The Blades – still as sharp as ever four decades on

When the Blades first formed in 1977, Dublin and Ireland was on the cusp of a historic period for guitar music.  Thin Lizzy were in their pomp; U2 and The Boomtown Rats were emerging - and the Blades, coming out of Ringsend and spearheaded by frontman Paul Cleary, were right in the mix.

Forty years ago, they released their landmark record The Last Man in Europe, which featured celebrated tracks like Downmarket and Ghost of a Chance.

This Friday, July 18, the Blades play the Róisín Dubh as part of the Galway International Arts Festival. They are no strangers to gigs in the west, where Cleary can draw on a number of fond memories.

“We played the Warwick in ’83,” he says. “Our drummer Jake [Reilly] has a diary of dates – it’s never been questioned so I take it as being correct. I have August ’83 for the Warwick.

“I remember it was so hot. Jake, after we finished the gig, he was so tired and dehydrated that he was literally lying flat on his back in the dressing room. We still had to do an encore, by the way.

“We had a roadie shaking a towel to get some cold air at him. The problem was we couldn’t get access to fresh water. This is before the bottled water thing, so in order to keep refreshed Jake was drinking pints of Guinness. He’s not a big drinker, Jake. When I say pints, he would’ve had two tops, purely to hydrate.”

Back in those days, with the Blades in their pomp and performing very regularly, everything went by very quickly. The band broke up in 1986 and only reunited decades later, in 2013, for landmark shows at the Olympia. Now, days like Friday feel more special.

“Yes, we can [appreciate it more],” Cleary says. “40 years ago, it was all a bit of a mad rush. We’d nothing really to reflect back on in terms of music and gigs. We were just moving forward as quickly as we could.

Pictured: The Blades’ Paul Cleary...at the Róisín Dubh as part of the Galway International Arts Festival.