THE ULTIMATE THIN LIZZY TRIBUTE BAND

"THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN"

Willie Rambler's Enniskillen - 8th December 2006 (Reviewed By Ziggy)

We arrive at the venue to find that the police have chased 150 underage fans who were hoping to go to the gig. Tough for the band I think to myself, but a bit of a chance to get a good viewing position - that's the selfish side of my head talking! I have my reservations about Tizz Lizzy as I know they have only been on the go for a few months, but we go upstairs to the gig with an open mind. Tribute bands work hard for their money, they usually don't make it into the charts and their livelihood depends on how good they are live. Add to that the fact that they are playing to a more critical audience than 'cover version type bands' and it's not easy - takes a lot of dedication.

Thin Lizzy played in Enniskillen in the 1970's, I didn't get to see them that night. I did see Phil Lynott on the warm up Irish Tour with Grand Slam in Lifford on 29th April 1984.

The venue is very empty (should have been another 150 there!), the band kick off on time and are plagued during the first hour by sound problems which they play through in a very professional manner. The remainder of the gig goes much better, freed of the sound problems they are much more relaxed and this cetainly manifests itself in the quality of the music - it is superb!

On the visual front, I find that after a few drinks, that Matt resembles Phil Lynott more and more - which is a bit weird and kinda spooky. They strike all the right poses and to tell the truth appear to have been together for longer than 5 months.

They have Emerald learned off for tonight and it goes down very well. Dedication is dedicated to the late frontman of Thin Lizzy and brings a lump to my throat.

All the songs are there, 2 hours 40 minutes of them, all the album greats, from Black Rose (which is great), Still in Love with you, The Rocker, The Boys Are Back In Town, Southbound, Emerald, Waiting for an Alibi, Cowboy Song, the list goes on and on - I think I counted a total of 28 songs in the set.

The lead guitarist Phil is a very accomplished guitar virtuoso and he ties in well with Joe, the other lead guitarist, who mostly takes the Scott Gorham role and is no mean axeman himself. The twin lead solos are excellent. Matt has Phil Lynott off to a tee, not only is he a doppleganger of the great man, he has the stance, is excellent on the bass and he even gets the vocal style spot on. Of course I am not forgetting Anthony who lays down a rock solid drumline that I couldn't find fault with. But a band is more than the sum of its members, a good band is a measure of how all the members play together, and these guys can be tight - especially in some of the numbers in the second half, they are squeaky tight.

Final thoughts, if you are a Thin Lizzy fan, go and see this band, you'll be very pleasantly surprised and will have a great time. These guys aren't old either, average age being 16/17, which freaked an oldie like myself to see so much talent imbued in people so young. But don't let their tender age put you off, they have the balls and the talent to make Thin Lizzy come to life again before your very eyes. I'll tell you something, I enjoyed them as a band a lot more than I enjoyed Grand Slam in 1984. So do yourself a favour, if they're playing in a venue near you, don't miss them! I certainly can't wait until 'The Boys are Back In Town'.


Ziggy in Enniskillen

The Rosetta Bar, Belfast - 18th November 2006 (Reviewed By Phil Osborne)

It's somewhere between privilege and pain being allowed to sit in on a soundcheck. Andy, the Rosetta's sound-engineer is very professional and a perfectionist, spending a lot of time getting the levels for each instrument and the lads probably learned a lot. It was great when the band got to run through a few bars of a song but frustrating when it got cut short.
The Rosetta is a dedicated rock venue, compact and bijou and the stage a decent height, with the gear set up and the spanking new Tizz Lizzy logo hung above the drum-kit it really looked the part.

When the band took the stage there were a few shouts of 'Lizzy' from the small but enthusiastic crowd before the sirens began to wail and they launched into Jailbreak, police lights flashing either side of the stage.

Emerald and Southbound followed before Matt announced they were going to try and get us moving with a Bob Seger song …… Rosalie. I though it was a bit early for it but Phil later explained that they'd played the first four from 'Live And Dangerous' (which hadn't occurred to me, doh!) and that he thought it was possibly a bit early to play Emerald.

A song about going away followed, Wild One then For Those Who Love To Live with the beautiful extended intro which had the crowd clapping along as it built up. Their interpretation of it is a personal favourite.

The intro to Do Anything You Want To kicked off with Matt using a phaser to good effect and Anthony giving the drums a good thumping as it rattled around the hall. As it faded to the drum outro Matt picked up the bassline to Dancing In The Moonlight as the band seemed to gain confidence, the combination worked well. Less surprisingly Dancing segued into Massacre and Matt's strong vocal delivery of it was a highlight.
Continuing the 'Live And Dangerous' theme, Still In Love With You was next with Phil taking the first solo and Joe the second.

The deep rumbling bassline signalled we were moving on ..... Waiting For An Alibi followed by a terrific version of Chinatown then back to the lads' speciality era with Warriors (a very favourite of mine) then a messy Are You Ready.

Matt dedicated Parisienne Walkways to the absent Davey M who was away in France. I ran to the front of the stage to tease Phil by timing the long note but the wee bugger had turned his back to get the sustain off his amp! He didn't draw it out, saying later that he thinks that's been done to death.
Phil and Matt then sang co-lead vocals on the original arrangement of Don't Believe A Word, Phil's delivery was pleasingly assured, as expected it ended by ramping up to the fast version.
Dear Miss LonelyHearts was next, showcasing Anthony on drums, followed by "one for the headbangers", Cold Sweat.

Dedication was a pleasant surprise, dedicated to Philo, the lads tore through an enthusiastic rendition. Suicide was the song that finally filled the floor as people could no longer resist getting up for a bop. That great bouncing bassline signalled Baby Drives Me Crazy which not many tribute bands go near and while it probably over-stayed it's welcome with Thin Lizzy it was good to hear on this occasion with Matt introducing the band and giving a shout to Andy for the sound and to the road crew – Steve!
By the time Cowboy Song and TBABIT closed the set the place was jumping.

Matt reappeared asking if we wanted to hear another one? The encore was to comprise the anthems and they kicked off as a three-piece, sans Phil, to play The Rocker - he rejoined them for Me And The Boys …..

They could have finished there and people would have gone home happy but they proceeded to play a very confident version of Black Rose.

Matt announced that a girl had asked him to play a song for her, when he said she'd do anything if he played it, it was met with an indignant cry of "Oh she did, did she?" from the floor! (Matt's girlfriend) He said it was a Barry Manilow song so they'd play Whiskey In The Jar instead.

The boys have come a long way since DDI in April, they're all more confident onstage, Phil and Joe are now doing backing vocals which makes a big difference, Phil himself showed he can handle singing lead, Joe's less in the shadows and Anthony's drumming is really solid. Matt is coming on as a frontman (not that he was shy before) and his between song patter is magic.


Phil Osborne (Father Jack) - Rock Legend Forum