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.
