Relive Thin Lizzy’s Rockpalast Performance of ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’

While Thin Lizzy jumpstarted their career with their hit cover of “Whiskey in a Jar,” not much had happened since then. They couldn’t get their impact on America and they’ve only made a difference in their native Ireland. That equated to some horrible threats from their record label, who was urging the band to create a hit or they’ll lose their contract.

To believe it or not, “The Boys Are Back in Town” was almost dropped by the band, had it not been for their co-manager, Chris O’Donnell, who saw the potential of the song. “We had demoed about fifteen tracks for what became the Jailbreak album, and we’d selected those we felt were the ten best ones,” Scott Gorham explained in Louder Sound. “He picked up on something we’d titled ‘GI Joe,’ but we had already rejected it as not good enough for the album.” “GI Joe” would eventually sort into “The Boys Are Back in Town” that we know today.

It seems as though life favored them after the album and the song’s release, as it eventually gave them a hit that established their fame in the U.S. The song relates to the band’s working-class backgrounds, thus helping them monopolize their career in the country that admires such stories.

One fantastic moment of Thin Lizzy is this nostalgic performance of them live at the Rockpalast, a German TV Show. The boys surely made the audience feel the rhythm and groovy vibe of the song.

You can watch Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town” performance below.