News and Views of the events in Dublin, August 19th & 20th

Introduction:.

Friday 19th August 2005 saw the unveiling of a life-sized bronze statue of Phillip Parris Lynott in the centre of Dublin. For the Thin Lizzy and Philip Lynott faithful, it was the proudest moment in over 20 years! Over 4000 fans, many who had travelled from around the globe, crammed onto Harry Street & Grafton Street to take part in the event. Philomena Lynott, Phillip's mammy, was there to unveil the statue and she was accompanied by ex-Thin Lizzy members Brian Downey, Eric Bell, Scott Gorham, Brian Robertson and Darren Wharton (John Sykes & Snowy White were the only full-time ex-members missing). And on the following night, the vast Point Depot was crammed full of Lizzy fans who had forked out €60 each for a chance to see the ex-Lizzies playing some of Phillip's classic songs.

The last five years had seen a momentous campaign, headed by Philomena Lynott and Audry O'Neil, to fund and raise the statue. Dublin City Council was hounded and thousands of fans directly donated funds and/or donated in-directly by attending or organising numerous fund-raising events. The campaign was a rare incidence of unity in the notoriously fragmented and divided world that typifies Thin Lizzy. But now everyone involved can now sit back and soak in the realisation that the statue is there. And what a statue it is!

Friday 19th

Those passing a long Grafton Street in Dublin city centre during the afternoon of Friday 19th August, may have noticed a large wooden box outside Bruxelles on Harry Street and the unusually large number of people wearing Thin Lizzy T-shirts. By 5:30, most of Harry Street was closed and a crowd had started to gather on the fringes of the barrier surrounding the statue. At the edges of the barrier the Gardi were letting in those privileged few hundred people who had tickets and thus a decent view of the proceedings to follow. The majority took a deep breath and stood up on their tip-toes as the crowd outside the barrier swelled.

Harry Street from Grafton Street

The crowds gathering on Grafton Street

The wooden box was slowly dismantled to reveal the cloth-covered statue ... and then the obligatory speeches were made. There was no stage so even the tallest fan couldn't actually see who was speaking. The Mayor gave a long and dull speech, as councillors are inclined to do, while Audry and Philomena thanked all involved. Then the moment of unveiling arrived, cameras and camcorders filled the skyline and the cloth was released to reveal (well, at least to those next to it) the coolest statue on the planet.

Now you can't see him...

... and now you can!

Most could see Philip's bronze afro and some caught a glimpse of Philomena and the ex-Lizzies gathering around for a photo-call.

That's my boy!

Robbo...

Then the celebs, dignitaries and worthies moved on and the barriers came down. The crowd edged forward while the Gardi helped people to see the Statue close up and take their pictures.

Saturday 20th

The gig venue was the Point Depot. It's a big venue and it was certainly necessary as throngs of Lizzy T-shirt clad folk streamed in through the doors. The doors opened at 6pm but the main act didn't emerge until something like 10:30. In between times there was a variety of support acts including, bizarrely, "Wheatus" but more appropriately Darren Wharton's band "Dare". Wheatus were given a hard time with much booing and even some missile throwing! The final support band was a composite and included the legendary bass player Neil Murray and Horslips' Johnny Fean, as well as Jason Swindle, Bob Knight, Danielle Pfiffner and Charmaine Barrett. It was all pretty tame until Johnny Fean stepped up to the mic and started "Trouble with a Capital T" which finally got the crowd jumping and clapping. Then on came Philomena Lynott - she threw away her list of people to thank and instead led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" as it was 56 years to the day since Phillip Lynott was born. Then Brush Sheilds, the man responsible for teaching Phil bass, sang "Old Pal", a song about his friend. It was a great and fitting tribute. And now ... with the momentum built up ... the crowd ready and willing ... the main act ... except there was some delay and all the build up was lost. But finally on came Gary Moore, Brian Downey and Jonathan Noyce (Jethro Tull).

Now the crowd were really ready ... at last an ex-Lizzy about to pay "Tribute To The Life & Music Of Philip Lynott" ... so what does Gary start with! Only one of his derivative blues numbers "Walking By Myself". You could see the faces of many of the Lizzy faithful - sheer disbelief. He then played "Jailbreak" and both the slow and fast versions of "Don't Believe a Word". Despite both Robbo and Scott being back stage, these songs were played with just Gary on guitar. Finally Robbo was invited onto stage and the crowd were treated to a great rendition of "Emerald" (great to see Gary and Robbo trading licks) and a slightly messy version of "Still in Love With You".

That was it from Robbo ... off he went and, after a delay and some verbal abuse from Gary, on came Scott. Then came one of the highlights of the evening "Black Rose" with Gary taking the whole solo and playing it to perfection. Scott stayed on for "Cowboy Song" (playing some lead) and "Boys are Back".

Scott Gorham, Cowboy Song

And that was it ... they left the stage!

Despite a lack of any particularly frantic calls for an encore, possibly due to the general disbelief that it was apparently over after 8 songs, back came Gary with Brian Downey and Jonathan Noyce, this time inviting Eric Bell on stage to play "Whiskey". Gary and Eric shared the vocals and Eric played lead guitar. Then off went ER. Gary announced this was the last song and started a very appropriate snippit of "Old Town" before launching into "Parisienne Walkways" with "I remember Parris in '69" as the opening line. Stunning guitar work and such a beautiful song but rather ruined by a the now over-done "long note" horse-play and a ridiculously long and very dull "outro" solo during which many people left the auditorium. He finally broke into a "Happy Birthday" solo and, at long last, he finally ended the song. Unfortunately that also ended the gig! 10 songs, 9 of which were Lizzy songs. Disbelief!

It seemed that Gary Moore lacked a proper sense of the occasion! Gary was in control of the set list - he made the decisions. The fans came for Phillip Lynott yet he started with one of his own songs? All anyone wanted to hear was Lizzy! He also chose to end with a VERY boring extended outro to Parisienne Walkways rather than by inviting the other ex-Lizzies on stage for a finale. One can only assume that his ego didn't allow him to properly share the occasion and as a result a huge opportunity was missed. It was also incredible that they only played 10 songs, INCLUDING ENCORES! The support bands were largely inappropriate, most bearing no connection with Lizzy or Lynott. Unfortunately, the highly appropriate tribute band "Thin Az Lizzy" played at the private party for the dignitaries and worthies rather than at the main event. At €60 per ticket, and with many fans travelling from abroad, this gig was one hell of a rip-off! Downey on drums, 4 ex-Lizzy guitarists present and also Darren Wharton ... you'd think they'd have cooked something more extensive up! Scott and Robbo could have played together with Darren on vocals like at Donnington a few years back.

We came from far and wide at great expense for Phillip Lynott but his ex-band members managed to play only 9 of his songs! Oh well, no doubt someone got richer along the way on the back of it all.

Thank God the statue is so wonderful.