These Lips Are Made For Talking - Horslips Interview

Although Horslips have never played at Sligo Live before, the iconic Irish act have very fond memories of the town.
“We’ve a long connection with Sligo,” says singer Barry Devlin. “We used to perform there in the ‘70s, in particular out in Strandhill, but also in the Silver Swan. The real story of us and Sligo was that the very first gig outside of Dublin that we did was in Sligo, in 1971, at the Showgrounds.”

At that time, a year before the release of their debut album, Happy To Meet – Sorry To Part, Ireland’s original Celtic rock band were really only just beginning to make waves.
“It was an open-air festival,” the 67-year-old singer recalls. “Fairport Convention were headlining. The Chieftains were on. It was our first experience of open-air performance. We hadn’t seen much at that time. It was slightly erratically run.
“I was a huge Fairport Convention fan. Richard Thompson had just left. They’d done Angel Delight, an album I like a lot. I got to watch. We knocked about with them afterwards. We were literally starting up. They’d gone through about their fifth change of personnel. They were really nice guys.”
Horslips’ own performance went down a storm. Devlin remembers it as one of the first times they felt like a proper group.
“That’s my memory of Sligo, really enjoying it and feeling like a big band, stepping out onto the first big stage we’d ever been on – and discovering that the roadies had set up the gear and everything! You didn’t have to do it yourself. That was our first experience of Sligo in 1971. Wow! It was 43 years ago. We’re definitely looking forward to playing another festival there.”
What can the 2014 audience expect from their set?
“We perform a serious chunk of Book Of Invasions. It might get a bit boppier towards the end. We’ve put in a few tracks that are new to the audience recently. If you haven’t seen a Horslips gig in the last while, there will be new stuff. Tracks such as ‘Johnny’s Wedding’, the first single we ever did.”
Horslips formed in 1970 and enjoyed massive success before splitting in 1980. Devlin maintains their near three-decade hiatus saved them.
“We’re all very old men at this stage, Olaf,” he laughs. “Just pointing us at the mic is hard! The roadies have to keep us from wandering off the sides and heading down into the crowd to go to the food stalls. Seriously, it’s funny coming back because we took this 29-year fag break. That saved our lives. If I’d been playing ‘Dearg Doom’ since 1972, I’m not sure I wouldn’t be slashing my wrists. Staying away from it for that long meant that we were able to look at it again. So being back on stage again is absolutely fantastic.
“I’m enjoying this version of Horslips more than any ever before because when Horslips happened, it happened fairly fast,” he continues. “It’s only afterwards when you get to reflect on it that you realise that it didn’t have to happen. It might not have happened at all. This time we’re keenly aware of what we’ve got and how much it means. One of the nicest things has been getting back with the guys in the band again, and discovering that what you liked about them then, you still like, and things that you didn’t like about them are six times as big and seven times as obvious! It’s brilliant!”
Finally, is there any possibility of a new Horslips album?
“God, I wish,” he sighs. “We probably should be doing a new album, but I don’t think we will. There are a couple of songs there, five or six, and I know Jim [Lockhart] has a couple and John [Fean] has a couple. Eamon [Carr] has probably got a drawer-full, but we haven’t road-tested them because we don’t play often enough. Because everyone has the other things that they do, we don’t get that significant time together to get in studios. It’s a bit of a disgrace, really, but that’s how it is. That essential ingredient of road-testing the songs is missing at the moment. So, to answer your question, I would love to do a new album, but I don’t think we’re likely to.”

Horslips headline the Knocknarea Arena at Sligo Live on October 25