It was entirely appropriate that a statue of the legendary guitarist Rory Gallagher was unveiled at the weekend outside the Ulster Hall in Belfast, which has hosted so many outstanding performers down the years.

I have attended dozens of brilliant concerts there, with the most memorable, for a number of reasons, involving the seminal Australian heavy metal rockers AC/DC in August 1979, who were then and for decades to come among the world’s biggest live acts.

They were used to packing out massive stadiums across their native country, Europe and the US, so it caused something of a sensation when it was confirmed that they would appear at the evocative but comparatively tiny Bedford Street venue, with an official standing capacity of just 2,000.

I was starting off in weekly newspapers but was also a freelance contributor to the Dublin-based music magazine Hot Press, where the editors were astonished that AC/DC were actually coming to Belfast during one of the worst periods of the Troubles.

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