Thin Lizzy: Live In London 2011

Ever since legendary guitarist Scott Gorham resurrected the name Thin Lizzy various line ups have come and gone with varying degrees of success and authenticity. Although whether the Lizzy name should be out there at all as a touring and in this case (live) recording act is down to your own individual view point on whether there can ever be a Thin Lizzy without the late, great Phil Lynott.

The first and so far only time I've seen Lizzy was a few years back when Gorham was joined by John Sykes - his one-time six string partner in the band. The latter handled the vocals and with ex-Whitesnake pairing of Tommy Aldridge (drums) and Marco Mendoza (bass) creating the rhythms, it was a bizarrely "Metalized" version of what was once a Classic Rock act known for their subtlety and touch, rather than grit and bombast. Thankfully though, Gorham now has original Lizzy drummer Brian Downey back on board and along with latter day Lynott side-man Darren Wharton on keyboards there is a slightly stronger grip on the Lizzy sound in evidence on Live In London 2011. Completing the line up for this show and the adjoining tour were former Almighty frontman Ricky Warwick, Def Leppard/Whitesnake/Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell and Mendoza who reprised his bass role.

If Lizzy starts and stops with Lynott for you, then there's little here that will convince you to change your mind. However for those of us too young to savour those days, there's much to be impressed with on this release, not least the manner in which the band's classic songs are treated with much respect and care this time round. Gorham, Campbell and at times Warwick recreate the twin guitar sound to perfection. Downey seems to have calmed Mendoza's over egged performance of days gone by and while neither he, nor Ricky Warwick will ever have the charisma and emotion of Lynott, both do a fine job of presenting these songs in all their glory. On the whole Warwick keeps it simple, sounding like himself, rather than aping the great man, but his Irish lilt also keeps things reasonably close to how these songs should sound. He does struggle however with the slower numbers, especially with "Still In Love With You", where the golden throated Wharton takes over for long spells, and while I love the latter's work with Dare, the whole things veers too close to "tribute act" for its own good.

I've spoken to a few people who have seen this line up perform (Campbell appears to have moved on now) and haven't heard a word of dissent yet. If you are one of those who joined them, then Live In London 2011 will be a wonderful document of that tour. For the rest of us, well this is much better than I hoped for, or expected, but the fact remains that if you want to hear Lizzy live, you're going to reach for Live And Dangerous, or the recently issued and thoroughly excellent Live '75 every time aren't you?

Track Listing
1. Are You Ready?
2. Waiting For An Alibi
3. Jailbreak
4. Do Anything You Want To
5. Don't Believe A Word
6. Dancing In The Moonlight
7. Massacre
8. Angel Of Death
9. Still In Love With You
10. Whiskey In The Jar
11. Emerald
12. Wild One
13. Sha La La La
14. Cowboy Song
15. The Boys Are Back In Town
16. Rosalie
17. Bad Reputation
18. Black Rose
19. Black Rose (Reprise)

Added: November 2nd 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Thin Lizzy Online
Hits: 3354
Language: english

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