Happy to meet you – again – sorry, I won’t part! Horslips
Horslips are my favorite Irish band – inventors of glam celtic rock in the 1970s
I couldn’t resist it – “Horslips – the road to the O2” or on DVD – 17.99 (a bit pricey). This was a talking heads documentary that involved the celtic glam rockers chit chatting about their much hyped comeback gigs in 2009 at the Odyssey, Belfast, and the O2, Dublin. I wasn’t in Belfast, but one comes away with the impression that the gig wasn’t great, or at least the atmosphere was muted (apparently the fiftysomething audience were so busy crying that they weren’t cheering). Whatever! I was at the Dublin gig – a bit of an anticlimax, until they unleashed the rockers at the end. Curious that a band that could hardly fill the National Stadium at their peak, can fill a mega-arena like the O2 as a nostalgia act. As such, they have a great range of material to draw on, from the glam rock early 70s stuff, to the folkie mid 70s to the rocking late 70s and the americanised AOR of 1980. This includes two great concept albums – “the Tain” and “the Book of Invasions”.
I first “discovered” Horslips just after they broke up in 1980; I was given a cassette copy of “The Belfast Gigs”. How could a young punk resist the rapid riffing of Dearg Doom, Trouble, Shakin all over and King of the Fairies. I was hooked. K-tel released a compilation in 1981. It was fantastic: of course we knew most of the trad tunes – such as Daybreak (the theme from “Youngline”) and “Flowers among them all” (theme of the radio show on RTR “Highways and By-ways”). How cool was celtic rock in the face of synth pop, the manufactured bubblegum of Stock, Aiken and Waterman and of course – Hair Metal. Yeah U2 were a great Irish band, although in the 80s we all thought that Bono was a plonker, still do – but respect him now, but Horslips – they played real Irish rock.
Now they’re back – of course I am going to see them again in the O2, Dublin, on December 4th. From the video you see your musical heroes as middle aged dads that know that they are middle aged, at ease in each other’s’ company, not drug addled washed out has-beens that are only doing it for the money. They have all had successful post-Horslips careers; they are proud of their heritage and dammit – having a lot of fun doing it all over again. So, yes, I am going to drop 17.99 on the live CD [update – bought it, enjoyed it, recommend it].
If you are new to Horslips, I can strongly recommend the compilations “Treasury:the best of Horslips”. If you are an album lover, one cannot beat “The Book of Invasions.” I love “Tracks from the Vault” and odds and sods compilation, and, of course “The Tain”. The Belfast Gigs would be ripe for an expanded deluxe edition re-release. If you want to concentrate on the mid 70s celtic rock era – try “Live”.
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