Artist: Gallagher, Rory
Label: Sony BMG
Released: 1974
Rating: 5/5
Irish Tour is Gallagher’s second live album. Unlike the first, Live In Europe, which is just as convincing as a performance document, it vividly captures the lively back-and-forth between audience and performer. Recorded in 1974 at Belfast’s Ulster Hall, Dublin’s Carlton Cinema and the city hall of mysterious Cork, Gallagher’s devil-inspired playing sets new standards for blues rock, ones that remain virgin territory to this day. Which isn’t surprising, since there’s not a single white bluesman out there who came close to the guitarist’s masterful emotional expression. Besides the standard blues motifs, suitably “modernized” and enriched with the sincere, tantalizingly dark-tinged humor of plain Irish mentality, he also keeps eagerly dipping into folk and jazz. Rory handles these elements as carefully as can be, yet with such fire and energy that mere mortals feel their blood run cold in no time.
Rory Gallagher is definitely a one-of-a-kind character. When turbulent events split Northern Ireland in two in 1974, most “normal” performers wouldn’t have dreamed of playing Belfast, not in a million years. Gallagher, of course, was the exception! Rory, head over heels in love with music, never paid that kind of thing any special attention. Naive as it may sound, for a few unforgettable moments Rory’s music united the masses in rapturous chanting for the musical wonders of one of rock & roll’s friendliest characters. Rory Gallagher gives himself completely to the hot-blooded welcome of the home crowd. Cradle Rock is proof of this incredible surrender to the hot-blooded passions that only the appeal of good old blues can muster in such a pure and honest form. This heavily amplified version follows the path of the much gentler studio composition, but with a noticeably stronger charge of energy that takes the temperature to boiling point right from the intro. I Wonder Who follows this “morally unacceptable” raving in a contrastingly calm tone. The old Muddy Waters classic is yet another humorous take on mating rituals, graced with the extremely sensual and inventive playing that’s so typical of Rory Gallagher’s expression. It’s soon joined by the inimitable Too Much Alcohol, where, after the thoroughly painful and unpleasant, but apparently finally forgotten Taste adventure, we at last find Rory happily indulging in an intimate relationship with the audience. Just listen to how, at the end of this splendid song, the crowd counts from 91 to 100 along with their great hero, crisp and sharp. Unbelievable! But that’s not all. If Rory has so far entertained us mostly with bluesy content that’s obscure to many, Million Miles Away will effectively lift the burden from those prone to unhealthy brooding. The song shows the incredible sensitivity and power of the guitarist’s playing, with a musical evolution over the original that’s simply astonishing. A shattering portrayal of Gallagher’s emotional instability reaches its peak in a brilliant solo that’s bursting at the seams with melancholy, loneliness and despair.
Gallagher’s great love for acoustic strummers of all shapes and sizes grows into a bluesy treat with As The Crow Flies, which shows Rory’s enthusiasm for music from the American East, where you could probably also dig up the roots of Who’s That Coming? and Back On My Stompin’ Ground. Both are set ablaze by wild slide, and from the “opening” salvo onward they slowly build up into the dynamic emotional rampage typical of the boisterous playfulness of Gallagher’s nature. His unmatched musical vision makes itself known at practically every step, which is why Irish Tour remains to this day not just one of Rory’s best albums, but also one of the finest live testimonies ever given the chance to see the light of day.
Lineup
Rory Gallagher: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Gerry McAvoy: bass
Lou Martin: keyboards
Rod de’Ath: drums
Production
Rory Gallagher
Track list
1.Cradle Rock
2.I Wonder Who
3.Tattoo’d Lady
4.Too Much Alcohol
5.Ad The Crow Flies
6.A Million Miles Away
7.Walk On Hot Coals
8.Who’s That Coming?
9.Back On My Stompin’ Ground
10.Maritime
Album length: 69.27
