Thin Lizzy
Live in London 2011
Four Worlds USA
All Access Review: B+
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| Thin Lizzy- Live in London 2011 |
In the end it doesn’t really matter how much of Live and Dangerous was actually
recorded live, as it will forever be considered the definitive Thin Lizzy
concert album. Harnessing the very life force of front man Phil Lynott, that wild
Irish artist with the “live free or die” ethos who threw his heart and soul
into every lyric he penned, that record had an electricity and a galvanizing
spirit to it that made sparks fly. Without the charismatic Lynott leading the
charge, having died in 1986, leaving surviving band members to battle over the
rights to the Thin Lizzy name, Live in
London 2011 cannot possibly hope to win over the hearts and minds of those
who feel that a Lizzy without Lynott is, at best, a pale imitation of the
original.
And as for any comparisons to Live and Dangerous, the phrase “apples and oranges” comes to mind,
especially as the Thin Lizzy of this recording is, for all intents and purposes,
little more than a tribute band – even if, as recent press reports have indicated,
they do end up making an album of all new material under a different moniker,
out of respect for Lynott. For all of its accolades, there’s been a great deal
of controversy over what parts of Live and
Dangerous were overdubbed, with producer Tony Visconti and guitarist Brian
Robertson espousing their own versions of the truth over the years. Live in London 2011, one of the really
expansive and sonically impressive Concert Live Series releases from Four
Worlds, won’t spark any controversy of that sort, being a complete and unabridged
document of a modern-day Thin Lizzy giving a packed London Hammersmith house everything
they have in a rousing, workman-like performance that honors the memory of its
fallen leader.
Led by Scott Gorham, who along with Brian Robertson sculpted
Thin Lizzy’s signature “twin lead guitar” sound, this version of Lizzy –
featuring Brian Downey back on drums, singer Ricky Warwick, Marco Mendoza on
bass, longtime keyboardist Darren Wharton, and Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell on
guitar – gallops and slashes its way through the bruising, saber-rattling “Emerald”
and the apocalyptic imagery of “Angel of Death,” after barely surviving the
frenzied fray of the bruising “Massacre.” Not all fire and brimstone, Live in London 2011 also finds Lizzy mining more melodic – though still gritty and as tough as
London’s East End – territory on rough-and-tumble renderings of “Wild One” and “Waiting
for an Alibi,” and a more fragile-hearted reading of the bluesy, neon-lit
ballad “Still in Love with You.”
Ballads, however, are a rarity on Live in London 2011, with Lizzy intent on riding this horse hard
and putting it up wet, as the hard funk treatment given to “Sha La
La La” – with Mendoza’s bass sounding particularly rubbery and mean – and “Bad
Reputation” indicate. Ballsy and full of venom, the surging “Jailbreak,” with its familiar biting riffs and sure hooks holding you in their clutches, runs at a brisk pace, and the building momentum of “Cowboy
Song” is electrifying, that reliable old high-flying guitar solo rocketing to
the moon as it always has, leading into a somewhat flaccid “Boys Are Back in
Town.”
Occasionally, the energy lags, Warwick – though possessing a
commanding voice – hits some flat notes and the mix, while mostly superb, giving
each instrument good definition and great power, isn’t always perfect – there are
times when some of the guitar solos seem distant and fade into the background. Regardless,
a celebratory atmosphere pervades Live in
London 2011, as Warwick stops to toast the dear, departed Lynott often, and
Gorham and Campbell sync up on dual-guitar weavings that couldn’t be more exquisite,
while also exchanging searing, majestic leads that leave sonic brands on your skin. Best of all, Live in London 2011 is one of those concert albums that makes you feel as if you were standing in the frongt row – the in-between song banter coming through loud and clear – during a rollicking, if not entirely flawless,
performance, and for those who weren’t there, or who haven’t experienced the
new millennium Thin Lizzy for themselves, this might just be a good substitute
for the real thing.
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Peter Lindblad
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