Looking back towards the Horizon (when Thin Lizzy came to town)
By Tom Fanthom
There was huge excitement around Mullingar and the surrounding areas in early 1980 when it was announced that legendary rockers Thin Lizzy were going to play The Horizon Ballroom (formerly The Lakeland Ballroom) in Mullingar. For many of us in our teens, it would be our first ever rock concert. To add to the excitement, it was further announced that Rory Gallagher would also play there a few weeks later, but sadly that particular gig was subsequently cancelled.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, The Lakeland Ballroom (part of The Reynolds ballroom empire) was one of the most prominent ballrooms of the midlands. All of the top showbands played there, including Joe Dolan and the Drifters, The Times Showband (The Swarbriggs), Dickie Rock and The Miami, Gene Stuart and The Mighty Avons.
But perhaps its most famous visitor in the 1960s was the late great Johnny Cash, who played there on Tuesday 15 October 1963. I understand that Roy Orbison also played there during one of his Irish tours in the 1960s but I have been unable to verify the date.
It might seem strange now, but the big night in The Lakeland Ballroom was always Tuesday night. The reason was that Wednesday was closing day for all of the main retail shops in Mullingar, so Tuesday night became like a mini weekend for Mullingar retail workers.
The Horizon
In the mid-70s the ballroom underwent some modernisation and refurbishment, and it re-opened under the great name The Horizon. The re-furbished ballroom looked like a gleaming brand-new hall, with a powerful shine off the polished wooden dance floor. The fashionable seating in the dancehalls of the time was the iconic plastic chair, which, though functional, was not conducive to young courting couples who wanted to take a break from the dancing for a quick kiss and cuddle. Comfort was not a priority in such venues and soft furnishings were still a long way off.
Just as the dance hall evolved, so too did the showbands who played them. Probably the most popular band when The Horizon re-opened were a band called The Indians. Apart from the fact that they were excellent, I think their popularity was partly on account of popular movies and TV shows at the time (TV shows like The High Chaparral), and their portrayal of native Americans in those. While on stage, The Indians Showband strove to embody the dress, sound and culture of the native Americans as portrayed on TV, and the audience seemed to love it. Whether their portrayal of native Americans was accurate is of course a matter of opinion.
As we moved through the ‘70s, showbands started to develop more of a rock music edge. Rock band Skid Row fronted by guitar maestro Brush Shiels, accompanied by legendary drummer Nollaig Bridgeman, delighted fans with their unique blend of hard rock and blues, as well as playing some of their own dance hall favourites.
Celtic Rockers Horslips were building a huge cult following and were packing out venues like The Horizon across the country, blasting out Dearg Doom and other Celtic rock classics.
Another of the most popular bands at the time were The Memories. They brought live rock covers to the dancehalls of the nation with great style. Their live version of Bohemian Rhapsody was mesmerising, as was their performance of Bat Out of Hell, during which lead singer Jim Barry would grab two microphone stands mimicking a chopper ride, with bass player Dara Doyle as pillion passenger. Lead guitarist Domo Greene ripped through the classic guitar solo, while kaftan wearing Mike Swann played the dramatic ‘Meat Loaf’ keyboard riffs. The punters on the dance floor, while enthralled, struggled to figure out whether it was a slow dance or a quick step, so they just improvised. The Memories also did a great tribute to Thin Lizzy as part of their show, and many of us thought that this was the closest any of us would ever get to a proper rock concert.
That was until… Lizzy came to the Horizon.
I understand that Thin Lizzy decided to play comparatively smaller venues around Ireland in 1980, in order to ‘train in’ their new guitarist Snowy White before they moved on to play venues like the RDS and Slane Castle and other large venues across Europe. Snowy White was already a wonderfully accomplished guitarist in his own right, but up to that point, a lot of his guitar work had been comparatively low key, or in the shadows as a session musician. So, I think Philo wanted to get him used to the powerful razzmatazz of a full-on Lizzy concert.
The Gig
The date was 8 April 1980, the venue was The Horizon Ballroom, Mullingar, the time was 9pm.
The house lights went out, leaving us in complete darkness except for an intermittent flashing strobe light towards the stage giving us a brief teasing glimpse of Thin Lizzy coming on.
The excitement was almost unbearable. As I stood at the barrier in front of the stage, I looked up and, in the darkness, I saw the silhouette of Philo’s beautiful afro head approaching the microphone just in front of me.
In his deep Dublin voice, he asked the crowd “Are you ready?” We all screamed back “Yeah,” before the band launched into their great opener ‘Are you Ready to Rock’.
Smoke bombs exploded either side of the stage, it lit up like a massive Christmas tree, there was a powerful blast of sound and heat, and we were up and running.
They played all the songs that the crowd wanted to hear, including The Boys Are Back In Town, Jailbreak, Emerald, Rosalie, and more. The Thin Lizzy emblem lit up at the back of the stage like a proud beacon alongside the massive gong at the back of Brian Downey’s massive drumkit. The gong was only used once and that was at the end of Downey’s powerful drum solo near the end of the show, but it looked impressive.
For the encore, the crowd bayed for Whiskey in the Jar. Eric Bell had been the guitarist for that particular record but he had long since left the band. Philo pleaded with the Mullingar crowd: “But we can’t play Whiskey in the Jar. Snowy doesn’t know it and Scott doesn’t know it.” He then gave one of his lovely mischievous Philo grins and shouted: “But Midge knows it. Don’t ya Midge.”
And who do you think popped out from backstage to play guitar for the song in The Horizon? None other than a young Midge Ure. Midge went on to form Ultravox a couple of years later, and was the co-organiser of Band Aid and Live Aid.
The show finale left a lasting image in my memory as Philo, Scott, Snowy and Midge lined up in front of Brian Downey’s drum kit with guitars pointing out like weapons towards the audience while two more smoke bombs exploded either side of the stage.
We all emerged from the Horizon at 11pm, with adrenalin flowing, ears ringing and still full of excitement as we sang ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ all the way home to Killucan. What a night to remember in The Horizon Ballroom, Mullingar.
So, what became of The Horizon? Well with the decline of the showband scene in the early 80s, The Horizon briefly became a Roller Disco, where punters would don roller skates and attempt a cross between skating and dancing (desperately trying to emulate the dance-skater in the Gloria Gaynor music video for ‘I will Survive’), with varying degrees of success!
Where The Horizon once stood, there now stands a Lidl supermarket. Next time you are shopping there and, as you pick out your selection of frozen produce from the freezer, you should pause briefly and listen.
You just might hear the faint echoes of the music ghosts from the past, whispering softly… ‘Are you Ready?’.