When the brilliant RORY GALLAGHER appeared in concert at the Rainbow recently, he gave one of the best performances I have ever seen. He hadn’t appeared in town for nine months, and he was greeted with wild enthusiasm.
Support act was STRIDER, a much under-rated band, who provided a very good hour’s entertainment , with quite a mixed bag of songs, including their new single, Hester’s Place.
From the minute Rory stepped on stage, to the inevitable encores, he was superb. The opening number was the spectacular Messin’ with the Kid, which went down really well, and he went rocking on with Cradle Rock and Tattood Lady, both from his new album Tattoo. Next was Walk on Hot Coals and A Million Miles Away, beginning with a fantastic guitar solo from Rory.
He has an excellent back-up band, consisting of GERRY MCAVOY on bass, LOU MARTIN on keyboards, and ROD DE’ATH on drums. After a few more numbers on electric guitar, the band took a rest and Rory changed over to acoustic. He played many old favourites, amoung them a TONY JOE WHITE composition, As the Crow Flies.
The band rejoined him for some more great numbers from his various albums, and sadly the concert drew a close with a couple of hellraising encores with everyone dancing in the aisles. I left the concert feeling absolutely stunned by the magnificent performance given by Rory Gallagher – rock musician extraordinaire.
Jackie Finch