Footage of the all-star tribute to late Thin Lizzy linchpin Phil Lynott has emerged online, documenting a one-night-only union of a stellar cast of musicians.
The show, described as “a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the life, music, and legacy of one of Ireland’s most iconic musicians,” took place at the 3Arena in the country's capital city, Dublin, on Sunday, January 4. Featuring Thin Lizzy and Guns N' Roses members, it marked the 40th anniversary of the bass player and vocalist's death at 36.
Ricky Warwick, who fronted Lizzy-adjacent band Black Star Riders, and GNR riffer Richard Fortus, were amongst the guitar-playing cast, with former Journey and Whitesnake bassist Marco Mendoza also playing a key role.
The 45-piece RTÉ Orchestra also featured, as did keyboardist Darren Wharton's band, Renegade, which he fronts. Wharton joined a new-look Thin Lizzy for 1980's Chinatown, and would be part of the band's final two records, Renegade and the John Sykes-powered Thunder and Lightning. He also featured on Lynott’s second solo album.
Highlights from the night include a stirring, orchestra-lavished rendition of The Sun Goes Down, while a Warwick-fronted Cowboy Song found the crowd in full voice, and featured a killer guitar solo from Fortus, who swapped his go-to Gretsch Falcon for a Gibson Les Paul for the show.
Wharton also welcomed founding guitarist Eric Bell, responsible for those iconic lead lines in Whiskey in the Jar, on as a special guest for the song.
Bell, armed with a time-worn HSH Stratocaster, led the band through Lizzy's revamped Irish folk song – a track he said he hated playing with Metallica at the turn of the century.
Phil Lynott worked with a glut of great guitarists across his Thin Lizzy career, including Gary Moore, Brian Robertson, who later joined Motörhead in 1982, and Scott Gorham. It was the latter pairing, brought in after Bell’s departure, that went on to define the band’s iconic twin-guitar harmony sound.
Gorham passed his audition, but his cheap LP copy didn’t, and he recently told Guitar World how the pair had to put their egos on the line to make the reprised band work.
The American guitarist, who briefly died on the operating table last year, credited the “sledgehammer” John Sykes for saving the band in their later years, and isn't ruling out a future for Thin Lizzy. But he'll need to find the perfect marksman to play with first.
