LIVE AT DON HILL's IN NYC

Thin Lizzy at Don Hills
New York, NY
10/28/2002

The minute I entered Don Hill's downtown NYC nightclub, I suddenly felt like I was in a time warp. The small, smokey club with black walls, tons of beer and plenty of hair and leather reminded me of L'Amour, a popular Brooklyn rock club, circa 1988.

So what would make me want to go back and revisit my youth? Two words: John Sykes. Sykes originally played guitar in Thin Lizzy during the early eighties and later went on to play in Whitesnake and eventually front his own band Blue Murder. I have been a fan of his for almost as long as Britney Spears has been alive. John Sykes and Scott Gorham, both Lizzy guitar alumni, put together the current revamped lineup of Thin Lizzy and are touring to celebrate the music of former lead singer and rock legend Philip Lynott. Sykes is currently filling both guitar and lead vocal duties for the band. Honestly, my experience with Thin Lizzy's music was limited. Their heyday was a bit before my time and I had no idea what to expect.

The last thing I expected, however, was a band called The McCabes opening for Thin Lizzy. I don't know what booking agent thought that it would be a stroke of genius to have an Irish bar band, complete with mandolin and fiddle open up for a hard rock band, but this individual should clearly be the president of Mensa. After eight songs or so about "whiskey" and "Sunday nights at the pub," I was getting ready to reach for a bottle of whiskey myself and proceed to break it over my head. Perhaps they might be better suited opening up for a band like The Chieftains.

The pleasant surprise of the night came when Sykes and Gorham, along with bassist Marco Mendoza(Blue Murder) and drummer Tommy Aldridge(Pat Travers, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake) finally hit the stage. Within the first few bars of the opening song "Jailbreak," I was reminded of why I was here in the first place. It didn't matter that the only Thin Lizzy songs I knew were "Cold Sweat" and "The Boys are Back in Town", their set was filled with great hard-rocking songs played by superb musicians. It made me long for the days when great rock music was the norm and musicians actually had talent. Sykes' searing, distinct vibrato and soulful voice were, as always, performance standouts. So if you are like me, a rock purist, and are longing to see a really great live performance, then run, don't walk to see Thin Lizzy when the boys are back in your town.

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