Stouter of girth, thinner of thatch, 70s Celtic rock legends Horslips, in their first full gig for 29 years, were thrillingly unchanged musically. Comprising four of the five originals – drummer Eamon Carr replaced by Ray Fean – Horslips provided a masterclass in nostalgia without cheesiness, their evolution from prog-rock blended with Irish traditional themes to a more straight-ahead guitar rock satisfyingly reflected in their repertoire.
Charolais, from song-cycle The Tain, featured splendid concertina from multi-instrumentalist Charles O’Connor, while on The Wrath Of The Rain, Johnny Fean’s wonderfully acerbic guitar solo provoked keyboardist Jim Lockhart to exclaim, “we suspect Johnny’s been practising; not very rock’n’roll!”
The elegiac, reflective Ghosts was touchingly dedicated by bassist Barry Devlin, to all the fans who didn’t live to witness the reunion. Those who did were raucously, foot-stompingly, deliriously appreciative.
