davidmacgregor's posterous

Rory Gallagher rocked my world when I was 18. So much so that I left my hospital bed (where I was recovering from splitting my kidney in two - I suppose I have three?).

I snuck away from the ward.

Limped to the Town Hall in Auckland (actually I didn't limp - there were nothing wrong with' my legs…but I'm making the point). Across Grafton bridge, down Queen Street to the venue. I was front and centre.

My only problem was my sensitivity. When the band kicked in - all bets were off.

And I learned then you have to suffer a little for the things you love.

Here's Colin Hogg's review:

A rock celebration.

Rory Galagher at the Town Hall last night.

Imagine for a moment, fellow dreamers, that rock and roll is a world full of architects.

At one level, up in the clouds, are the likes of Genesis and their ilk building candyfloss fairy grottos,

And at the other is is Rory Gallagher and his blast furnace.

And last night every member of the capacity Town Hall Audience felt the hot breath of the fiery Irishman's particular brand of rock.

In a ridiculously energetic show with more peaks than the Himalayas, Gallagher assorted guitars and a very powerful rhythm section turned his 140 minute performance into a celebration rather than a demonstration of mere skill.

Defiantly unfashionable in battered jeans, lumberjack shirt and long, scraggy hair, Gallagher must have come dangerously close to raising blisters on the ears of the front row last night with his full-frontal musical assault.

Tacking a wide selection of his own no-holds-barred rock and blues, Gallagher etched his guitar star virtuosity over virtually every song, stretching, bending and twisting solo after stunning solo out of his battered guitar.

From a breakneck Last of the Independents through the slow tough Brute force and Ignorance, a bluesy Calling card  and soaring Million Miles Away, Gallagher had the crowd with him every decibel of the way, even wandering into the crowd at one stage while tossing off a searing slide guitar break.

The only pause for breath came during a brief acoustic interlude, and then he actually looked relieved to be up and flying again with the energy level back up.

Tremendous. I can't hear myself typing this so it must have been good. - Colin Hogg