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Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Photos from Cork show trad craic of a mighty weekend in memory of a musical legend
On Sunday, Anne's Bridge Street Céilí Band played a lively set and this was followed by a video presentation entitled 'The Man from Tureendarby', documenting Timmy's long and fruitful musical journey. The tribute event was organised by Eoin Stan O'Sullivan and friends to celebrate the life and amazing musical legacy of Timmy, who passed away last year. Raymond O'Sullivan who was MC at the Saturday night concert welcomed the full house audience and said: 'This is a celebration that is very fitting for a legend. All of our lives were touched by Timmy. At his funeral last year, we decided to have a bash for his 90th birthday which would have been this week. I'm sure there will be fierce craic in heaven for the birthday but I know he would love to be here with us as well. When we think of Timmy, we will always be smiling,' Raymond said. This reporter was lucky enough to be a lifelong friend of Timmy, through our mutual love of music, and a few years ago we sat down and spoke about his lifelong passion for playing the accordion. 'When I was very young, we used to visit my aunts in Kanturk and Rockchapel, there was a Gramophone in the two houses and I loved listening to the records, we had no radio at home at the time,' Timmy said. Around his home in Tureendarby, Newmarket, he said there was plenty of music when he was young. 'Someone was playing a melodeon one night and I brought out a few tunes on it. I saw a melodeon for sale in Tim Ryan's shop window, the bother was it cost £7.10 and I didn't have the money. A couple up the road from me bought it for their son and I was dying lonesome. Then another one came in and my sister Joan bought it for me. I was around 15 at the time. We had to hide it from my father, he thought it was a fierce waste of time but he found it one day inside in a press and said 'Oh great God, we're going to have an awful winter of playing'. 'I used to play every night with my two brothers and a neighbour,' Timmy explained. Timmy, as a fledgling musician, was taught by his neighbour Johnny Micky Barry who himself learned from the great Tom Billy Murphy of Ballydesmond. When he reached his 20s, Timmy began playing at house parties and at socials with his sister Sheila and brother in law Jim Barry. 'We were the Tureendarby Céilí Band, one night we were booked to play at a Pioneer Social by the local priest, we were late because we were all night looking for a drum, the Priest was going mad,' Timmy reminisced with a smile. A musician by night, Timmy worked on his farm during the day and was also employed at the sugar factory in Mallow. He recalls playing at the Listowel Wren Boys Festival, at Dan O'Connell's in Knocknagree and the Rambling House in Boherbue. For over 40 years, he was a key member of the traditional group that played at Scully's in Newmarket at the renowned Monday night sessions. He was also part of the group that performed throughout the country in the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Irish Tour. Timmy was featured on 'The Long Note Programme' on RTE 1 and was a member of the Monks of the Screw Traditional Group. He described music as the best therapy of all: 'Dr. Verling told me one time that it's probably better than all the tablets, and I said, one would maybe want to take the tablets as well. I went to Dr. Daly a while ago with a sore ear, I said I suppose it will kill me, I'll have to give up the late nights and Dr. Daly replied 'giving up the late nights would most likely kill you away quicker!' ADVERTISEMENT On a final note, I remember asking Timmy what advice he would give to young musicians. 'You have to like it, to have the grá for it, to like it is everything. If the pupil does not like music, it is impossible to teach them,' he said. Across the Tribute Weekend, it was wonderful to see both musicians and audience members pay tribute to Timmy, who was as renowned for his warm personality as for his music.
Irish Examiner
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Review: Joe Bonamassa puts Rory Gallagher back centre stage at Live at the Marquee
Awesome and yet eerie at the same time, Joe Bonamassa's adoring homage to Rory Gallagher's epic Irish Tour '74 double live album is a spine-chilling experience that takes music to a higher spiritual plane. Everyone who was in Cork's legendary Marquee for night one on Tuesday had the same thought: How can I get tickets to nights two and three? This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Take us with you this summer. Annual €130€65 Best value Monthly €12€6 / month
Irish Examiner
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Joe Bonamassa does Rory Gallagher at the Marquee, Cork: Tickets, start time, directions, setlist, etc
To mark the thirtieth anniversary of the passing of Cork blues-guitar icon Rory Gallagher, an all-star band of musicians will take to Live at the Marquee, to play from his deep catalogue of self-penned tunes and blues arrangements — led by American six-string virtuoso Joe Bonamassa. The concerts mark a culmination of Cork Rocks for Rory, the programme of gigs and other events celebrating the life and music of the late guitar legend. When is it on? The three-night residency runs from Tuesday July 1 until Thursday July 3; at Live at the Marquee, on the city's Centre Park Road. How much are tickets? Some tickets are still available for each of the three nights. The first two gigs had previously sold out, but the promoters have made some extra tickets available. Resale tickets start at €57.50; and full-price tickets start at €71.19; all available from the Marquee's Ticketmaster page. What time is kickoff? Organisers Aiken Promotions are opening the doors early each night, with admissions beginning at 6.15pm. The promoters have asked attendees to make sure to give themselves plenty of time to arrive, negotiate traffic, enter the venue, get food and drinks before settling into the arena. Organisers say the band is on stage at 8pm. There will be no support act, and no interval. Who's playing? Joe Bonamassa. Joe Bonamassa is a blues guitarist and gear connoisseur from upstate New York. A three-time Grammy nominee, he's best-known for keeping the genre alive with a series of solo and collaborative releases through his own label, Keepin' the Blues Alive Records; as well as being a prolific session and collaborative musician. Opening for the late BB King at the age of eleven in 1989; he's long cited Gallagher as among his predominant influences, and has been active in making press appearance promoting a gig that, by all accounts, is close to his own heart — he's also been spotted on Leeside in recent days, during rehearsals for the gigs. Joining Bonamassa onstage will be UK percussionist Jeremy Stacey (Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, King Crimson, The Waterboys, Sheryl Crow); Australian keyboardist Lachy Doley; and Aongus Ralston of The Waterboys on bass. Gerry McAvoy, the stalwart bass player who accompanied Gallagher for many years, is also expected to make a guest appearance. What tunes will they be playing? The sets will be based largely on Gallagher's landmark Irish Tour '74 live album — recorded in part at Cork City Hall, with a few more Gallagher favourites thrown in. What about the Cork connection? Bonamassa is delighted to square the circle by playing one of Gallagher's own guitars at some point during the gigs. Rory had picked up the 1930 National Triolian Resonator for about £100 while on tour in the USA in 1973, and it was bought by a fan last year at auction for £95,650. As an aside, Bonamassa also got to follow in his hero's footsteps during rehearsals — taking a trip to Crowley's Music Centre in its new location just off Cork's Barrack Street, and purchasing a sunburst Strat of his own from Sheena Crowley, daughter of Mick Crowley, who had sold Rory his famous axe in 1963. Read More Rory Gallagher and the town he loved so well: Early days in Cork Where's the Marquee now? Live at the Marquee, Centre Park Road, Cork: home to some of the summer's biggest Leeside gigs. Pic: Larry Cummins Last year the Marquee moved across the road and it will continue from that site again this year. You can find the venue on the former Tedcastle's Yard on Centre Park Road. This is the second of at least three summers at the new location. Construction is underway on the old site, with more than 1,000 apartments being built in the area. How do I get there? Live at the Marquee is about a seven-minute drive from the city centre in low-traffic conditions. Walking, it will take about 30 minutes from the city, or 15 minutes from Ballintemple. If coming from the city, Centre Park Road is the first turn on the left at the Albert Road roundabout and continue along the road until you spot the distinctive yellow and blue tent. What about parking? Parking in the area is limited, but the current location has 300 car park spaces which can be booked on for €12 per car - up from €9 last year – plus €2.20 service fee. Organisers say the attendants will accept payment on the day only if there is space available on the evening of the show, however it is strongly recommended to purchase via Ticketmaster in advance as many of the shows are sold out. Coming from the city, the parking entrance is just beyond the pedestrian entrance on Centre Park Road. Is there a Ticketmaster office at the Marquee? Yes, the Ticketmaster kiosk is situated on the way to the main entrance after you enter the pedestrian gate. What's the food and drink situation? Be sure to bring your bank card as the Marquee has been a cashless venue for a few years now. Drinks are available at the usual bars in the tent, and at a bar in the outside area. A pint of Guinness or Rockshore costs €7 while a pint of Guinness 0.0 is €6.50. Spirits (gin, vodka, etc) with a mixer are €9, and wine is €9. There are some food vans onsite, and the Marina Market and the Black Market are converted warehouses with multiple food stalls within walking distance of the venue. As well as the city itself, Ballintemple and Blackrock village also have several bars. Read More An interactive map of Rory Gallagher's guitar
Irish Examiner
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
B-Side the Leeside: Rory Gallagher and the eventful Irish Tour of 1974
Joe Dermody casts a view back on Rory Gallagher's outrageously brilliant 'Irish Tour '74' double album recorded in Belfast, Dublin and Cork. With the death toll from The Troubles soaring in the 1970s, the notion of a star-bound guitarist from Cork bringing the blues to the youth of Belfast was at best unlikely, borderline reckless. Rory Gallagher's outrageously brilliant 'Irish Tour '74' double album was recorded in Belfast, Dublin and Cork in the weeks just after Christmas 1973 and into January 1974. It was the only window really when the then 25-year-old blues guitarist could probably rely upon there being a break from the killings. More than 250 people had been killed in 1973 alone. Donal Gallagher, Rory's brother, still clearly recalls the buzz among music circles and his own trepidation walking along in the light rain, with his thumb out on Lower Road, Cork, starting out on his long hitching journey from Cork to Belfast. It was also a personal fork in the road, and felt like the moment that his own definite career path was chosen. Music it was. 'We were staying in the Europa hotel in Belfast,' recalls Donal, stage manager and general tour manager. 'But those days you were never sure the hotel would still be there when you'd get back after the show.' The hotel, which has changed names several times over the decades, is widely known as 'the most bombed hotel in Europe'. Having opened in 1971, the hotel endured 33 bomb attacks during The Troubles. Defying Logistical Obstacles Logistics were a big challenge for Donal. As well as concerns for the safety of the fans, the vehicles carrying the film and sound equipment were subjected to extra security checks, nobody would take the risk of insuring the mobile studio for a trip into a war zone. So many logistical challenges, along with the political upheaval at the time, it's remarkable that the album ever came to be recorded at all. Promoter Jim Aiken advised Rory to play his northern show just south of the border, and bring his fans down by bus. Donal recalls Rory refusing point blank. He was a rock fan himself. In those days, most people didn't really have money. The internet didn't exist, of course. Most people just didn't buy tickets in advance in those days; instead, they scraped the money together at the last minute and turned up at the door, pockets full of coins, haggling for tickets, pushing to get in. Add the cost and complication of a bus trip south, Rory didn't want that for his fans. Rory Gallagher performing in 1974. (Picture: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns) A southern guitar icon taking his tour north of the border, Rory's Belfast show more than raised eyebrows. Everyone understood the dangers. News of the show reached England. The Ulster Hall show was filmed by Tony Palmer, founder BBC Four's Kaleidoscope radio programme. Palmer also nearly fell foul of the security forces when filming scenes in downtown Belfast. The Irish Tour '74 album also contains great tracks from the Dublin and Cork shows. In fact, the Cork shows were incredible, by all accounts. But Rory's insistence on playing Belfast just after Christmas was the one that still has a strong resonance even now. All about commitment. Music before politics. Rory really was taking a big risk. Of course, while born into a Catholic household, Rory Gallagher wasn't really political. He didn't talk about it, and people just instinctively knew he was all about the music. In fact, he had a huge fan base among Protestant communities in Belfast. 'In an Irish tour, I always try to include Belfast and the North of Ireland,' Rory says in the Tony Palmer film. 'After all, I lived there for a while and I learned a lot playing in the clubs there, so I've a sort of home feeling for the place.' Rory's Legend grows globally Rory wasn't entirely switched off from politics; he was just totally switched onto music. And the music world was already totally switched onto him at this time. By the time the 1974 Irish tour came about, Rory's name was by now a byword for virtuosity. Rory was a legend among 'true' music fans. He wrote great songs, but he eschewed fame. He only released albums, never singles. He played the blues like a swamp legend from the deep south, which in Irish terms is exactly what he was. Everyone knew that Rory walked the streets of Cork, regularly going to the cinema, always happy to stop and sign and autograph, but also moving fast, walking at speed like he was going somewhere. Which, of course, he very much was. Rory was a legend among his fellow musicians too, particularly since his band Taste had played support for Cream's 1968 farewell concert in Royal Albert Hall, and again at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where Taste had shared the four-day bill with Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell and others. At the Isle of Wight, Taste took the stage just before Tony Joe White, the Louisiana country blues guitarist who wrote 'Rainy Night in Georgia' and 'Polk Salad Annie' (famously performed by Elvis). Rory's 'Irish Tour '74' album was dominated by electric power blues, but it also includes a mellow and moving cover of White's country ballad 'As The Crow Flies'. While Rory died in 1995 of liver failure, aged 47, modern guitarists from Johnny Marr to Slash still credit him as an influence. Joe Bonamassa's debut album, A New Day Yesterday, contains a cover of Rory's 'Cradle Rock', one of several of Rory's self-penned songs which he captured brilliantly on 'Irish Tour '74'. Slash pays his respects 'Rory's genius on the guitar probably always overshadowed his own talent as a songwriter,' says Donal Gallagher, noting that his fellow musicians were very alert to Rory as both a writer and a musician. Slash was particularly awe-struck in Rory's presence, as Donal recalls: 'Slash was a big fan of Rory's. He came to a gig Rory played in Los Angeles in the 1990s. He came backstage before the show and Rory said 'Hi Slash, how are you doing?' 'Slash was really surprised. 'How do you know my name?' he said. Rory just said 'Well, I've got your albums, Slash, I know who you are'. Slash just wanted to say hello and probably get an autograph. Rory said 'Catch you later, if you're hanging around'. 'Towards the end of the show, Rory nodded over to me to give Slash a guitar and have him come up on stage for a jam. I went over and grabbed his arm and asked him to go up and play with Rory. Slash nearly lost his life. As cool a dude as he is, he was scared. ( Scared, but Slash did jam with Rory, as he later told the Old Grey Whistle Test). 'I met Slash again two years ago at a show in Dublin. The BBC were interviewing him about Rory's 1974 Ulster Hall show. The BBC said it would be a good idea to bring Rory's guitar along [the iconic battered 'sunburst' Fender Stratocaster he bought in the now closed Crowley's Music Shop in Cork] to Slash's Dublin show in the O2 or Three Arena or whatever it was called then. 'The BBC were expecting Slash to plug the guitar in and play it, but when he came into the room he just looked at the guitar sitting there. Realising that it was Rory's guitar, it completely spooked him. He was uncomfortable even holding it. 'They took a photograph of the two of us, and he's just holding the strap. He said to me 'This is so scary'. This is the kind of respect he had for Rory.' Joe Bonamassa, however, was less shy. Joe's then girlfriend, blues singer Sandi Thom, asked Donal to bring Rory's Strat to his shows in London's Hammersmith Odeon and Royal Albert Hall. 'Joe wanted me to come along to the shows. Of course, I realised it was really the guitar that he wanted to see, not me,' notes Donal. 'He just wanted a rub of the relic, I suppose. He was in his element.' At Bonamassa's show in the Royal Albert Hall, Donal was seated next to Nigel Kennedy. The violinist has also cited Rory as a rock icon and a good model for how a soloist should perform, always connected to the music, always ready to improvise. In Royal Albert Hall, Kennedy sat there 'gobsmacked' staring at the sunburst Strat in Donal's hands. Audience is energised When you listen to 'Irish Tour '74', you can hear how engaged and in awe the audience is. In 2014, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album, a box set of unreleased material from the tour was compiled. The selections were curated by Daniel Gallagher, Donal's son. He had enough material to fill seven CDs from the gigs in Belfast, Cork and Dublin — complete with 43 individual tracks that have never been released before. The songs on 'Irish Tour '74' were captured on multitrack tapes using the mobile studio owned by ex-Small Faces member Ronnie Lane. For the box set, Daniel also had access to the original Nagra tapes that provided the audio for Tony Palmer's film. Daniel recalls how the crowds were different in each city: 'Dublin are the most boisterous and cocky, and Belfast has everyone screaming like they're so happy to be there. 'The tapes were still running when the band went off the stage and it's lovely hearing the crowd screaming for so long because they really didn't want it to end. In Cork, the sound is the best of the three concerts.' Donal Gallagher recalls that the two Cork City Hall shows were packed to capacity. Some privileged fans were actually piled into the area behind the band, normally reserved for the orchestra. Rory also turned and addressed them from time to time. Fairground attractions As for the songs that made it onto the album, Donal has a personal fondness for 'Tattoo'd Lady', a song Rory wrote about the travelling fairgrounds that once visited Cork. 'To me, Tattoo'd Lady is very much a song about Cork. It's all about the fairgrounds. As kids, Rory and I would go up to the Mardyke, where they used to have the travelling fairgrounds. Or we'd go to Crosshaven or down to Youghal. 'There were fairground references in the song, like you could 'push the penny if you've got any'. Of course, back then we very often didn't have a penny to push. That to me has all the echoes of that childhood in Cork. 'Then there's the mystery of how you'd go up there the next day and that whole carnival would be stripped down and gone. The song was paralleling Rory's own lifestyle where, as a travelling musician, you tend to set up your gear, then a night or two later you're gone. 'There's all the excitement of the fairground with its exotic characters coming to town. At the time, it was an unusual thing to see a Tattoo'd Lady.' Rory's cover of the Muddy Waters song 'I Wonder Who' also has a resonance for Donal. The Mississippi-born "father of modern Chicago blues" was, like Rory, both a talented musician and a fantastic songwriter. 'The song is Rory paying homage yet again to his teacher and master, if you like, Rory having done an album with him just a couple of years earlier for the London Muddy Waters Sessions ('72), when he was 71,' Donal recalls. 'Then there's 'Back On My Stompin' Ground', which was from the after-hours jam sessions in Cork. It's Rory really saying that's where it is. He wrote those songs in those couple of days about being back on his home turf, which is Cork. 'Then the album fades out with a short instrumental, a signature goodbye which he titled 'Maritime' [listed as 'Just A Little Bit' on the album credits], named after the blues club up in Belfast that Van had founded, which had by then become his residency.' It's hard to single out individual tracks on such a master work. A double album, it only has ten tracks. For many, the 11-minute 'Walk On Hot Coals' is the barnstorming standout moment. For others, it's the relative peace of 'A Million Miles Away'. What seems evident is that, confounding the many dangers and logistical obstacles that stood in the path of this epic album being made, the Gods really must have wanted Rory Gallagher to record 'Irish Tour '74'. And we mortals have the Gods to thank for that kindness. * The 25th anniversary of Rory Gallagher's death takes place on June 14
