One thing is for sure when you part with your hard earned to witness a show by rock legends Thin Lizzy these days, and that is the night is most certainly not just about the headliners.  Boy do these guys know how to put on strong touring bills.  Last year we had the likes of Supersuckers, The Union and FM out with Lizzy as they danced in the moonlight around the stages of these fair isles, and now for this the band's first UK jaunt of 2012 we have not only the stoner rock delights of Maryland rockers Clutch but also Belgian power trio Triggerfinger to look forward to.

So that's why at just past the hour of 7 O'clock on a freezing cold Wednesday night I find myself stood centre front in Cardiff's St David's Hall for the venue's first proper rock 'n' roll show in about 5 years, nodding my head along to Ruben Block and his Triggerfinger cohorts, whilst they play some of the fiercest acid blues ever to grace the stage of the concrete carbuncle they currently find themselves in. Admittedly there aren't that many of us in here ready to get up and dance around, but those who are clued in enough to sacrifice that extra pint at the bar suddenly find themselves being caught up in a sonic whirlwind that reaches maximum levels of devastation during the throbbing rifferama of 'My Baby's Got a Gun'. I'd certainly been hearing some great things about Triggerfinger in the run up to this show, and in Ruben the band possesses a frontman who oozes charisma looking not unlike Rupert Everett playing Jon Spencer in a yet to be made biopic, albeit with a fine voice to match. Imagine if you will Deus jamming Danko Jones tunes and you're about half way to discovering the musical highs these suit and tie wearing muthafuckers will take you to. One question though, and this goes out to whoever constructs the Triggerfinger set list, "in a 40 odd minute support slot is a drum solo really that necessary?"

The last time I witnessed Clutch live (at Hard Rock Hell a few years back), I have to admit they left me colder than the arctic winds blowing outside the venue here tonight. That night they chose to jam tunes out at a festival that involves mandatory 24 hour alcohol consummation so it wasn't exactly the best way to engage that particular audience. I do however have a bit of a soft spot for the boys especially their 'Blast Tyrant' album and that's why I decide to sacrifice any attempt to try and get served at the bar (not that you could get served anyway) and make my way back into the auditorium just in time to catch Neil Fallon and his bandmates take to the stage, much to the approval of the beardy mob who have now gathered around me.

After the razor sharp precision sound of Triggerfinger it takes a few songs for Clutch's dirty boogie to really hit its stride, but by the time we get to the evergreen 'Mice And Gods' it really does seem like it's time to "fire it up" as many gleefully dance away in the aisles, Fallon duly responding by opening up his as always impressive lungs for a soaring 'Profits of Doom'. Perhaps it's tonights symphonic surroundings but the trouble again is just like that night back in December 2008, Clutch now seem devoid of much of that pure rock fury that once propelled their earlier shows out of the ordinary and into the unusual.  Subsequently however good a song 'Electric Worry' is, the two cowbell drum solo that precedes it is three cowbells too many in my book.

So roll on a new Clutch album is what I say, as right now live the band are just a pair of dungarees away from being like a latter days Black Crowes.... Disappointing.

As the venue starts to bristle with electricity ahead of the night's main event, it's safe to say that however strong the bill has been so far, the simple fact is that tonight being a sell out is ultimately down to the renewed selling power of one band. A band who, after a hugely successful 2011, look to be doing it all over again in 2012 as they prepare for what looks highly likely to be their first new studio material in almost 3 decades - ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for some Thin Lizzy?

So as the Ricky Warwick led Lizzy once again explode onto the stage with their anthemic call to arms 'Are You Ready?' and then head straight into a ruthlessly efficient 'Jailbreak', I'm half tempted to simply repeat what I said last year when I first witnessed this line up live, however twelve months on this is now a radically different beast of a band.  Gone is the understated presence of lead guitarist Vivian Campbell and in his place stands Damon Johnson a six stringer who definitely isn't shy in coming forward, spending as he does most of the gig teetering on the very lip of the stage. Gone also is the feeling that this might only ever be a money making nostalgia trip (however well deserved that might be for the original guys), as one look at the cheshire cat grins upon the faces of messers Downey, Wharton and Gorham will tell you that the chemistry the new guys brings to proceedings really is putting fire in their bellies again.

Mixing the set up a little this time around has also helped to keep things fresh for those returning for the umpteenth time to see their heroes, and the addition of 'Suicide' and a lethal 'Killer On The Loose' are welcomed back into the open arms of the Lizzy faithful like long lost relatives.  However much I'd like to hear tracks like 'Southbound' or 'Chinatown' added to proceedings, I also have to appreciate that tracks like 'Don't Believe A Word' and 'Whiskey In The Jar' are going to be pretty hard to shift from their places on a set list most bands would give their left gonad to be in the possession of.

Thankfully there is still a place for one of the greatest rock singles ever written within the set list tonight and that track of course is..... 'Waiting For An Alibi', what do you mean 'The Boys are Back In Town'?  Okay the latter may (almost literally) bring the house down tonight with a ticker tape type celebration, but the band's third most successful single in the UK is still their most potent, exploiting one of Gary Moore's finest and possibly simplest pieces of lead guitar work and totally nailing that Lizzy twin guitar sound.  Seriously they could have just played this song tonight and I would have gone home a happy man.

Thankfully for the rest of the audience they didn't do just that song and amongst the seventeen others played we got the likes of 'Cowboy Song', 'Massacre' and 'Still In Love With You' plus the encores of 'Emerald', 'Rosalie' and 'Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend' all delivered with the passion and commitment you have come to expect from this line up.  I also have to give a special mention to bassist Marco Mendoza as he simply doesn't stop during his 90 odd minutes on stage, mouthing every word to every song and playing the entire audience for every handclap and every cheer, and if ever a musician deserves his own action figure then it is Marco.

If you weren't lucky enough to catch the boys this time around look out for Thin Lizzy when they return to the UK in May following a quick run of European shows, as this time they are back for a further eight dates playing cities they didn't play this tour, and they plan on taking Black Spiders and The Treatment out with them for what promises to be yet another VFM bill of rock 'n roll action. 

See what I mean about quality bills?  Uber Rockers everywhere "Are you out there?"