The legendary Irish Celtic rock band Horslips return to the west after their knockout performance at the Westport Music Festival earlier this year. They will be back in Castlebar on Bank Holiday Sunday October 28 in the Royal Theatre.
In 1972 Horslips released Happy To Meet...Sorry To Part their first album, which was an enormous seller on the home market and further afield. When Horslips released the follow-up album, The Tain, in 1974, Melody Maker described it as "a monumental album". It became The Times’ (London ) album of the year and was awarded five star status by Downbeat magazine in America. By then Horslips were headlining tours of Britain and Germany, where the single “Dearg Doom” was a chart hit.
Two more studio albums followed before Horslips released the work that firmly established them in America as a highly imaginative rock ‘n’ roll band with a distinctive Irish quality to their sound.
The Book Of Invasions, released in 1977, displayed how Horslips had taken their early semi-acoustic experiments to full-throttle rock drama, combining their traditional roots with a rock ‘n’ roll dynamic to create a unique musical identity.
The albums that followed, Aliens and The Man Who Built America, both charted in the States, and Horslips spent three years touring the US from coast to coast.
By the time they released their live album The Belfast Gigs in 1980, Horslips had decided to disband. That did not stop Billboard describing the album as "inspired". In Ireland, their live version of “Shakin' All Over” became their fastest-selling single since their debut “Johnny's Wedding” eight years earlier.
Horslips stopped touring late in 1980. The band made a triumphant return to the stage in late 2009. Tickets costing €33.50 are on sale now from Ticketmaster outlets online and nationwide and from the Royal Theatre Box Office on 0818 300 000 or 094 90 23111.
