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All those folks planning to ask Santa for a sleek new powerhouse rock trio with fast lines and lightning trimmings got their wish 74 days early when Rory Gallagher and friends debuted at the Whisky a Go Go Wednesday, and ripped the place up.

Gallagher, whose business is spreading sweet and often manic rock music, is a modest Irish lad with a round genial face, huge eyebrows, a metallic voice and an impressive style halfway between a rampaging steamroller and a spunky squirrel gone berserk. He is the real thing.

The music has nothing to do with dream, myth, metaphor or the subconscious. It is usually loud and tough-fibered, and Gallagher hits you with it right between the eyes. Best of all, it never takes itself quite seriously enough to lose its rather nice and believable aura of flash.

Some might dismiss Gallagher and company as warmed-over Cream. but Gallagher never wears a gaudy wardrobe of old hats. On songs like “Sinner Man (sic),” “Hands Up,” “Laundromat” and “I fall Apart” he shows a refreshing (and rare) eagerness to move the audience. He does.

The other two thirds of his band are Wilgar Campbell (drums) and Gerry McAvoy (bass). they have brains, taste and inventiveness, and they rock. Gallagher, a whiz on lead guitar, plays with fierceness and the good taste to avoid the stock phrase.

Michael Ross, Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1971

Rory Gallagher’s rock ‘n’ roll odyssey began when he was six and saw Elvis Presley on TV. Inspiration after that came from various different musical corners – skiffle king Lonnie Donegan, Woody Guthrie, and Leadbelly among them. By the time he was a teenager the talented young guitarist was himself in the spotlight, playing with showbands in his homeland, Ireland. The launchpad to fame came with the formation of the three piece ‘Taste’ who became pioneers of the 60s rock trio sound.

‘Taste’ may be long forgotten – Rory went solo in 1971 – but he’s still doing what he likes best, playing the guitar. And his current 20-date UK tour brings him to St. Albans City Hall tomorrow night where he’s in concert with his backing band and harmonica virtuoso Mark Feltham. The show promises a real treat for the true guitar lover, whether your taste is rock or back-to-the-roots blues. Rory, it seems, is a man who has never lost sight of his origins but has moved with the times. “You have to stick with what’s in your heart,” he says. “I see music as a lifetime affair. I’m not in it for the big kill and then I’ll get out. I hope I can end up playing as long as my heroes.”

This article appears in the ‘Leisure Review’ section of the St. Albans Review, dated December 1st 1988.