To promote the release of Defender, Rory and his band were out on the road throughout October for a UK tour. On this day in 1987, they played the International 2 in Manchester. Here’s an excellent account of the concert by fan John Christie. It was originally published in the Swiss fanzine Deuce.

The air was pregnant with expectancy in what was a new venue for the Irishman and his band. There were plenty of people there nearly 5.5 years after his last gig in Manchester. A perfect venue – the former Irish club was once known as the Carousel. It reminded me of a university hall. The sort of place where he had performed to great acclaim.

As usual, the band ran on stage and were greeted with a tumultuous cheer. Rory, looking a bit overweight, was attired in dark denim. The band launched into ‘Continental Op’. The riff – similar to the one of Norman Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit in the Sky’ – sounded fine on his trusty old Stratocaster. As when I last saw him in 1986, his voice was in good fettle. For the last solo, Rory donned his slide. The number had a drawn out ending. Personally, I preferred it when he just used to bend the note to finish a number. When the applause had died down, the band started to play one of Gallagher ‘s most melodic songs, namely ‘Moonchild’. The first solo to this song had a staccato effect and an unusual sound. I don’t know if Rory achieved this sound with a pedal or his playing. Rory finished this number by playing some fat clanging chords.

The Muddy Waters song ‘I Wonder Who’ from Irish Tour 74 was initiated with crystal sharp blues guitar that had my companions whooping with approval. Mark Feltham, the Nine Below Zero member, swapped notes with Gallagher, then launched into a long solo. The latter looked weird and sinister in his dark glasses. Slide was once again featured at the finish. This number lasted a full 10 minutes. The band then followed up with Sonny Boy Williamson’s ‘Don’t Start Me Talkin’ off Defender. Mark’s harmonica took the first solo and Rory once again finished with slide. This proved a very tight performance by all of the group.

After wiping the sweat from his glistening features, Rory performed ‘Double Vision’ from Jinx. This song is gutsy and Brendan set the ball rolling with some powerhouse drumming. It was noticeable that the bass drum was too heavy sounding when it came to the solo. Mr Gallagher wrenched noises from his instrument. This song is like a Rolling Stones number. ‘I Ain’t No Saint’ off the new album was next. Rory took the first solo and Mr Feltham then followed. Once again, Rory had that strange sound to his guitar. It almost resembled a synthesiser. Rory did some ab libbing on this effort.

‘Shin Kicker’ off Photo Finish was next and Rory did his best solo yet. Really raucous. ‘Off the Handle’ from Top Priority possessed a very strong vocal by the leader of the combo. It had the best blues guitar so far. Power chords marked the finale ‘Seems to Me’ – one of the most instantly appealing workouts off the new album featuring powerhouse work from Gerry. He’s been with Rory 16 years and belies his age with his youthful appearance.

The crowd pleasing ‘Big Guns’ was belted out with Rory adopting a new guitar (probably a Gibson). A clever McAvoy sustained ‘Bad Penny’ – the blues rocker from Top Priority – and there was some excellent syncopation to create an orchestral effect. Mr Gallagher then made scraping noises on his guitar, while the energetic Mr O’Neill slammed his kit. A Gerry McAvoy solo marked this number.

All of a sudden, Rory was alone on the stage. It was time for a bit of acoustic. This displayed 3 numbers by three bluesmen now sadly deceased. Firstly, Huddie Ledbetter’s ‘Out on the Western Plain’, secondly Robert Johnson’s ‘Walkin’ Blues’ and thirdly Blind Boy Fuller’s ‘Pistol Slapper Blues’. The Leadbelly number featured a hint of Spanish guitar. Mark played some lovely harp on ‘Walkin’ Blues’. This Rory effect reminded me of that other excellent musician Johnny Winter. The crowd hummed away to the Blind Boy Fuller rag. Excitement mounted when the former Cork resident speeded up his playing.

Then it was back to the electric sound with ‘Tattoo’d Lady’. Rory played some magnificent four note riffs similar to those on Irish Tour. It got the biggest cheer of the night up till then. I don’t like the new one ‘Failsafe Day’ much, but Rory played it well. Then ‘A Million Miles Away’ with its original opening. Rory oozed out the solo and introduced some staccato notes into this one. It’s still one of my favourites. Then ‘Loanshark Blues’, the song which reminds me of John Lee Hooker came up next. The voodoo riff had many people dancing. This features some clever Gallagher work with his fingers imitating a slide sound. This was really fine stuff, clever Gallagher work and for me, it turned out to be the concert highlight. ‘When My Baby She Left Me’, a Sonny Boy Williamson classic, displayed a strong vocal performance. He had a drum and bass solo, plus the man in the shades playing his best notes so far. Brendan’s drumming had been diverse, displaying his jazz rock background. ‘The Loop’, an instrumental which the front man introduced as an unrecorded number followed. It featured Mark on harp and an old blues riff from Rory. Pete, my friend, said it reminded him of Freddie King. ‘Shadow Play’ – a real crowd pleaser – got the best response from the crowd. A tremendous pace was set on the drums and Gerry’s imaginative bass set the scene.

When this song was concluded, the band left the stage. After about four minutes of the crowd singing, “Nice one, Rory. Nice one, son” like on Irish Tour 74, the combo returned this time. Donning a maroon Gibson, Rory went into all ‘All Around Man’. This was done boogie fashion rather than the slow blues it is on Against the Grain where his guitar and Mark’s harmonica together sounded like Canned Heat. Then it was ‘Bullfrog Blues’ and despite the fact it was the 23rd number, the band’s energy level was as high as ever. Rory embellished the song with Eddie Cochran riffs. Then it was stage exit again and some people felt the gig was over and headed for the exit. However, the faithful were not to be disappointed. The group returned and reeled off Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It On Home to Me’, Junior Wells’ ‘Messin’ with the Kid’ and Eddie Cochran’s ‘Summertime Blues’. At the finish, Rory introduced his fine band. At three hours long, Rory Gallagher and his band had made it seem they had never been away.