What better way to spend "National Metal Day" than rockin' with Thin Lizzy – one of the most criminally under-appreciated hard rock bands in the world?
You can do just that Friday night as the "Lizzymobile" rolls into Milwaukee for a show in Potawatomi Bingo Casino's Northern Lights Theater.
In the mid-'70s, Thin Lizzy was one of hard rock's best live acts and were hugely popular just about everywhere except in the United States. An uncanny series of illnesses, accidents and just plain bad luck prevented the band from touring extensively here and they never really grew much beyond cult status, despite having a smash hit in 1976 with "The Boys Are Back In Town."
The tragic death of Thin Lizzy founder and primary songwriter Phil Lynott at age 36 may have signaled the end of the band for many – but over the course of the past 25 years, amid growing respect for their legacy, a number of incarnations of Thin Lizzy have surfaced from time to time to play tribute shows and undertake the occasional tour.
Two years ago, founding member/drummer Brian Downey and Thin Lizzy's long-time anchor, guitarist Scott Gorham, decided to reconstitute Thin Lizzy with a stellar lineup that energized the fan base to an extent unseen in decades. That lineup included long-standing keyboardist Darren Wharton; Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell; singer Ricky Warwick, formerly of the band The Almighty; and Ted Nugent's cohort Marco Mendoza on bass.
Following a wildly successful U.K. tour earlier this year, Thin Lizzy signed on as the opener for Judas Priest's recent U.S. trek – albeit without Campbell, who had to return to his Def Leppard duties. Replacing him on the left side of the stage and in Lizzy's signature twin-guitar attack is Damon Johnson, best known as an integral part of Alice Cooper's killer live band for the past five years.
"The whole year has been going great for us," said Gorham. "The U.K. tour was completely sold out as well as just about every date across Europe. The shows with Judas Priest are also going well. Regardless of serving as kind of an opening act, Ricky is such a great front man – he gets people going in no time and the crowd reaction has been the best since Phil was with us."
Recent releases of archival live performances on DVD and CD from Lizzy's halcyon days have brought legions of new fans into the Thin Lizzy camp, and this new lineup does a remarkable job of delivering on the legacy of those incendiary live performances. So much so, that the clamor for new Thin Lizzy music has reached new heights.
"We've been asked for a long, long time whether or not we're going to do some new recordings," said Gorham. "For the longest time, we shied away from the subject out of respect for Phil. It seems that over the last couple of years, especially with this lineup, that we've been able to get past some emotional hurdles, the fans have jumped the emotional hurdle and there are so many great writers in the band right now that we feel it would be almost a crime if we don't go out and record something new. It 's absolutely what we're going to do."
But in the meantime, while you're waiting for that new Lizzy music to surface, don't miss a golden opportunity to see Gorham, Downey and the rest of the boys take you on a wild ride through Thin Lizzy's amazing musical history this Friday.
After all, it is a holiday.
