''Thin Lizzy Live at Sydney Harbour '78'' was a live concert performance by

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

on 29 October 1978, subsequently produced in VHS and DVD format and available from Warner Vision. It was originally a made for television special produced by local radio station

2SM 2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's. 2SM's prog ...

and Australia's

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

Background

In late 1978, Sydney commercial radio station

staged its annual Rocktober festival, a syndicated “big month” of live outdoor gigs across New South Wales; for the grand finale they coordinated with Irish band Thin Lizzy alongside local groups

The Sports The Sports were an Australian rock group which performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981. Mainstay members were Stephen Cummings on lead vocals and Robert Glover on bass guitar, with long-term members such as Paul Hitchins on drums, Andrew ...

Jon English Jonathan James English (26 March 1949 – 9 March 2016) was an English-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated from England to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for S ...

and

Wha-Koo Wha-Koo (originally called The Big Wha-Koo) was an American rock band best known for their 1978 single, "(You're Such a) Fabulous Dancer", which peaked at #101 on the ''Billboard'' and #10 on the Australian charts. History The Big Wha-Koo were ...

, mounting a purpose-built stage on the Opera House forecourt and teaming with the

to broadcast the show on television; by offering free admission,

guaranteed a massive crowd to drive both radio ratings and TV audience figures, funding the entire production through sponsorship and on-air advertising rather than ticket sales. Following a tour of the United States between August and October 1978, which was

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

's first tour as a permanent member of the band, Thin Lizzy embarked upon a six-date tour of Australia and New Zealand during late October. The band's regular drummer Brian Downey was unable to take part in these tours due to the hectic schedule and had taken a break from performing. He later explained his reasons as "exhaustion, and a lack of interest in seeing a stage again for a while".Alan Byrne, "Thin Lizzy: Soldiers of Fortune", Firefly, 2004 In early August 1978, during rehearsals with a number of drummers including

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missi ...

, Thin Lizzy had chosen ex-

Ian Gillan Band The Ian Gillan Band were an English Progressive rock, progressive Jazz fusion, jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975. Their sound is a departure from the Heavy metal music, heavy metal of Deep Purple by featuring a ...

drummer

Mark Nauseef Mark Nauseef (born June 11, 1953) is an American drummer and percussionist who has enjoyed a varied career, ranging from rock music during the 1970s with his time as a member of the Ian Gillan Band and, temporarily with Thin Lizzy when Brian D ...

to replace Downey. The Sydney concert was Nauseef's penultimate show as a member of Thin Lizzy, as Downey returned to the band in December. The opening acts for the concert were The Sports, Jon English and Wha-Koo, though these acts do not appear on the CD or some of the video releases. Thin Lizzy did a morning sound check which extended to a jam of around 25 minutes for those who had arrived extra early for the concert. The band performed for an estimated crowd of 100,000 on the steps of the famous

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

.The large crowd was due to the free entry for the concert.

Video and DVD

In 1988, the concert was produced in VHS format by Warner Vision as ''Thin Lizzy Live at Sydney Harbour '78''. It has since been re-released on DVD in several countries under various titles including ''The Boys Are Back in Town''. The audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.

CD

In 1997, the concert was released in Japan as a CD album titled ''The Boys Are Back in Town: Live in Australia'', on the

Nippon Crown is a Japanese record label established as Crown Records on 6 September 1963. It is a spin-off of Nippon Columbia and is owned by karaoke maker Daiichikosho. The record label singles which topped the Oricon Singles Chart are Kaze's "22-Sai no ...

label, featuring the same eight tracks as the video.

Track listing

Jailbreak A prison escape (also referred to as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, jail escape or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorit ...

" (

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

) – 4:30 #" Bad Reputation" ( Brian Downey,

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

, Lynott) – 3:14 #" Cowboy Song" (Downey, Lynott) – 5:13 #"

The Boys Are Back in Town "The Boys Are Back in Town" is a song by Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy. The song was released in 1976 as the first single from their album '' Jailbreak''. It is considered by ''Rolling Stone'' to be the band's best song, placing it at No. 272 ...

" (Lynott) – 5:02 #"

Waiting for an Alibi "Waiting for an Alibi" is a song by the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy and the first single from the band's 1979 album, '' Black Rose: A Rock Legend''. ''Black Rose'' was the only Thin Lizzy album recorded while Gary Moore was a member of the band, an ...

" (Lynott) – 5:01 #"Are You Ready" (Downey, Gorham, Lynott, Brian Robertson) – 4:39 #"Me and the Boys Were Wondering How You and the Girls Are Getting Home Tonight" (Lynott) – 6:18 #"Baby Drives Me Crazy" (Downey, Gorham, Lynott, Robertson) – 6:23 On June 24, 2022, the entire concert was finally released via Mercury Studios as The Boys Are Back in Town: Live at Sydney Opera House, October 1978, featuring the additional five tracks performed that day: " Still in Love with You", "Warriors", "Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed", "Don't Believe a Word" and "Suicide". Released on DVD/CD as a package including the complete 113-minute documentary on

, Songs For While I’m Away (on Blu-ray or DVD), the original multi-tracks were located and remixed, by producer and mix engineer Ben Findlay, to present the entire concert in its original running order. However, the visual quality of the original broadcast and the newly-found tracks are different, so they are sequenced on DVD in both options to view separately or in the original concert order.

Personnel

– lead vocals, bass guitar *

– guitars, backing vocals *

– drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thin Lizzy Live At Sydney Harbour '78 Concert films Thin Lizzy live albums 1988 video albums 1997 live albums Nippon Crown albums