Thin Lizzy Celtic Rock / Co. Dublin

Back on the road in the US, frictions within the band grew and resulted in Gary Moore being replaced by Midge Ure half way through the tour. Guitarist Dave Flett, ex-Manfred Mann’s ‘Earth Band’, was also bought on board for the dates in Japan, which enabled Midge to switch to keyboards for some songs and saw the phenomenon of three lead guitars at the front of the stage.

Following the tours, Darren Wharton was recruited as a full-time keyboard player enabling Midge to honour his previous commitment to join a new group, Ultravox.

Dave Flett was replaced by Terence Charles ‘Snowy’ White in 1980 who also debuted on that years ‘Chinatown’ album, but ultimately gave way to John Sykes who brought with him the younger energy needed for a Thin Lizzy guitarist.

1980 also saw the release of Phil’s first solo album ‘Solo In Soho’. The track ‘Yellow Pearl’ was subsequently chosen as the theme tune for BBC’s Top Of The Pops. Although billed as a solo album, it included Brian, Scott and Snowy White as well as Midge Ure, Mark Knopfler and Huey Lewis among others.

‘The Adventures Of Thin Lizzy’ was released in 1981 and went gold in the UK. This was followed by the new album ‘Renegade’, together with a tour. Thin Lizzy also headlined the very first Slane festival in Ireland supported by U2, Hazel O’Connor and Rose Tattoo.

Disappointing sales of both ‘Renegade’ and Phil’s second solo album precipitated a farewell tour to coincide with the release of ‘Thunder And Lighting’. Both the new album and the live dates in fact proved extremely popular and caused a resurgence of interest in the group. With John Sykes now on board the tour lasted nearly a year and culminated in a gala performance at the Hammersmith Odeon featuring special guests Brian Robertson, Eric Bell and Gary Moore joining Phil and the band. The 1983 double live album ‘Life’ included this gem from the tour but suffered from a delayed release.

Thin Lizzy’s final UK show was on 28th August 1983 at the Reading Festival. Their farewell concert came on 4th September that year at the Monsters Of Rock Festival in Nuremburg, Germany.