Music
02 Jul 25

Live Report: Joe Bonamassa nails the hits of Rory Gallagher at Live at the Marquee

Joe Bonamassa Live at the Marquee on July 1st, 2025. Copyright Trevor McGrath/ hotpress.com

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dylan Howe – who fronts the Cork band Rowan – brings us all the action from the opening show of Joe Bonamassa's three-night celebration of Rory Gallagher, at Live at the Marquee. Very limited tickets for tonight and tomorrow's shows are available now...

From the Marina to the Marquee itself, the soaring Strat-Vox combo from Joe Bonamassa, backed by a thumping band, filled the night air in Cork.

Having struggled to find parking, I arrived into an ambience of stillness and awe as Joe stunned the audience with a solitary guitar solo. It was a moment of pure magic. Once the band kicked in again, you could really feel the pounding of Jeremy Stacey's kick-drum, tightened and heightened by Aongus Ralston's bass, which shook the Marquee tent.

It seemed like Bonamassa had a Strat for every colour in the rainbow, but he mostly stuck with three – a Candy Apple Red, a Trans Green, and a Sunburst Strat (similar to Rory Gallagher’s famous axe) – for the show.

There was a real bite from the Sunburst Strat, and it seemed to give Bonamassa great joy playing this in Cork especially, in honour of one of his ultimate guitar heroes. That guitar came fully into its own when the band kicked into 'Messin' with the Kid' – every Irish Tour '74 t-shirt wearing fan around me passionately singing the lyrics at the stage. The Marquee is big, but the energy from the band reminded me of an intimate club gig, with Joe muttering directions to the band during some of the solos. The dynamics of the group were brilliant as they could sweep from a whisper to a roar at the drop of a hat.

One of the night's most beautiful moments came when Joe invited Gerry McAvoy – bassist with Rory for over 20 years – onto the stage. The audience chanted ‘Gerry! Gerry! Gerry!’ as they ripped into the legendary 'Bullfrog Blues'. They were in full, powerful, swing at this point and the energy was high, with Lachy Doley, the Australian keys wizz, sliding between a B3 organ, Nord and crunchy Crumar Seven, and trading solos with Joe when the occasion demanded.

Bonamassa was also backed by the redoubtable Conor O’Farrell Brady, a passionate guitar nerd who you’ll usually find frequenting Camden Studios in Dublin (I’ve had many nerdy gear conversations with the man while in the studio myself). O’Farrell Brady really held the rhythm guitar down for the whole night, on his once-white-turned-cream vintage Telecaster, solid as a rock.

Towards the end of the night, Joe treated fans to an intensely personal rendition of ‘As The Crow Flies’ – performed on Rory’s own National Triolian resonator guitar, kindly loaned by the Cork Public Museum – before closing out the show with 'Stompin' Ground'.

It has been marvellous, seeing just how alive to Rory's music Cork has been on the 30th anniversary of his death. When Joe landed into Cork, he went straight to Crowley’s music shop, an institution in Cork where Rory Gallagher bought his famous Sunburst Strat. As an even deeper homage to Rory, Joe bought a Sunburst Strat from Sheena Crowley in an almost ritualistic preparation for the show.

Bonamassa confessed that he was nervous performing Rory’s tunes in his hometown, to an audience of avid Gallagher fans, but I can only imagine that Rory would have been immensely proud of this homage to him.

They’re performing tonight and tomorrow night in the Marquee – for any virtuoso/blues/Gallagher fans, or indeed for any fans of Irish rock music, I would highly recommend checking it out!

Limited tickets for tonight and tomorrow's shows are available here.

Dylan Howe is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer, who hails from Cork. As well as fronting Rowan, he has worked with the likes of TOUCAN, The Frank & Walters, The Stunning, Clare Sands, LYRA and more.