Shaun Ponsonby
04-23-2007, 03:07 PM
Its funny...3 classic bands (and I mean classic bands) and not a classic line up in sight. Had it been possible for all 3 bands to have been on a bill together in their heyday, I'm pretty sure this would have been in a stadium.
Ah, well, it was good entertainment anyways.
The opening band was (quote-on-quote) "THIN LIZZY". Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott is like Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott. It's just not Thin Lizzy. And you had that feeling watching them. In fact, there were more members of Whitesnake on stage than there was Thin Lizzy (John Sykes, Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza). I was half expecting David Coverdale to come onstage.
However, they did play well. They were good as a support act, even if they were a bit quiet. They were actually better than I thought they would be, probably because everybody in the building knew the songs. The opening trio was "Jailbreak", "Waiting For An Alibi" and "Don't Believe A Word" for Gawd's sake (in fact, at times Sykes sounded like Lynott). They are doing a headlining tour in the winter. I don't know if I want to see them headline. I mean, they were really good, but there was something missing. The best way to view them is as the official Thin Lizzy tribute band. They shouldn't call themselves Thin Lizzy. Queen don't go out simply as "Queen", The Doors don't go out simply as "The Doors", Thin Lizzy shouldn't go out as simply "Thin Lizzy". I wonder how far they can go, cos they will never get away with new material.
Set List
Intro/Jailbreak
Waiting For An Alibi
Don't Believe A Word
Are You Ready?
Emerald
Cold Sweat
Suicide
Cowboy Song
The Boys Are Back In Town
STYX came next. I thought they were an odd choice to suppport Deep Purple at first, they're a bit more AOR. I've never been much of a fan. Did a few good tunes, but that's aboot it as far as I'm concerned. And the less said about "Babe" the better. However, I actually really enjoyed the set. Even if Tommy Sure reminds me of Hagar and some of their choreography during "Come Sail Away" was...I don't want to say gay...but, I'm left with very little choice.
I have no idea who was playing keyboards, but he was the most entertaining person on stage all night. Even more entertaining behind a keyboard than Keith Emerson (headstands and all). And longtime fans were thrilled when Chucky Panozzo walked out to play bass on several songs.
It must be said they're vocals were spot on, absolutley perfect harmonies, even if they are fucking full of themselves.
As I said, I'm not really a fan, so I can't name all the songs in the setlist. However, I can say they played Blue Collar Man, Miss America, Come Sail Away, Grand Illusion and Renegade, amongst others.
They went down well, though, in fact I started to doubt whether DEEP PURPLE could follow it. How do you follow Thin Lizzy's hits and Styx's hits? Easy-with Deep Purple's hits. Of course, the set wasn't perfect. For example, they didn't play all of "Machine Head", like they said they were, and I would have loved to have heard "Woman From Tokyo", "Speed King", "Flight of the Rat"etc, but, hey you can't have it all. They played excellently, and Gillan, although he looked worn out at the end of the set, sounded better than I have heard on bootlegs from the past few years.
All in all, they played well, had a kewl light show and some timeless songs to top it off.
Set List
Intro
Pictures of Home
Things I Never Said
The Battle Rages On
Strange Kind of a Woman
Rapture of the Deep
Fireball
Steve Morse Solo
When a Blind Man Cries
Lazy
Don Airey Solo
Space Truckin'
Highway Star
Smoke on the Water
---------------------------------
Hush/Ian Paice solo
Black Night (w/Roger Glover intro).
Overall, a GRATE night. It was hard to pick the best band. Styx went down almost as well as Deep Purple did, but the only time everybody in the arena was standing up was during Thin Lizzy. 3 sets of classic rock hits.
Not a bad night, really.
Ah, well, it was good entertainment anyways.
The opening band was (quote-on-quote) "THIN LIZZY". Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott is like Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott. It's just not Thin Lizzy. And you had that feeling watching them. In fact, there were more members of Whitesnake on stage than there was Thin Lizzy (John Sykes, Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza). I was half expecting David Coverdale to come onstage.
However, they did play well. They were good as a support act, even if they were a bit quiet. They were actually better than I thought they would be, probably because everybody in the building knew the songs. The opening trio was "Jailbreak", "Waiting For An Alibi" and "Don't Believe A Word" for Gawd's sake (in fact, at times Sykes sounded like Lynott). They are doing a headlining tour in the winter. I don't know if I want to see them headline. I mean, they were really good, but there was something missing. The best way to view them is as the official Thin Lizzy tribute band. They shouldn't call themselves Thin Lizzy. Queen don't go out simply as "Queen", The Doors don't go out simply as "The Doors", Thin Lizzy shouldn't go out as simply "Thin Lizzy". I wonder how far they can go, cos they will never get away with new material.
Set List
Intro/Jailbreak
Waiting For An Alibi
Don't Believe A Word
Are You Ready?
Emerald
Cold Sweat
Suicide
Cowboy Song
The Boys Are Back In Town
STYX came next. I thought they were an odd choice to suppport Deep Purple at first, they're a bit more AOR. I've never been much of a fan. Did a few good tunes, but that's aboot it as far as I'm concerned. And the less said about "Babe" the better. However, I actually really enjoyed the set. Even if Tommy Sure reminds me of Hagar and some of their choreography during "Come Sail Away" was...I don't want to say gay...but, I'm left with very little choice.
I have no idea who was playing keyboards, but he was the most entertaining person on stage all night. Even more entertaining behind a keyboard than Keith Emerson (headstands and all). And longtime fans were thrilled when Chucky Panozzo walked out to play bass on several songs.
It must be said they're vocals were spot on, absolutley perfect harmonies, even if they are fucking full of themselves.
As I said, I'm not really a fan, so I can't name all the songs in the setlist. However, I can say they played Blue Collar Man, Miss America, Come Sail Away, Grand Illusion and Renegade, amongst others.
They went down well, though, in fact I started to doubt whether DEEP PURPLE could follow it. How do you follow Thin Lizzy's hits and Styx's hits? Easy-with Deep Purple's hits. Of course, the set wasn't perfect. For example, they didn't play all of "Machine Head", like they said they were, and I would have loved to have heard "Woman From Tokyo", "Speed King", "Flight of the Rat"etc, but, hey you can't have it all. They played excellently, and Gillan, although he looked worn out at the end of the set, sounded better than I have heard on bootlegs from the past few years.
All in all, they played well, had a kewl light show and some timeless songs to top it off.
Set List
Intro
Pictures of Home
Things I Never Said
The Battle Rages On
Strange Kind of a Woman
Rapture of the Deep
Fireball
Steve Morse Solo
When a Blind Man Cries
Lazy
Don Airey Solo
Space Truckin'
Highway Star
Smoke on the Water
---------------------------------
Hush/Ian Paice solo
Black Night (w/Roger Glover intro).
Overall, a GRATE night. It was hard to pick the best band. Styx went down almost as well as Deep Purple did, but the only time everybody in the arena was standing up was during Thin Lizzy. 3 sets of classic rock hits.
Not a bad night, really.