Boy's Night Out

Whatever about the rights and wrongs of a band continuing without their former frontman, chief songwriter and founding member, (one long-time fan I know refused to attend on principle) it was clear that the capacity crowd at the Olympia were here to celebrate the legacy of the late Phil Lynott – and to have a good time. Besides, the current Lizzy incarnation, featuring one-time members Scott Gorham and John Sykes, have more right than most to bring the music they were once a part of to a new audience.

Few would argue that they didn’t carry it off with passion and integrity – early highlights of a set that veered heavily towards the Live And Dangerous era included a tight, rocking, ‘Don’t Believe A Word’ and a smouldering ‘Still In Love With You’. Whether intentional or not, Sykes’ vocals were at times eerily reminiscent of Philo’s – even when speaking, he uttered a few Dublin-isms.

The opening lines of ‘The Cowboy Song’ were greeted with an ecstatic response while Gorham, who drew the most cheers from the crowd, shone on latter day Lizzy classics like ‘Killer On The Loose’, ‘Chinatown’ and the slow-burning ‘The Sun Goes Down’, the band’s final single released exactly 20 years ago.

Surprisingly, their greatest anthem, ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ turned up in the middle of the set rather than at the end where it would have made for a more celebratory encore (the fact that it was a bit rough around the edges might have had something to do with it). The encores began with the crowd chanting the opening bass riff of ‘Dancing In The Moonlight’ while the band nailed it with a killer version of ‘Suicide’.