Horslips ride again

[Dougal Maguire]

Good call there Hardy. Sorry I missed the Dublin gig but I was out of the country. Delighted to be at the Belfast one and to meet Fear on Strath Ban and to see many old friends including Shamrock Shore. Roll on the next gigs

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

PS - sorry to report I failed to keep my promise to stay in my seat.

Told you

[Sandino]

Magic night. Sorry to miss a session with SS but one of the great gigs. Mrs Fiddler loved it too and she would only be slightly Horslips-aware. Some on RTE today calling it gig of the year (one gig of the decade), though they would probably admit to an in-house bias.

I expected a great occasion and a celebration, but I wasn't really expecting to be blown away by the music. The band was incredibly tight and you'd swear they'd been playing every night for the past 29 years.  And this wasn't just a nostalgia gig, this was brilliant music and playing that stood up in its own right. A tour de force by Charles O'Connor and spine tingling guitar from Fean. A night never to be forgotten.

Never have you written more true words. I'v been going to concerts for over 30 years. Few have surpassed last thursday and saturday night they had everything one would want at a gig, meeting old friends and making new ones made it unforgetable.

[anglocelt39]

Less of your "stiff" remarks you young whippersnapper.

Would you believe Gay Byrne was there! I couldn't believe it. I would have put him down for classical music and such like.

Gay Byrne at a Horslips gig - kinda like seeing Dana at an orgy.

Young whipper if only SS if only. the oul limbs are feeling their age today. I just had an unmerciful nights crack meeting old friends and hearing old sounds. Mrs Anglo not a huge lipso  fan but was very impressed with sound etc. etc. I don't know if i want them to continue, not sure if Saturday could be matched every six months or so.

[longrunsthefox]

I'm reliably informed we will not have to wait another 30 years to hear them again. The Horslips are back and will perform in 2010. Happy Days!!    

[Shamrock Shore]

After the moaning on the radio over Cat 'Yusuf' Stevens and The Nolans and Friday night's Aieda in the O2 Joe Duffy paid the Horslips' gig the ultimate compliment today.

"Nobody rang into Liveline to complain!"

He also said anyone he talked to described it as "the gig of the decade".

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

From today's Irish Times:

Horslips

SEAN FLYNN

The 02, Dublin: In his terrific Evening Herald essay on the Horslips years, former drummer Eamon Carr recalls how a trip to the furnishing department in Clerys changed the face of Irish rock'n'roll.
The band purchased a job lot of curtain fabric and soft cover to create their trademark look: satin trousers and loud, shiny shirts.

It's a lovely story – with more than a hint of truth – but it understates the quality of the music delivered by the band during those halcyon days back in the 1970s. Yes, style was important to Horslips (you would expect that from a group of former advertising executives), but there was also a great deal of substance.

Tonight's comeback concert is a reminder of the power and the glory of the band, to namecheck one of their best songs.

The striking feature of the gig is how the intervening years have not withered the power of Horslips' back catalogue. There is also an extraordinary musical range on view: the FM radio rock of The Man Who Built America , the glorious traditional Irish energy of The High Reel and the Led Zeppelin-style majesty of Furniture .

In Dublin, Furniture sounds more than ever like Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven as Gaeilge, a sweeping epic of a song guided one way and then the other by those familiar guitar breaks.

Multi-instrumentalist Charles O'Connor was the undoubted star of a gig that showcased his remarkable versatility. Guitarist Johnny Fean ran him close with a soaring, extended solo on I'll Be Waitin g and a strong vocal performance on Ghosts .

Vocalist and bassist Barry Devlin was at his best on Rescue Me , surely one of the most under-rated Horslips songs.

There are some minor quibbles. Sometimes the musical pyrotechnics of Horslips drown out some of the songs; there is simply too much going on. How exciting it would be to see Horslips on any new album embrace the stripped back, lo-fi of Bon Iver or Fleet Foxes. Horslips' songs are certainly good enough. But sometimes they need to give them a little breathing space.

On vocals, the band share out the responsibilities between Barry Devlin, Charles O'Connor and Johnny Fean, arguably the most accomplished. But there is no Robert Plant or Paul Rodgers here: sometimes these good songs require more vocal power.

But none of this should detract from a memorable night, which left the warmest glow.

For his own reasons, Eamon Carr opted out of the reunion gigs, leaving the drumming duties to the impressive Ray Fean (brother of Johnny).

Carr did surface in full Santa Claus regalia during the encore to present newly minted platinum discs to the band. At one stage in 1973 Horslips sold 35,000 copies of their debut album, Happy to Meet , Sorry to Part , in less than a fortnight. The new greatest hits collection, Treasury , will surely emulate – and even better – that achievement, if the enthusiasm of this audience is any guide.

And there was real, genuine enthusiasm. The pitch for the gig described Horslips as the band " that shaped a generation". That might be a little over the top. But Horslips played a pivotal and (until now) shamefully neglected role in the history of Irish rock. This is a band that has paid its dues. Who could begrudge them another day in the sunlight?

[T Fearon]

Just downloaded my free track there. "Sure the boy was green" Anyone else respond to the message at the concert to text your email address?

[Shamrock Shore]

Thanks to Daragh Owens

[swirllack le besturd]

I don't wish to get anal-ytical here, but is that a full stop or a blackhead after the good?

[Denn Forever]

I don't wish to get anal-ytical here, but is that a full stop or a blackhead after the good?

swirllack le besturd  Welcome.  Interesting name.  Care to elucidate?

[Shamrock Shore]

If any of ye are not tapping the auld foot after 10 seconds of this then you may need to visit the doctor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFo9OpP-4kQ

[Hardy]

I thought that was King Of The Fairies?

[Shamrock Shore]

No, my befuddled friend from Meath:

This is King of the Fairies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzQQXVa6fRQ

Same rules apply re the right foot!

[longrunsthefox]

I'm hearing they won't be playing in Ireland in the summer but festivals in other places. Maybe that's wrong. I hope so.