The Irish once clashed with Viking
and English invaders here in the
Northwest corner of the island,
but on this June weekend, a cidersoaked
horde of 3,000 was met with
welcoming arms to Ballyshannon,
County Donegal, the birthplace of
Celtic guitar legend Rory Gallagher.
The sun shone brightly on the banks
of the Erne as battered-Strat-wielding
tribute bands from Germany,
Holland, Italy, Norway, and the
British Isles paid tribute to the
plaid-clad axeman at the seventh
annual Rory Gallagher International
Tribute Festival.
The festival has grown from a
one-day affair in 2003 to this year’s
four-day celebration, essentially a
glorified pub crawl from Rory Gallagher
Theater at the top of town
across the bridge to Rory Gallagher
Place outside of Owen Roe’s bar,
one of the nine public houses that
featured Rory music and films. Mojo
Records stocked Taste paraphernalia
on the 40th anniversary of the
band’s first disc, A Novel Idea bookstore
had a homemade Rory
postcard for the occasion, and flyers
promoting Flynn Amps’ new
signature Rory Gallagher Hawk
booster pedal made the rounds.
Mojo’s Dave O’Donnell commented,
“His legacy is huge. All the
young fellas and lasses in town are
playing the guitar because of the
festival.”
Scottish guitarist Phil Hoolahan
of Defender, who has played
the festival since its inception, gave
props to Gallagher as an innovator.
“Before all these lightning players,”
says Hoolahan, “Rory was the first
one I saw doing all those hammerons
and running the plectrum over
the frets—he started all that.”
Gallagher’s brother Donal, who
manages Rory’s business affairs, was
pleased to see the vibrant legacy: “It
is more than well deserved that this
generation has recognized Rory’s
musical integrity and undoubted
talent, not just as a guitarist, but as
a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.”
—Brian Kluepfel