Pat McManus chatted to Get Ready to ROCK! Radio about his music. First broadcast 3 October 2021.

On the eve of the day when anyone with any Irish ancestry celebrates their patron saint, it was another Patrick who produced a suitable musical tribute. Pat McManus has developed a reputation as a prolific, not to say talented and entertaining, live performer, but this was as far as I know his first show (at a venue where he is a regular) in the capital since the pandemic put everything on hold.

There had been a few changes during this interlude, including a new look with straight silvery hair and goatee beard, leading some of us to exclaim ‘great Scott’ as he bore a distinct resemblance to Lizzy guitarist and long-time Putney resident Mr Gorham.

His power trio included a new bass player in Plunkett McComb and he had a new album to promote in ‘Full Service Resumed’, opening with a suitably apocalyptic ‘Doomsday Clock’ with its ‘No Way Out’ chorus.

One of the factors behind my late decision to attend this show was seeing a friend post a setlist from an earlier show on the tour which included two songs from Mama’s Boys’ ‘Growing Up The Hard Way’ album, and my decision was rewarded with one such, ‘Blacklisted’, just two songs in, albeit his vocal delivery could not replicate the AOR smoothness of Keith Murrell’s original.

‘Absent Friends’ was a good example of the celtic-flavoured rock he has a unique feel for, but impressively he can play in a variety of styles, from trad blues such as on his cover of ‘King Bee’ , to a speedier, edgier and more metallic style, which supercharged one of those songs it is impossible to improve upon in ‘Crossroads’.

I always thought his vocals were an acquired taste but they have really grown on me, full of character and distinctively Irish in a similar manner to Bob Geldof.

He paid tribute to another Irish guitar hero Rory Gallagher with a pair of songs, the wonderfully original ‘I Fall Apart’ (which oddly enough I had also seen Jim Kirkpatrick cover only last month) given an added dimension by some propulsive drum work from Paul Falloon, and the better known and more familiar blues rock of ‘Whats Goin On’.

I never tire of hearing the old Mamas Boys classic ‘Runaway Dreams’, especially when he picks up that fiddle for a solo and it remained in use for an Irish reel-style instrumental. There was even a Mama’s Boys song I didn’t remember from their latter days, though ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ was one of the less impressive moments of the evening.

Mid-set there was quite a generous selection of new songs including the blues rock of ‘Honey Trap’, the fun ‘Bang Bang’ (though the participation line ‘big stick goes boom’ was long ago purloined by Krokus), and the vintage jamming of ‘Crystal Sky’ with Paul and Plunkett excelling themselves.

Earlier Pat had played a lengthy ‘The Messiah Will Come Again’, the Roy Buchanan number popularised (to my ears anyway) by Gary Moore – it reminded me of ‘Parisienne Walkways’, so it was ironic that he went on to play the latter too – joking ‘its stuck’ as he replicated that famous sustained note, and his solo matching the great man’s but with a touch of added speed.

To bring even more memories flooding back, he played his own tribute in ‘Belfast Boy’ with wonderful solos that sounded like a pastiche of some of his and Lizzy’s greatest celtic-themed moments. The atmosphere was now swinging nicely for the old Mama’s Boys favourite ‘Needle In The Groove’ (brother John was present but sadly just in the crowd, not singing).

My friend Nigel had requested ‘Black Rose’, rightly anticipating he might play it as a St Patrick’s Eve treat, and there is no better testament to Pat’s talent that it lacked nothing for having one guitarist rather than two on the instrumental passages. Subsequent covers of ‘Rocking in the Free World’ and ‘La Grange’ did not have the same Irish connection but the jams were a fun end to the evening, before he stayed around to chat with fans in convivial yet very humble fashion.

It was great to have Pat McManus back on the road on a night which was partly a celebration of his own body of work, and partly of the Irish rock legends that he is both a worthy successor to, and keeper of their legacy.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Album review (Full Service Resumed)

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)