A major constant on the Irish live scene during the nineties and with two much-revered albums in the bag, Lir were arguably the closest this country came to giving the world a major prog rock outfit. While they often seemed hamfisted and indifferent on the image front, they had shedloads of musicianly skills, as displayed on this live retrospective.
As illustrated by tracks like the anthemic ‘Railroad’ and ‘Wickerman’, the latter with a superb vocal performance from David McGuinness, they were more at home weaving tricksy arrangements than tossing off catchy hooks, and their stubborn adherence to musical quality might have hampered their progress in the wider world. That said, songs of the calibre of ‘Temple Child’, ‘In A Day’, ‘Halcyon Days’ and ‘There Are More Things’ took up residence in the craniums of Irish rock fans at the time, and the live versions here will tell you why. ‘Dog Rhythms’ too has the jaggedness of Hendrix, and the menace of The Doors.
Axeman Colm Quearney (alias Q) and keyboardist David Hopkins have since gone on to moderate solo success, but the band’s reunion gigs should serve to prove why they were once so importance to us, rather than just another wallow in musical nostalgia.