Band name: Black Rose — Thin Lizzy Tribute

Members:

Scott Broadhurst, lead guitar and backing vocals

Roger Dyson, lead vocals and bass guitar

Chris Lord, lead guitar and backing vocals

Don Threlfall, drums and cowbell!

Ages vary but, as Roger reminds everyone at every gig. Scotty is, and always will be ‘the baby of the band’. The current line-up actually boasts three members from Chorley, with just Scott from Bolton. (Although Chris does like to remind everyone that he is Bolton born and bred… Just emigrated). In the past the ratio was totally the other way around.

When and where did you form?

Formed in July 2010 in Bolton by various former members of some of the North West’s favourite cover and tribute bands. Renegade and Twin Lizzy (both former Thin Lizzy bands that Roger fronted). Metalleeka, some good friends of ours who are still rockin’ to this day (guess what they do?) Hare of The Dog, and Tuscan.

What is your sound and who are your influences?

Obviously we are influenced by the late great Philip Lynott and his band Thin Lizzy. There are a few brilliant Thin Lizzy tribute bands up and down the country… We all do things slightly differently. This is great, it shows what a fantastic versatile band Lizzy were. We tend to come at things from the latter stages of the band, we have a lot of energy to throw into our gigs and it comes across in our stage shows. It also means we can play songs from Thunder and Lightning all the way back to the very first album with power and precision.

What is the biggest gig you have played to date?

The biggest gig we have played in terms of crowd size is probably Rock The Lakes Festival 2013 at The Leisure Lakes in Southport. Held in a huge marquee, it’s a three-day annual festival every August. We are lucky enough to be playing again this year on the same bill as some of our friends, another Bolton tribute band Scopyons on the Friday night.

In terms of prestige though, August last year marked what would have been Phil Lynott’s 65th birthday. We were honoured to be asked to play at his birthday celebrations at The Button Factory in Dublin. There were three bands playing, Just Lizzy from Sweden, ourselves in the middle slot and a bunch of fantastic guys who we know really well, Dizzy Lizzy, closing the show. A lot of Phil’s family and friends were there and Roger fulfilled his dream of playing in Dublin to Phil’s mother! We seemed to have made an impression because we were extremely grateful to be announced as the headline band for the same event this year, August 22, now being held in the larger Dublin academy.

If you are not already, is it your ambition to become professional?

There is currently a Lizzy tribute band who have been doing it professionally for years who are not only known up and down the country, but are world renowned. Of course we would love to be able to mix it up with Limehouse and do it for a living. But we are a very grounded band. We want to take it as far as we can do, but we want to be nice guys with it. We won’t do anything it takes to get a gig, we’re friends with all the other tributes out there and we don’t want to step on peoples toes. People automatically assume there is a rivalry between us and other Lizzy bands when, in fairness, it couldn’t be any further from the truth. It’s nice to hear people say “oh you’re better than so and so” and things. We all like our egos massaging but in reality there is no best, only people’s favourites. Like I said before we all do things slightly differently and the Lizzy fans seem to appreciate that!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Well, Scotty is the baby of the band….

Is there anything unusual or interesting about the band?

I don’t know about unusual really. We tend to leave the ‘classic 70s sound’ to other bands and come at it with the more modern (or as modern as the early 80s can be) approach. Our mantra being that we are a four-piece outfit who faithfully recreate the energy and power of one of the greatest live bands of all time. We play all the classics that you expect but also have a hat full of surprises that no other tribute in the country play. Our reputation for a high energy, action-packed performance and a repertoire of more than 50 songs that is always growing, guarantees that you will never see the same show from us twice.

Upcoming gigs?

All our upcoming gigs can be seen at our official website, blackrosethinlizzy.co.uk.

As far as Bolton shows are concerned, we play the Moses Gate on September 11. We’re in Bury in July, playing Raise The Roof 4 Rock festival alongside some other great tributes, including other friends of ours too Manc Floyd, Krazy Knightss and Into The Void. We are also playing a double headline show at The Railway Venue in Bromley Cross on June 27. This will be with our big buddies State Of Quo (a fantastic Status Quo tribute band, also from Bolton). Not only that, there are a couple of very special dates up and down the country with them too this year. April 18 in Dudley, September 19 in Crewe and October 24 in Glasgow. In addition to these we’re playing The International Status Quo Fan Club Convention at Butlins in Minehead on October 3. State Of Quo are playing it on the 2nd.