MusicTown keeps Lynott close as Nightlife vinyl nears

MusicTown's Dublin programme of lost recordings and performances runs from 28 September to 4 October; Thin Lizzy's 1974 twin-guitar album is due back on limited-edition orange vinyl for National Album Day on 17 October.

MusicTown 2026 is under way in Dublin. The programme runs from 28 September to 4 October and places Philip Lynott’s legacy at its centre, with events built around lost recordings and performances drawn from his work. Two days in, the week treats the catalogue as material still in play: songs heard again, tapes revisited, a body of writing kept before audiences.

That gathering lands beside another fixed point for the same catalogue. Nightlife, Thin Lizzy’s 1974 album, is due on 17 October as a limited-edition orange vinyl pressing for National Album Day. Confirmation came in mid-September; pre-orders have been open since then through the band’s official channels and specialist retailers. What has moved on is the Dublin celebration now running in parallel around Lynott’s work.

The twin-guitar debut

Nightlife was originally released in November 1974. It was the first Thin Lizzy album to feature guitarists Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson alongside Lynott and drummer Brian Downey — the twin-guitar four-piece that shaped the band’s sound from that point. Ron Nevison and Lynott produced the record. Among the tracks that have stayed in regular rotation are Still in Love with You and Sha La La.

A coloured vinyl run for National Album Day does not rewrite that history. It puts another physical edition into circulation for listeners who want the 1974 set in that format. The Icons placement gives the album a single-date shop window on 17 October; no wider campaign or further formats have been detailed beyond the limited orange 1LP and the pre-order route already live.

Legacy in the present tense

Lynott died in 1986. MusicTown does not blur that fact. The programme deals in recordings and performance: lost material brought forward, and live sets that keep the songs in the room. That is the same ground the reissue occupies. For an Irish audience that has lived with these records for decades, a week of archive and stage work in Dublin and a National Album Day pressing are two routes back to the same writing and the same line-up that cut it.

MusicTown continues through 4 October. After it closes, the next firm date on the calendar is the orange vinyl on 17 October. Whether further archive releases will follow the Dublin spotlight, or whether Nightlife will see other editions after the one-day exclusive, has not been announced. For now the facts are plain — a city programme still running, and a limited LP due in mid-October.