Leading American blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa is to perform Rory Gallagher’s Irish Tour ‘74 set for two tribute concerts next July in Gallagher’s hometown of Cork to mark the 30th anniversary of the Irish rock legend’s death.
Bonamassa, arguably the leading exponent of the blues today with more than 10 million record sales, has long been a Gallagher fan since his father, Len, introduced him to the Cork musician via Gallagher’s 1972 Live in Europe album when growing up in Utica, New York, in the 1980s.
And he’s frequently spoken of his admiration for Ballyshannon-born Gallagher and fellow Irish man, Gary Moore, along with British players such as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, citing Gallagher as a huge influence on his playing and listing Gallagher’s Irish Tour ‘74 as among his favourite albums.
“We have some Rory Gallagher in the US we didn’t get a whole lot of it, there’s a much more extensive catalogue available in Europe ... but the one that really stuck out to me and that I wore out and listened to death was Irish Tour ‘74 which I think, it really is him in essence.”
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“Cos, you know, he’s such a blue collar guy and you can just hear it on that record, it’s just like a gutsy performance, it’s just brilliant from the word go, so I mean he’s one of my heroes and he’s kind of known but he’s not as well known in the States as he is here but he’s truly an icon to me.”
Bonamassa is coming to Cork next July to specially honour Gallagher in the two concerts on July 1st and 2nd, promoted by Peter Aiken, whose father, Jim Aiken promoted the Irish Tour ‘74 with gigs in Cork, Belfast and Dublin, that became the subject of an acclaimed documentary by British film-makers Tony Palmer.
Aiken said he was delighted to be involved in the project, which has the approval of Gallagher’s manager and custodian of his legacy, his brother, Donal, given his family’s long association with Gallagher, who died on June 14th, 1995, at age of 47.
“You’re a martyr, Gallagher, you know that,” Jim Aiken famously told Gallagher as he prepared to play Belfast’s Ulster Hall as part of that 1974 tour at the height of the Troubles when bombs were going off daily in the city and Gallagher was about the only artist of note to come and play the city.
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“Those gigs with Rory in the Ulster Hall were legendary,” says Peter Aiken, “Nobody was playing Belfast at the time, but Rory was, and you had 2,000 fans packed in there, people left their politics and their religion at the door, fans from both communities just came together to enjoy his music.”
Bonamassa’s homage to Gallagher will take place on July 1st and 2nd, 2025, as part of Aiken Promotions Live at the Marquee series.
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