Some of the boys are back in town

The very idea of Thin Lizzy performing live in 2003 without their former frontman, the late lamented Phil Lynott, might be anathema to some. But according to Scott Gorham, guitarist with the classic mid-’70s Lizzy line-up, it’s all about paying respect to Lynott and his music.

“It’s not like we’re trying to kid anyone,” he says. “Everybody who comes to see the show is well aware of the history of the band and what happened to Phil. They know for sure that he’s not going to show up on the night but they come along for the music and to hear it played as close as it was to the original.”

The current Thin Lizzy line-up also includes former band member John Sykes (who ironically replaced Gorham in the final Lizzy incarnation), Michael Lee on drums from the Jimmy Page/Robert Plant camp and bassist Gary Leiderman who has worked with Iron Maiden and Asia. As well as playing one part of the duel guitar role along with Gorham, Sykes also has what some would see as the unenviable task of tackling lead vocals.

“John has never tried to copy Phil’s vocal,” Gorham insists. “We’re not trying to replace him. We would never want to do that. What John tries to do is to give a flavour of what Phil was doing and I’m comfortable with that. He does it very well too. A lot of people say if they close their eyes it’s almost as if Phil is on stage. It’s a bit spooky.”

Not surprisingly the bulk of the set-list leans heavily on the songs from the Live & Dangerous album, undoubtedly Lizzy’s finest hour.

“Its all of those songs plus we’ve put in songs like ‘Killer on the Loose’ and ‘Chinatown’,” Gorham explains. “When you think about it, Live & Dangerous spans the first four or five albums so it’s a good representation of the band. It’s also where the roots of the band were – playing live on stage. We were a much more accomplished band playing live than we ever were in the studio. The transformation from the studio to the stage was phenomenal, you only have to look at the live version of a song like ‘Still In Love With You’ which is totally different to the original studio version.”

It’s now over 17 years since Phil Lynott passed away at the age of 35 of complications brought on by years of drug abuse. According to Gorham, playing live with Thin Lizzy again is bringing the music to a new generation. “Everybody has a right to hear this music so we’re carrying on,” he says. “It’s almost like a compulsive thing with me. Once I started doing it again I couldn’t stop. The only down side of it is that Phil is not out there onstage with us. The thing is, both John and I feel that Phil is still part of the band. When we do the introductions he’s always the last person to be introduced and he always gets the biggest cheer. If I ask anything of the audience it’s when his name comes up to raise the fucking roof off the place.”