When I made the arrangements to return to my old stomping grounds at UVM’s Patrick Gymnasium on December 12, 1976, I had no idea Rory Gallagher was opening for Dave Mason. I was aware of the late great Irish bluesman’s pedigree, to some extent, but mostly as the linchpin of the stellar trio Taste, not as a solo artist. And besides, my curiosity was more focused on the man at the top of the bill, eager to see and hear what this erstwhile member of Traffic would offer as a solo artist: based on my familiarity with Mason’s Alone Together album and more recent work such as It’s Like You Never Left, my hopes were fairly high.
In very short order after Gallagher and his band hit the stage, those hopes were dashed. Or, should I say, rendered obsolete. It was mere moments before I felt the impact of the man’s intensity and I have no doubt my jaw dropped, not only in hearing (and feeling) the power of his guitar playing and singing but also in observing his frenetic stage presence. If the attendees who (mostly remained) sitting in folding chairs on the floor of the gym and in the bleachers seemed to resist his insistent efforts at engaging their attention on tunes like “Cradle Rock,” it might well have been because most were, like me, frozen in wonder.
This was a performer who was giving it his all, even if his audience didn’t respond in kind. Within minimal accompaniment, Rory gave a schooling in blues-rock without the predictable showboating and histrionic excess afflicting so many of his peers in the late Sixties boom that rumbled through the British Isles. Perhaps it was Gallagher’s slight remove as a native of Cork, but his sound was sparse and skeletal with just drums, bass and keyboards, all subservient to the near-feverish yet always pinpoint guitar work: his solos, even on the fast and furious likes of “Bullfrog Blues,” invariably had a beginning, middle and end, with no superfluous digressions to diminish the momentum.
Certainly of no greater duration than forty-five minutes to an hour, Gallagher’s set left me both stunned and overjoyed. As a result, I offered more than one overture to my companion for an early departure, but I was ultimately convinced not to leave, probably because Rory did not make the same profound impression on everyone in the house that he did on me. I was nevertheless hardly in the mood for the ever-so-polite presentation of Dave Mason: having heard “Messin’ With the Kid,” among others of Rory’s standard repertoire of the time, I was nowhere patient enough to absorb the middle-of-the-road likes of “Every Woman,” especially because, even though it was surrounded by the vintage likes of “Look At You, Look At Me,” the British guitarist/vocalist/songwriter did not imbue such material with the mystery of its studio counterparts, much less any extensive improvisation.
Little surprise then that his set, excruciatingly long as it seemed to my ears, quickly faded from memory we drove home. Processing the vivid memory of Rory Gallagher running back and forth across the stage as if to rouse the static crowd in front of him, then subsequently giving an even closer listening to his album of the time, Calling Card (release roughly six weeks prior), I experienced an epiphany that compelled me to procure every album of the man’s I could get my hands on within the next two weeks. Not all his solo efforts were available domestically at the time, but those that were, like Irish Tour ’74, went into and remained in heavy rotation in my apartment that winter.
The further collection of subsequent titles on both audio and video (with more than a little overlap) has resulted in what is now quite a fairly comprehensive library of works by a man that has become one of my ‘Top Ten’ musicians of all time. Such stunning musical discoveries as Rory Gallagher have been rare in the interim of four decades since the late musician established a benchmark by which to calculate passion for my favorite artists within this greatest of all the arts.
10 Responses
It sounds like you had the same reaction I did the first time I heard Rory Gallagher. He really is a one-of-a-kind.
Thank you Doug, great article. I had the exact same reaction and experience during the one and only time I caught Rory in Dublin of 1988. I wish he was more exposed and represented in the U.S. Folks don’t know what they’re missing!
Doug – read your article – and truly feel your passion for the man who I see as the best ever on stage. Ever since Taste I have been following Rory – ran into him very often in Germany – where we loved and adored him. Last time I saw him on stage was in Berlin in December of 1994. I was shocked to hear about his death a few months later.
I’ve been following Rory since his Taste days. I last saw and heard him in December 1994.
RORY WAS & IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME. Nobody touches Him, to this day He was ahead of his time; & did EVERYTHING on a guitar that other guitarists took & put them to the foray. RORY, you have been in my life forever, & taught me more than any other teacher EVER HAS. And how to be a GOOD PERSON. I will have you in my heart FOREVER. I first saw you in Australia when l was 8yrs old, then 11 years later. NO GIGS l have been too have been as great as those. I will ADORE YOU FOREVER. ????☘️
I had the same experence seeing John McLaughlin & Mahavishnu open open for the Byrds at the same venue. The Byrds with the late great Clarence White are no where near as memorable As John and Jerry Goodman” slashing antics. Too bad Patrick gym was such a crappy venue. I wish I had seen Rory though.
Uh, I think Rory was back in England by the 12th. Are you sure you’re not thinking maybe Hartford on the 2nd?
I am sad to say I never saw Rory live. I am proud to say I was a different person after I listened to his first record for the firsttime.
I was at this show. At the time I was a sophomore at UVM and went to every show put on by UVM’s SA Concerts. Until I read this review, I didn’t even remember that it was a Dave Mason show. I only remembered that I say Rory Gallagher. I didn’t know who he was before this show, I had never heard any of his music before. I was amazed at his playing. Years later, I would name off all the bands and musicians (Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Review, Bruce Springsteen, Grateful Dead, Little Feat, Charlie Daniels, Bonnie Raitt, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The Clash, The Ramones, and more) I saw at my “college gymnasium” to my sons, two of whom are guitar players, and they are most impressed that I saw Rory Gallagher!
I saw Rory only once: “accidentally,” unaware he would open for ZZ Top at huge Kemper Arena in Kansas City, as his name wasn’t even on the ticket stub. My jaw dropped when he was announced on stage, as I had numerous Rory albums by then. The acoustics quality where I was sitting way in the back on the floor was bad, for ZZ Top as well, and I therefore didn’t get to really appreciate either performance. But I fully understood that as much as I loved Billy Gibbons and ZZ Top, Rory was the superior musician, and deserved to be headlining that night.
I often see comments that Rory Gallagher was mostly unknown in the United States. That’s not correct, in my opinion. For instance, my research showed that he played here in Kansas City alone at least five times. One was the tremendous 1974 150-plus minute show broadcast live on local FM radio, forever memorialized as a bootleg. That crowd is going nuts for Rory! On another occasion, he played here in a stadium show along with Robin Trower, Jethro Tull, and Todd Rundgren… wow, to have been there! I’ve heard ample recordings of Rory here in the U.S. where fans yell his name, shout out for a favorite song, whistle and clap and cheer, fill in lyrics as he plays, etc. Indeed, those who saw Rory in the U.S. adored him.
A music buddy asked me why Rory wasn’t a “big” star here, and I explained thusly. America is a huge market, and there was plenty of competition. Rory’s albums weren’t adequately promoted here, at a time when establishment music industry profits were usually in record sales, not touring. Rory refused to release singles, plus he wanted to be known for his music and not psychedelic light shows, fireworks, gossip, and other side show distractions. Industry trends changed towards cheaply made, highly profitable “music” such as disco based on synthesizers and drum machines rather than live musicians. Yes, there were only a few Rolling Stones-type super groups, and Gallagher wasn’t one of them, here in the U.S., whereas he was recognized as a true super star in various European countries. But Rory was content doing things his way. And I for one am glad he did!