What do you get when you cross the greatest blues guitarist alive, with the songbook and the immense legacy of the greatest blues guitarist no longer with us, you get American blues legend Joe Bonamassa playing 3 nights at the Marquee in Cork, the hometown of the aforementioned blues guitarist no longer with us, Rory Gallagher.
Rory Gallagher is a legend within music, he seemed to somewhat always avoid mainstream popularity with precision, carving out his own space in the musical landscape of the 70s blues scene. Even having an offer to join The Rolling Stones, and turning it down, not many musicians can hold that acclaim.
Rory is a musicians musician, relatively unknown to the wider population outside of Ireland, but known by each and every guitar legend of this day and age, from Clapton, to Marr, and of course, Bonamassa.
I never had the chance to see Rory live, as his death and my birth are separated by nearly a decade, but I truly felt I got as close to the real thing as I could that night, even if it was just a tenth of the true Rory Gallagher, that’s a far cry above what anyone else these days can claim.
The opening riff to “Cradle Rock”, a Rory song Bonamassa has released as a cover in the past, tore through the crowd, the raw and rough noise of the guitar, and that amazing intro and it’s masterful guitar work.
Performing the entire “Irish Tour 74’” album, and then some, songs like “Bad Penny” and “I Fall Apart” featuring alongside songs from that album.
Included in this show for a few songs was the bassist who accompanied Rory Gallagher for the majority of his solo career, Gerry McAvoy, and another special guest, not a human one this time, was a Rory Gallagher owned acoustic guitar which Bonamassa brought out and played.
A string of concerts that may never happen again, celebrating the greatest guitarist in Irish, and maybe even world, history. Bonamassa stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park, or marquee if you will, there was no better man for the job and it is one of those concerts I will never forget.
Stage Setup: 8/10, a simple stage setup, but exactly what is needed for a blues show, Bonamassa’s band and Rory’s songs don’t need an elaborate stage setup so unleash their true power.
Band performance: 11/10, I’m allowing myself to go slightly above my standard rating system, Joe Bonamassa is a man who does things with guitars I cannot believe are possible in this world, during the concert I saw him retune a string mid solo as it appeared he noticed it was slightly off pitch, the other members of the band were phenomenal aswell, especially the keyboard player, the speed and precision with which he struck those keys is next to none, I’m not sure if I have, or ever will again, see so much talent contained on one stage.
Support: N/A, no support at the gig, just straight into the main act.
Merchandise: 9/10, merch at a tribute/celebration show is a thin line to toe, you want to give people the opportunity to get something to commemorate the gig, but don’t want to try and profit off the legacy of another musician, and I think the merchandise was just the right kind, half of the merch was just Rory Gallagher merch, and the other half was merch of those specific gigs, with Rory Gallagher being the title part of it all. Along with very nice quality posters, it was a lovely set of merch and was very reasonably priced by concert standards.
Crowd: 9/10, I was seated so I didn’t have much interaction with the crowd, the entire crowd seemed to inhabit the same state of mind I did for most the show, a state of pure awe and amazement at what was unfolding before me.
Overall: 10/10, this is a gig that may never be repeated after these three nights, three nights of legendary, mind blowing, roof raising, crowd pleasing, soul shaking blues. A night to remember for all fortunate enough to be there.
Next up: Train 7/7/25
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