RORY GALLAGHER
Hammersmith
Odeon, London
THE
ATMOSPHERE is quite electric. The air vibrates with anticipation
as people await the arrival of Rory Gallagher, wielding his battered,
but trusted, 1961 sweat soaked Stratocaster.
The house
lights dim and the capacity crowd (yes, it was sold out!) rise to their
feet in a cloud of cigarette smoke and discarded orange juice beakers.
With the energy of a nuclear explosion Rory
Gallagher hammers his axe in a sort of madcap tuning pique and then
slams his way into the ear lobes of every devoted fan in the
joint. The result is a dynamic and devastating, not to mention
shocking, declaration in musical and non musical terms that he can
still cut it by being as relevant in 1987 as he was treading the
Marquee’s boards in 1967.
Hunched
over the guitar in a black leather jacket (minus, for fashion freaks,
any sign of a lumberjack shirt) Gallagher pumped out a bucket full of
classic cuts that spanned his entire recording career, working up a red
face in the process and soloing like you just wouldn't believe.
The only low spots (not that they were that low, mind you) appeared
during the blues songs. Here, Rory rattled his technique to the
edge of human endurance resulting in some songs imploding under the
sheer weight of sinful face pulling and never ending guitar
solos. 
They were good for sure, but was there
really a need to spend ten or 15 minutes proving the point? I
think not.
A long show, over two and a half
hours, meant we got value for money but I'm of the opinion that just
five minutes of this man's precious time would be worth a tenner at
least. We got him cheap, we got him on form and we also got a
smashing acoustic set too. Just like the old days, but better.
Is Rory Gallagher in danger of
becoming, er, fashionable again? Could be, could be …
Derek
Oliver
This article comes from the
11/14/87 issue of Kerrang reviewing Rory's 10/16/87
performance at Hammersmith
Thanks to Brenda O'Brien for
sharing and preparing this article
Thanks to John Wainwright for
the photos of the ticket and the marquee
reformatted by roryfan
351
added 3/25/07
