price is right and crackerkjack" crowther was phil's father -in law

phil was often spotted in bath in the early 80s

i wish i'd see lizzy live too

 

[twistedAM]

long-live bands with bass-playing singers...next ones in the evolutionary chain were THE SUPERSUCKERS

 

[Idris2002]

I disobeyed another warning, I should have been in by ten. . .


Thing with Lizzy is, everyone remembers Lizzy Mk II, the four piece line up that did Jailbreak.

So their earlier incarnation as a three piece gets unjustly overlooked IMO.

As a trio with Eric Bell on guitar they could still rock out, but they were capable of more subtle stuff as well.

Which is not to knock Jailbreak (esp. Angel from the Coast and Cowboy Song) but to big up the early days as well.

 

[Dubversion]

greatest band ever.

first proper band i ever saw, first proper album i ever bought. saw them 3 times... the rest of my rock past embarrasses me mostly, but i've never stopped loving Lizzy.....

idris - MK1 are definitely under-rated, but later Lizzy could still be quite subtle and moving, stuff like Southbound..

 

[Dubversion]

course, the only problem with lizzy is that their stunning 'twin axe attack' on tracks like Emerald surely paved the way for Big Fucking Country...

 

[Idris2002]

course, the only problem with lizzy is that their stunning 'twin axe attack' on tracks like Emerald surely paved the way for Big Fucking Country...

And this is bad because? . . .

And tbh, I really don't see any direct connection between tracks like Emerald and the stuff BC did. . .

 

[Dubversion]

well it's that whole 'guitars that sound like bagpipes' thing, i guess...

 

[pogofish]

Never saw them live myself.

Were they better than Nazareth?

Pretty close, although I saw Lizzy more often than Nazereth.

Even met Lynnot once after a gig

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Thin Lizzy kick ass! I love em, been a fan for years but was too young to see them when they toured...

ai

 

[clandestino]

first proper band i ever saw, first proper album i ever bought. .

you saw thin lizzy? fucking hell. when, where? how old were you?

i obviously wasn't too young then as i'm a couple of weeks older then dubversion.

touring 'thunder and lightning' i assume. bugger!

first proper band i saw was hanoi rocks, just before razzle died. glad i saw them. they were fantastic.

 

[LDR]

first proper band i saw was hanoi rocks, just before razzle died. glad i saw them. they were fantastic.

I'm a big fan of Hanoi Rocks but I'm an even bigger fan of Thin Lizzy.

Hell, I've even got most of Gary Moore's solo stuff too.

 

[clandestino]

I'm a big fan of Hanoi Rocks but I'm an even bigger fan of Thin Lizzy.

*apologies for slight derailment*

well if you're a hanoi fan then you'll be able to appreciate how i felt when i saw the new york dolls at reading on saturday only to discover that the replacement bassist for arthur kane was...sam yaffa! as i far as i thought, he'd hung up his bass after leaving hanoi and had become a successful cartoonist. which...after a brief google...is totally wrong. apparently he was in demolition 23 (news to me, i thought it was only mike and nasty), and is now in joan jett and the blackhearts.

*deraliment over*

 

[editor]

I'm a big fan of Hanoi Rocks ...

Obscure fact!

I used to know the band very well indeed as we had the same management as them.

 

[jd]

Can I add a mensh for Whiskey in the Jar and - my personal fave - Bad Reputation?

There's a live Bad Reputation on a Thunder and Lightning B side, as I recall. Some sort of twin 7" special...

 

[Bomber]

Ahh Thin Lizzy !! Wonderful memories, saw them four times and they never failed to blow me away !!! A top band from a much maligned era of music !!

 

[Belushi]

I would have loved to see Lizzie live but I was oo young

 

[pogofish]

Obscure fact!

Another obscure fact!

They once got lost on their way to a gig an Aberdeen & ended-up on my road when I was coming home from school - I gave them directions to the venue.

They looked pretty rough in daylight!

 

[Tort]

well it's that whole 'guitars that sound like bagpipes' thing, i guess...

Big Country got that "bagpipe" sound by using the gizmowhatsitthingamybob contraption that Godley & Creme invented. A device with rotating wheels that rubbed the strings instead of plucking them.

With Lizzy it was proper twin harmony guitar riffing. No comparison.

 

[Tort]

Can I add a mensh for Whiskey in the Jar and - my personal fave - Bad Reputation?

There's a live Bad Reputation on a Thunder and Lightning B side, as I recall. Some sort of twin 7" special...

I think I've got the 12" of that in the loft somewhere. Didn't it have a live version of "Are You Ready" on the B side as well with a kick ass Brian Downey drum solo?

 

[Tort]

I'm a big fan of Hanoi Rocks

Hanoi Rocks were great although I never saw them live. I did catch The Cherry Bombs once who were formed out of their ashes. I loved all that glam revisited piss take stuff that came out in the mid-80's. Doctor & The Medics anybody?

 

[LDR]

I saw Doctor & The Medics when I was living in Italy about 95/96.
I was in some club with some Italian friends when they suddenly appeared on stage. They played mostly covers raging from the Sex Pistols to The Police.

They were funny as fuck as they took themselves far too seriously and were really patronising to the Italian crowd saying things like "We sing song for you" in almost baby speak. A large part of the crowd could speak English and they almost got booed off.

Having said all that, it was great to hear ‘Sprit in the Sky’ live. Even if they did bang on a bit on how great a hit it was for them.

After the gig, I saw the lead singer trying unsuccessfully to chat up a couple of young girls at the bar. He was really getting knocked back and it all looked a bit sad, truth be told and not a patch on Thin Lizzy.

 

[Major Tom]

Was there ever a better live rock band?

Dunno bout rock - but I've seen at least 30 bands that I reckon were better than Thin Lizzy.

 

[clandestino]

i saw the cherry bombz as well. once. with anita out of toto coelo on vocals. didn't really rate them that much. weird line up too - tory crimes still hanging around from the fag end of hanoi, kermit from the lords, nasty and andy, and one of toto coelo.

that was never going to work, was it?

i remember the dj at the club playing a single by the bolshoi and really liking it. think my trash days were drawing to a close by then...

oh and bambi slam!

which gives me an idea...