Rory’s reputation as a kind-hearted, gentle and humble soul is well known. Throughout his life, he quietly supported many charitable things, never seeking attention for his acts of generosity.
After the Miami Showband Massacre in 1975, Rory was one of the first to donate to the fund set up to support the victims’ families. He also played several concerts to raise additional funds for the cause.
In 1986, Rory participated in Self Aid, an unemployment benefit concert in Ireland, while in 1988, he performed at a show in Dublin to mark Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday. Four years later, he played a special concert at the Everyman Palace in Cork, with all proceeds going to the Irish Red Cross Yugoslav Refugee Appeal. When a Red Cross delegation came to Cork to collect the cheque, Rory slipped away to London and sent Dónal in his place, preferring to avoid the publicity.
Rory was also instrumental in providing funds to help establish the Irish music magazine Hot Press in 1977, as well as contributing money to the restoration of the Everyman Palace in 1990. And even when gravely ill during his final tour of Holland, he would still cross the street to give money to a beggar. “He would do that often. He was always a man for the underdog,” Mark Feltham told Shiv Cariappa in a 1998 interview.
On this date in 1988, Rory once again demonstrated his kindness by performing a special concert at the Borderline Club in London, with all proceeds donated to British blues singer and guitarist Jo Ann Kelly. At the time, Kelly was suffering poor health and unable to perform. She would later be diagnosed with a brain tumour and tragically passed away in 1990 at just 46 years old.
I’ve always been fascinated by this gig, yet it’s one of those moments in Rory’s history that seems to have been largely forgotten. But earlier this year, John Wainwright came across some clippings from the Deuce fanzine that reported on the concert and shared them with me. I’m delighted to finally be able to flesh out some of the details and share them with you all.
This is a report in the London-Irish News of the concert:
Blues and Smiles on the Border
The Borderline Club, tucked away in a sidestreet off Charing Cross Road, is one of those venues you’d love to see a favourite band play on the sly. Claustrophobic after the 150-people mark, low ceiling, low stage, it’s a music venue for those who prefer to see the performers in the flesh rather than through a pair of binoculars.
Rory Gallagher, fresh from a 20-date tour of the UK, played just such a gig last Wednesday in aid of a personal friend and fellow blues singer, Jo Anne Kelly, who has not been in the best of health recently.
Whether it was the intimate surroundings or the following generated by the man, I’m not sure but it was amazing to see how many smiles were scattered around the place… I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many happy faces at a concert.
This wasn’t the result of any joking or tomfoolery on the part of the band, it was just that people realised they were in the presence of a great musician and you couldn’t help but move the old facial muscles in appreciation.
Bass guitar, drums and a blue that resembled a lead guitar produced a raucous blend of blues and, at times, heavy metal, but the really impressive moments came when Mark Feltham joined the trio on harmonica.
The former Nine Below Zero member stayed on stage for the best part of the 150-minute set, and he almost stole the limelight in a musical journey that took in much of the Gallagher back catalogue, Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters to name but a few.
Rory’s barely perceptible Cork city accent – “He’s not born and bred Cork, he’s originally from Donegal,” grinned his Kerry roadie – seemed to get stronger during his brief acoustic spot, and a few notes of the ‘Boston Burglar’ were jokingly slipped into an instrumental version of ‘She Moved Through the Fair’, recently covered by old friends Van Morrison and The Chieftains.
However, it was the frantic guitar solos and thumping anthems like ‘Shadow Play’ that went down better with the audience – who with one annoying exception, refrained from using their proximity to the musicians as an excuse to paw at them all night.
A raw ‘n’ bluesy ‘Messin’ with the Kid’ was followed by ‘I Shall Be Released’ to close the show, but it was the second encore that really brought the house down, as Rory, aiming his guitar like a demented Rambo, went walkabouts among the audience.
He finished off with a Chuck Berry-Dave Edmunds medley of ‘Nadine’ and ‘I Hear You Knocking’, the latter song describing accurately the state of my ears for days afterwards.
And a really nice review by Helen Parkinson who was at the concert:
“Spotting this gig was sheer luck, we had the wrong music paper delivered on Wednesday 14th December, and for once I found the time to flick open the pages before rushing to work. There on page 3 was a three-line mention of a mention for Jo Anne Kelly to be played by Rory that night at the Borderline. Frantic phone calls ensued to my sister and husband. Yes, they did want to go, even though it meant my sister cancelling a long-planned evening and my husband trying to ignore the fact that he was booked on the 7.30 flight to Aberdeen next morning to work for the day.
I managed to get the tickets in my lunch hour and we were set for what turned out to be a wonderful evening. The Borderline is a great venue, very small and decorated (if that’s the word) to look like a Mexican cantina, cracks and all. We arrived from work at 8.00 passing a worried looking Gerry and Mark waiting on the street for Rory to arrive. Rory arrived around 9.00 and came through the club shaking hands and snatching a few words with a few familiar faces.
The band came on stage around 10.00 and played the best set I have ever seen them turn out. There was a great deal of enjoyment all round and everyone was in a very relaxed mood. Rory played a very different set to any of the previous ones I had seen him do in the autumn. Here he seemed to be playing exactly what he wanted including a couple of numbers none of us were familiar with. One was a brilliant Canned Heat style number which lasted half an hour. Does anyone out there have a track for that evening to save me from my ignorance?
Mark was given the lead several times during the 2.5 hour set and spurred Rory on to even greater heights. It was an evening of surprises but particularly during the second encore when Rory jumped down off the stage and boogied with the audience for about five minutes. The professional photographer who was taking pictures all night really had to work to keep up with him, including clambering up on the bar and all over the place. Then just when we thought he was tiring, Rory leapt back on stage for the final encore with a rousing version of Nadine and I Hear You Knocking.
It was a tremendous evening only slightly spoilt by an overenthusiastic and very drunk fan standing at the front whose persistence in trying to catch Rory’s attention annoyed those around him and even the roadies in the end. Rory’s patience was amazing. I can only echo the reviewer in the London-Irish News in that it was ‘amazing to see how many smiles were scattered around the place… I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many happy faces at a concert’. Mine certainly was one of them.”
REWRITING RORY 
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