Sound: Stepping into Phil Lynott's boots is a big ask, but the Irish frontman of The Almighty, Ricky Warwick, proved that he was up to the job; his voice very reminiscent to Phil himself.
This line up of Lizzy includes the ever present Scott Gorham, original drummer Brian Downey and Darren Wharton who joined Lizzy during the Renegade sessions in 1981. Alongside them was session bassist Marco Mendoza who has played with Thin Lizzy before in reunion line ups and Def Leppard's own Viv Campbell.
Scott and Brian, both 59, proved that they still have the skills and the stamina to power through a full show. Scott still very much has his chops and rarely missed a note on his Gibson Les Paul Axcess, which remained his guitar for the entire set whilst running through Engl Fireballs. // 9
Perfomance: Set List: (Start 9:15pm, End 11:10pm)
Are You Ready
Waiting For An Alibi
Jailbreak
Do Anything You Want
Don't Believe A Word
Dancing in the Moonlight
Massacre
Killer On The Loose
Angel of Death
Still In Love With You
Whiskey in the Jar
Emerald
Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)
Sha La La
Cowboy Song
Boys Are Back In Town
Encore:
Rosalie
Bad Reputation
Encore 2:
The Rocker
Black Rose
I knew every one of the songs and each one was absolutely spot-on and it was proof that the band have been rehearsing for over half a year on these. It was nice to see the progtastic Angel Of Death back in the set list, including a solo by the baby of the band, Darren Wharton.
Being the last night of the UK tour, they decided to throw in 3 songs that they had not yet preformed on the tour. They were: Killer On The Loose, Hollywood and The Rocker, all three surprised me and they were played with such precision, but still looked completely effortless.
Onstage, Lizzy were accompanied by two moderate sized video screens with footage from small remote control cameras on tri-pods, which was nice not having a dozen film crew getting in the way.
The highlight of the show as a guitarist was the celtic-rock masterpiece that is Black Rose. Viv & Scott's dual lead playing was tight and no flaws in any of the playing. // 10
Impression: England, London, IndigO2, 23 January 2011
Openers: Supersuckers & The Union
Tickets: £27.50 inc fee
Upon arriving at the O2 Arena, I knew there was a club inside where Lizzy were playing and imagined it to be the size of Brixton or Hammersmith, but inside it was only the size of a small House Of Blues, with a capacity of around 2000. It was really amazing to have the intimacy of seeing them in a medium sized club.
At that prize and the quality of the band, I wouldn't hesitate to see them again. // 10
