(Report by Yiannis Still In Love With You)

Many people hesitated; THIN LIZZY without Phil Lynott...

Some said it's gonna be a waste of time and money, but when musicians like John Sykes (BLUE MURDER, BADLANDS UK, TYGERS OF PAN TANG, WHITESNAKE), Scott Gorham (21 GUNS, PHENOMENA), Marco Mendoza (WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, TED NUGENT, SOUL SIRKUS) and Tommy Aldridge (GARY MOORE, HOUSE OF LORDS, MANIC EDEN, OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK OAK ARKANSAS, PAT TRAVERS, WHITESNAKE) are coming to your city you have to see and hear 'em playing!!! One more reason is that they are performing songs from one of the greatest rock bands, THIN LIZZY, and it's a hard since the 'heavy' shadow of the leader, singer, songwriter and bass player of the band is upon them.!

Many people entered the Gagarin205 venue, mostly old rockers - many of them in shirts and ties - while others were in tattoos and scars. Younger fans of Heavy Metal bands came to watch an outfit that influenced many of the artists they love. By 21:30pm Gagarin 205 Club was almost full of THIN LIZZY fans! The stage was full of Marshall amplifiers while the drum set of Tommy Aldridge stood 2 meters higher from the rest of the stage! At 21:40pm there was sirens screaming all over...and I though that I was watching some episode from the Prison Break series; in a funny way I was not very wrong! THIN LIZZY hit the stage with Jailbreak...all the people were singing along with John Sykes - who was very cool - while enjoying (both he and they) every second of the gig. His voice was fine , he raised up to the challenge of the unique feeling that THIN LIZZY tunes had with Phil Lynott.

You know, John was playing his ass off (that's why he is on of the best guitar players in Hard Rock music, anyway) with a black Gibson Les Paul guitar. Scott Gorham had a more 'tin lizie' style of playing (coming from 10 years in the side of Phil Lynott, I guess). He was playing a Fender Stratocatser and their sounds made an excellent mix. These guys had a great time onstage and it's obvious that they still enjoy playing these classic songs .They have a good chemistry and when they played these dual lead guitar harmonies the crowd sang all over the melodies (now I can see where Murray and Smith did learn to play like this!). The rhythm section was great; Mendoza and Aldridge have played together in WHITESNAKE and proved what they can do....Mendoza respected the bass playing style of Lynott and didn't add more technical style to it.

After Jailbreak it was time for Waiting For An alibi and John Sykes took time to dedicate every single note they played to Phil Lynott, while pointing in the sky. Then the classic Don't Believe A Word was heard, with the crowd shouting every word. And then: Cold Sweat, Are You ready?, Chinatown and my favorite Massacre; that song was a surprise to me...but I loved it the most! (IRON MAIDEN have covered this song as a B-side on the Can I Play With Madness? single).

It was time for some pain, now, and Still In Love With You made our hearts swing...and John was so 'into' it...and the whole mood was very 'moving'! After the moment of love the things got heavier again with Bad Reputation, followed by the infamous drum solo of Tommy Aldridge; you know, when he throws away the sticks and plays with his hands (Tommy's trademark) he can be so fantastic! And then: Emerland, Suicide, Cowboy Song and Boys Are Back In Town...ideal! The band came back for two encores, including Rosalie and Black Rose, before John Sykes said they will defenetly be back in Greece in the future.
Overall it was a very good concert, with many people having a great time, four fantastic musicians , and a set list of wonderful songs written by Phil Lynott. He is surely missed but show must go on; his music should be played live, never the less if it's been played by these guys!

...If God is in the heavens,
How can this happen here?
In His name, they used the weapons,
For the massacre...