End of the Road Newcastle City Hall 10th June 1984
End of the Road! What! This was a big shock at the time. The plan, as announced by the band was that they were going to retire from touring, and possibly continue to record now and then. But Quo being Quo, they had to go out in style, finishing off with a tour consisting of 69 shows, including 7 nights at Hammersmith Odeon. The tour called at the City Hall for two nights, and I went along on the second night. We should, of course, have realised then that this wasn’t really going to be the end. A band who had played as constantly and consistently as Status Quo would find it difficult to just stop.
The show I attended was a celebration of a great band and some great times. This was the 16th time I saw Status Quo, and it wasn’t to be the last either š Behind the scenes there were irreconcilable differences between Alan Lancaster and Francis Rossi. Alan saw Quo as a hard rock boogie machine and was getting increasingly frustrated with Rossi’s insistence on moving the band closer to the middle of the road, as he saw it, with the single Marguerita Time being the final straw. Alan moved to Australia and law suits followed. However a certain Bob Geldof persuaded the guys to get back together one more time and only one year later and I was standing in Wembley Stadium watching them open Live Aid. I will write about that great day tomorrow.
Setlist: Caroline, Paper Plane, Roll over lay down, Backwater, Just take me, Little Lady, Don’t drive my Car, Whatever You Want, Mystery Medley, Hold You Back, Rockin’all over the World, Over the Edge, Dirty Water, 4500 Times, Big Fat Mama, Don’t waste my Time, Roadhouse Blues, What you’re Proposing, Rain, Down Down, Bye Bye Johnny.
24 May
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