Rory Gallagher's iconic Cork Opera House gig to be recreated
Legendary Cork musician Rory Gallagher on stage. He amassed over 30m album sales worldwide with his band Taste in the late 1960s and then solo the 1970s and 1980s. Photo: John Minihan
He saw the revered blues guitarist play live at his now legendary ‘homecoming show’ in Cork Opera House almost 35 years ago.Â
Now promoter Tom Keating, 56, hopes to recreate that iconic Rory Gallagher gig on the same stage as part of a very special Gallagher tribute show, featuring Sinnerboy, who have headlined Gallagher tribute events in England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Norway and the USA.
It is set to be one of the biggest shows in the Cork Opera House in almost two years, as public health restrictions ease.
"I was 22, and as a rock fan, that show in 1987 just blew me away," Tom recalled.
"That concert gave me a lifelong interest in Rory's music. I watched it back again last week, and it's just amazing."
He said pre-Covid, Sinnerboy always attracted a significant group of younger rock fans who have discovered Rory’s music through their parents or themselves.
And he said he hopes their September 18 show will recreate the magic of that 1987 gig.
Rory Gallagher's 1987 Opera House gig was his first live show in the venue after an absence of some years from playing in his native city.
He rocked the venue with a set-list that included classic tracks like ‘Tattoo’d Lady’, ‘Follow Me’, ‘When My Baby She Left Me’ and ‘Out On The Western Plain’.
It still ranks as one of his greatest live performances.
RTÉ cameras were there to capture the show and the subsequent documentary, Live in Cork, released on VHS in 1990 and then on DVD in 2009, is still regarded as an iconic snapshot of Gallagher’s homecoming.
Now, Sinnerboy are set to recreate that seminal gig, on the same stage, beginning with the complete track listing of the Live in Cork recording and then expanding to include many other of Rory’s classics.
Gallagher, who was born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, and raised in Cork is regarded as one of Ireland's most important musicians.
He formed the band Taste in the late 1960s and recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with album sales amassing over 30m copies worldwide.
He collaborated with legends such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters and Lonnie Donegan, and has been cited as the inspiration for many of the world’s top guitarists.
He died in 1995 of a post-transplant infection and is buried in Cork.
His brother, Donal Gallagher, said of the upcoming Opera House show: "Here is the proof that my brother's music lives on".
Limited tickets for the socially distanced live event, which is being part-funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media through the Live Performance Support Scheme, go on sale at 10am on Wednesday from the Opera House box office, priced €20 plus booking fee.
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