Status Quo: Rick’s return after his cancer scare Birmingham NEC 21st May 2006
The publicity at the time was pretty scary: “singer/guitarist Rick Parfitt feared that the title of the band’s latest album, The Party Ain’t Over Yet, would prove sadly ironic when a cancer scare forced the cancellation of their traditional pre-Christmas UK tour….group faced the possibility of winding up the party and calling it a day when doctors discovered a growth on 57-year-old Rick’s larynx.” Rick himself said at the time: “For a week I didn’t know whether or not it was malignant – it was the worst week of my life,” The good news was that the growth was not cancer, but Rick was worried that he may not be able to sing again: “It’s been a long slog, going from just being able to whisper to singing on stage again….the first show was last month at a ski resort in the mountains of the Austrian Tyrol and when I opened my mouth to sing Something ‘Bout You Baby I Like nothing came out…All I could think was ‘is my career over? Will I ever sing again?'” When I got an invite through the post from the Quo fanclub to go and see Rick’s UK return concert with Quo at the NEC, Birmingham, I couldn’t resist going. 
More from Rick at the time: “Seriously, I must be the luckiest man on the planet. My voice is pretty much back to normal just in time for the NEC show. I’m now in a much better frame of mind. The concert was recorded and released as a live DVD. From the official Quo shop: “Kings of rock ‘n’ roll Status Quo released their explosive concert DVD ‘Just Doin’ It Live’….filmed at their sell out concert at Birmingham NEC, the DVD is the band’s first ‘live in concert’ release for an incredible fifteen years. The concert marked Rick Parfitt’s return to full Quo duty since his health scare last Christmas, 12,000 loyal fans ecstatically welcomed him back on stage with long-time partner Francis Rossi. ‘Just Doin’ It Live’ features the full rocking concert of over 2 hours and includes all of Quo’s most memorable hits…..”
The gig itself was a pretty emotional experience. The NEC is a old Quo stronghold, and the denim hordes turned out in their masses to welcome Rick back, and show him how glad we were that he was ok. I had a seat in one of the front blocks with a pretty good view. Quo played a blinder. I was still on a Quo high, and they could do no wrong for me at the time.
Setlist: Caroline, Somethin’bout you Baby I Like, don’t waste my Time, 4500 Times, Rain, All Stand Up, Solid Gold, The Oriental, Creepin’ up on you, Mystery Medley, Belavista Man, The Party Ain’t Over Yet, Gerdundula, Roll over lay Down, Down Down, Whatever You Want, Rockin’all over the World, Proposin’ Medley, Junior’s Wailing, Rock’n Roll Music/Bye Bye Johnny.
Quo gig No 30.
Posts Tagged ‘heavy rock’
1 Jun
Status Quo: Rick’s return after his cancer scare Birmingham NEC 21st May 2006
30 May
Status Quo Winter tour Newcastle City Hall 2003, 2004 & 2005
The next three Status Quo tours all called at Newcastle City Hall. These were: the Riffs Tour on 6th November 2003, the XS All Areas Tour 17th February 2005 (rescheduled from 19th December 2004 due to Francis being ill) and The Party Ain’t Over Yet Tour on 3rd November 2005. David came with me to the 2003 gig, still somewhat under sufferance. We had tickets in the front row, right in the middle. We ended up resting on the stage, looking straight up at Francis and Rick. The experience was incredible, watching the energy of the two guys; Rick in particular was on fire and a relentless rhythm machine. But the sound was awful; because of our position directly in front of the massive backline all we could hear was Rick’s guitar at screeching volume, and no vocals at all. I am not joking when I say that I sometimes didn’t know which song they were playing. My old gig mate John was over in the UK from the States with business and joined me at one of the 2005 gigs. Just like old times 🙂 !
The setlist changed little over this period and would usually be something like this: Caroline, Somethin’bout you Baby I Like, don’t waste my Time, 4500 Times, Rain, All Stand Up, Solid Gold, The Oriental, Creepin’ up on you, Mystery Medley, Belavista Man, The Party Ain’t Over Yet, Gerdundula, Roll over lay Down, Down Down, Whatever You Want, Rockin’all over the World, Proposin’ Medley, Junior’s Wailing, Rock’n Roll Music/Bye Bye Johnny.
In fact, the samey nature of the setlist became (and remains) an issue for some fans, who longed to see some radical changes in the songs played. Me, I was still in my “back into Quo” mode, and they could do no wrong by me at the time. I just had to hear the first couple of bars of “Caroline” and I was away again, back in the Quo zone. On a good night there just isn’t a better band in the land.
Then the unthinkable happened.
On December 8th 2005 we all learnt that the remainder of the UK tour had been cancelled due to the discovery of a growth in Rick’s throat. The press release read: “Guitarist and Founder member Rick Parfitt has been suffering from a throat problem…….This morning he saw a Consultant surgeon at the Nuffield Hospital in Plymouth who has expressed concern with a growth in Rick’s larynx and has recommended that it requires urgent investigation. Consequently all 9 remaining shows on the current sell out UK tour have been cancelled.” The newspapers were full of it: “Rick has throat cancer”, the stories went. We all feared the worst, and thought this might be the end of the Mighty Quo. Of course the news was, thankfully, ultimately good, and Rick didn’t have cancer. The next time I saw Quo was at Rick’s UK comeback gig at Birmingham NEC in May 2006. I’ll write about that emotional gig tomorrow.
This takes me to 29 times
29 May
Status Quo Dalby Forest Yorkshire 22nd June 2003 Heavy Traffic
Well I guess Quo had to find their way again and, in 2002, it happened with the release of “Heavy Traffic”. Heavy Traffic was the twenty-fifth studio album by Quo and made No 15 in the UK charts. The album was released following a reunion between Rossi and his writing partner Bob Young, who was the guy who would come onstage and play mouth harp during “Roadhouse Blues” and who also co-wrote, with Francis, many of the band’s great songs between 1968 and 1980. This is was also the first album to feature new drummer Matt Letley. The album was welcomed by fans and critics alike, and is generally recognised as a return to form and, at the time, Quo’s best album for 20 years or so. “Heavy Traffic” sees the guys returning to their rock and boogie roots, with some classic Quo heavy rockers that stand up alongside the tracks they turned our during their 70s classic rock period. Particularly strong tracks are opening song “Blues and Rhythm”, “All Stand Up (Never Say Never), “Creepin’ Up On You” and “Jam Side Down” which was released as a single. Several of the tracks made their way into the live set and have become favourites.
David continued to come to see Quo, still somewhat under sufferance. This time it was to another National Trust open air gig, deep in the forest (Dalby Forest to be exact) in Yorkshire. Dalby Forest is located somewhere near Pickering and on the road I would take if driving to Flamingo Park (anyone reading this of a similar age to me, and from the North East is likely to remember Flamingo Park as a regular destination for school trips in the 60s). I bought “Heavy Traffic” and my faith in Status Quo was renewed, to the extent that from here on and for the next 10 years, I went to see them any tour, and sometimes more than once in a year. I saw the old Quo again, and felt a renewal of energy in the band, and the fans who went along to the gigs. The Dalby gig was another fun rocking night. David and I stayed in a nearby hotel and were awoken at 3am by the alarm going off….the hotel was evacuated and we were all standing outside, half asleep and half dressed. I can’t remember what set the alarm off, but we had to wait until the fore engine arrived and we were given the all clear to go back to our rooms and back to sleep. Not the best nights sleep that I have had 🙂
Setlist: Caroline, The Wanderer, Somethin’bout You Baby I Like, Don’t waste My Time, 4500 Times, Rain, All Stand Up, Solid Gold, Heavy Traffic, Creepin’ up on you, Mystery Medley, Gerdundula, Big Fat Mama, Roll over lay down, Down Down, Whatever You Want, Rockin’all over the World, Anniversary Waltz / Oh Carol / Junior’s Wailing / Bye Bye Johnny.
PS That makes Quo gig No 26 for me (there is an end to this, I promise)
28 May
Suzi Quatro Special guest for Status Quo at Middlesbrough Ormesby Hall 24th August 2002
Status Quo and Suzi Quatro Middlesbrough Ormesby Hall 24th August 2002
My next Quo encounter was at a National Trust open air show held at Ormesby Hall, Middlesbrough on 24th August 2002. I bought two tickets cheap on eBay (result! 🙂 ) and took David along, somewhat on sufferance. We made our way down to the front, right next to some hardened Quo fans who were playing their inflatable guitars (I kid you not) and pushing us around in the scrum. Great fun. One of the highlights of the gig was the support act Suzi Quatro who was on great form, as usual.
I’ve just realised that I should have written about Suzi Quatro before now; she deserves her own blog entry, so here we go.
In the early 70s there were a few bands who seemed to come back and play again and again at our local Mecca ballroom. They were all fun acts, chart toppers of the time, and you just knew you were going to have a good night if they were appearing. They were: Roy Wood’s Wizzard, Mungo Jerry, and Suzi Quatro. Oh, and possibly Geordie too. I first saw Suzi Quatro when she had just arrived in the UK; this was before she hit No 1 in the charts with “Can the Can”. It must have been late 1972. I remember this tiny lady, dressed all in leather, with this massive bass guitar slung around her, and a strong raunchy rock’n’roll performance. A few months later and she was No 1 and “Can the Can” was being played everywhere.
Between “Can the Can” and her next No 1 hit single “Devil Gate Drive” which was a couple of years later, she played at the Mecca a number of times. It was probably 3 or 4 times, possibly more. The place would always be packed to the walls; I can here her screeching voice now: “Hey, you all want to go down to Devil Gate Drive? Well, come on”!
Lots of high kicking, silly choreographed dance routines, guitarist and husband-to-be Len Tuckey always at Suzi’s side and towering above her. Happy days.
Roll forward almost 30 years to 2002. Suzi still looked and sounded great, rocked as she always did, and warmed the crowd up for Quo and their fans. Suzi was a trail-blazer for many female rockers who followed her, and although she was as much pop as rock, she was still pretty cool, and those singles are still fun, and her live shows were great too.
Philip Norman (1974) said “Of all female rock singers, she appears the most emancipated: a small girl leading an all-man group in which she herself plays bass guitar. The image is of a tomboy, lank-haired, tight-bottomed and (twice) tattooed; a rocker, a brooder, a loner, a knife-carrier; a hell-cat, a wild cat, a storm child, refugee from the frightened city of Detroit.”
Frank Oglesbee writes (2008) that “The rebellion of rock music was largely a male rebellion; the women—often, in the 1950s and ’60s, girls in their teens—in rock usually sang songs as personæ utterly dependent on their macho boyfriends…”….and describes Quatro as “… a female rock pioneer, in some ways the female rock pioneer, …, a cornerstone in the archsheology of rock.”
And of course she was Leather Tuscadero, and she knew The Fonz. Now you can’t get cooler than that 🙂
A Suzi Quatro setlist: I’ve Never Been in Love; The Wild One; Tear Me Apart; She’s in Love With You; Stumblin’ In; 48 Crash; All Shook Up; Rock Hard; Can I Be Your Girl?; Leather Queen; Can the Can; Devil Gate Drive. Encore: If You Can’t Give Me Love; Sweet Little Rock & Roller; Sweet nothing
Status Quo Setlist: Caroline, The Wanderer, Softer Ride, Paper Plane, Hold You Back, Old Time Rock and Roll,4500 Times, Rain, Never Say Never, Solid Gold, Mystery Medley, Gerdundula, Big Fat Mama, Roll over lay Down, Down Down, Whatever You Want, Rockin’all over the World, In the Army Now, Anniversary Waltz/Junior’s Wailing/Rock’n Roll Music/Bye Bye Johnny
“Well, at the age of five they can do their jive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
And at the age of six they’re gonna get their kicks
Down in Devil Gate Drive
Well your mama don’t know where your sister done go
She’s gone down to the Drive. She’s the start of the show
And let her move on up. Let her come let her go.”
(Devil Gate Drive, Chinn & Chapman, 1974)
Reference: Oglesbee, F. W. (1999). Suzi Quatro: A prototype in the archsheology of rock. Popular Music & Society, 23(2), 29-39.
PS Just noticed both acts have the initials S Q (not sure why I mention that)
PPS That takes me to Quo show No 25 for me…..not far to go now…
27 May
Status Quo Newcastle Arena 6th December 1998
Status Quo Newcastle Arena 6th December 1998
It had been five or more years since I had last seen the mighty Status Quo. I has lost some of my faith in the band, largely as a result of some substandard releases, which saw the band recording covers of some old rock’n’roll classics. But I couldn’t go on too long without seeing the band. So when I saw that they were playing Newcastle Arena on 6th December 1998, I persuaded a mate to come along with me to see them again. Support came from T’Pau. As soon as I heard the first few bars of “Down, Down” I was back in the Quo zone again. I remembered how great this band were, and why I had been to see them so many times. 
This show at Newcastle renewed my faith in Status Quo, and got me back into them again. Having said that work, and family commitments meant that I missed the next few tours, and I didn’t see them again until 2002, which I will write about tomorrow.
Setlist: Down down, Hold You Back, Backwater, One man band,Softer Ride, The Wanderer, Living on an Island, Dirty Water, Gerdundula, Roll over lay Down, In the Army Now, Whatever you Want, Mystery Medley, Caroline, Rain, Burning Bridges, Anniversary Waltz.
24 May
End of the Road Newcastle City Hall 10th June 1984
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 🙂 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.
21 May
Status Quo Newcastle City Hall 15th May 1979
Status Quo Newcastle City Hall 15th May 1979
It was three years since Satus Quo had played in Newcastle, and this time they were back to play three nights at the City Hallon 15th, 16th and 17th May 1979. I went to the first night of the three. This was a slicker, smoother Quo, although the set contained mostly rockers. In terms of songs played, this was classic Quo with all the favourites: “Caroline” as opening song, “Backwater”, “4500 Times”, “Don’t Waste My Time”, “Roadhouse Blues” and the great singalong (although more country than rock) “Dirty Water”. But the softer songs, and Francis’ country leanings, were creeping in, much to the annoyance of Alan Lancaster, who was denim and hard rock through and through. This was the beginning of the end, which would come in a few years time. An example of those softer leanings was the release of Rick’s “Living on an Island” as a single in 1979.
Things I remember about this gig: I thought the tickets were getting very expensive for Quo at £5 a seat, I was disappointed that there was no support on this tour as Quo usually had a great opening act, the backline of amps was massive and unlike any I had seen before, and it was a good gig but much slicker, professional and less raw than shows of old.
Some great quotes from the programme, which continue to portray the guys as the band of the people and down-to-earth: “We don’t get Jackie Onassis or Princess Margaret droppin’ backstage after a go like the Rolling Stones or Rod Stewart. We generally get Joe Bloggs from the factory …that’s who we get along fine with” (Bob Young); “Status Quo – the only band to buy all their equipment with No 6 cigarette coupons” (NME); “Parfitt stripped to the waist and in ragged jeans looking more like a builder’s labourer than a rock star has retained a workmanlike approach. His own stage T-shist cost him 75p. They all wear jeans. There is no gimmickry during a performance (Daily Express).
Typical setlist of the time: Caroline, Roll over lay down, Backwater, Rockers Rollin’, Is there a better Way, Hold You Back, Little Lady, Like a good Girl, Rockin’all over the World, Oh What a Night, Dirty Water, 4500 Times, Big Fat Mama, Don’t waste my Time, Roadhouse Blues, Rain, Down Down, Drum Solo; Bye Bye Johnny.
“Wooh, oh, oh, oh; The water’s getting deep; And I can’t swim; Beacuse it’s dirty dirty water; Wooh, oh, oh, oh; Wooh, oh, oh, oh” (Dirty Water, Staus Quo, 1977).
19 May
The Reading Rock Festival 25 – 27th August 1978
The Reading Rock Festival 25 – 27th August 1978
This was the year punk finally arrived. The festival was now officially known as the Reading Rock Festival, having dropped “jazz” from the title and the line-up, and weekend tickets cost all of £8.95. Our old friend John Peel was compere, as always, and a van load of us descended on the riverside site, having driven part of the way down on Thursday, gone for a drink in Wetherby and slept on Wetherby racecourse (the crazy things you do when you are young 🙂 ) Highlights of the weekend for me were Penetration (I was a big fan at the time), Sham 69, The Jam, Status Quo (most of our group were heavily into them) and Patti Smith.
Friday line-up: Dennis O’Brien; The Automatics; New Hearts (who would become mods and change their name to Secret Affair); Radio Stars; Penetration; Sham 69; The Pirates; Ultravox; The Jam.
Memories: Radio Stars were always good for a laugh; “Dirty Pictures” (turn me on) was a favourite at the time; it was great to see local north east punk heroes playing up on the massive Reading stage Penetration, although they suffered from murky sound throughout their set; The Pirates rocked the place with no-nonsense rock’n’roll, “Shaking All Over” and ace guitarist the late Mick Green (a big influence on Wilko); and the John Foxx version of Ultravox! played a quite moody atmospheric electronic set. The main event was Sham 69, who were excellent with Jimmy Pursey his usual cockney “boy on the streets” self, and those anthems “What have we got?”, “Borstal Breakout” and “If the Kids are United”. The Sham Army had come across to Reading in force, all braces, No 2 cuts, and Doc Martins, and ready to take on those hippies. We were right at the front, although we soon moved to the side of the crowd when the fights started. A bunch of skins climbed on to the stage, and Pursey tried to call order, pleading with the crowd to stop fighting to no avail. He was in tears, watching bedlam and violence all around him, and not being able to do anything to stop it. But that was the nature of a Sham gig at the time. Jimmy even brought Steve Hillage on stage to show that it was ok to mix with hippies, but that just annoyed the skins more. A nasty, frightening experience, which marred an excellent performance by Sham. The Jam were great, Weller the edgy young mod, getting himself into a strop at the poor sound quality, and trashing his gear. Punk really had arrived at Reading.
The Jam set included: Mr Clean ; Away From the Numbers; Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane; Tonight at Noon; David Watts; Down in the Tube Station at Midnight; “A” Bomb in Wardour Street; News of the World
Saturday line-up: Speedometors; The Business; Jenny Darren; Next; Gruppo Sportivo; Nutz; Greg Kihn Band; Lindisfarne; Spirit; The Motors; Status Quo.
Saturday was a little more straightforward rock. Lindisfarne had recently reunited and hit the charts with “Run For Home”. The Motors were OK (Airport!). Spirit were excellent, with great Hendrix-style guitar from Randy California. Status Quo played a solid respectable set, nothing earth shattering. I know quite a few people were disappointed with them that night, but I thought they were OK. “Dirty Water’ was to become a crowd singalong favourite.
Status Quo setlist: Caroline; Roll Over Lay Down; Backwater; Rockers Rollin; Is There A Better Way; You Don’t Own Me; Hold You Back; Rockin All Over The World; Dirty Water; 4500 Times; Big Fat Mama; Don’t Waste My Time; Roadhouse Blues; Rain; Down Down; Bye Bye Johnny.
Sunday line-up: After The Fire; Chelsea; Pacific Eardrum; Bethnal; Squeeze; John Otway; The Albion Band; Paul Inder; Ian Gillan Band; Tom Robinson Band; Foreigner; Patti Smith Group.
Memories: Paul Inder is Lemmy’s son and was 11 years old (!) at the time; what a great thing to do when you are 11 🙂 ; Bethnal were a good band, who had a manic violin player; Squeeze were fun; Otway was as crazy as ever (Really Free); Tom Robinson led a mass singalong of “Glad to be Gay”; and Foreigner went down well with the crowd. But the day belonged to Patti Smith who was amazing. I was a big fan and left my mates to push my way right to the front of the crowd for Patti’s set. She had the whole crowd with her as she tore into “Gloria”, “Because the Night” and great covers of the Byrds’ “So You Want to Be (A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star)” and the Who’s “My Generation”. Stunning. I saw her again at Newcastle City Hall two days later and she was equally as electric.
Patti Smith setlist: Rock n Roll Nigger; Privilege (Set Me Free); Redondo Beach; Free Money; Ghost Dance; It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World; So You Want to Be (A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star); Ask the Angels; 25th Floor; Because the Night; Gloria, You Light Up My Life; My Generation; Godspeed
18 May
Status Quo live in 1975 and 1976
Status Quo live in 1975 and 1976
1975 and 1976 were busy years for Status Quo. This wasn’t unusual, however, the work ethic of this band is outstanding; they just keep on playing. They hit the UK singles chart four times: with a live EP which featured “Roll Over Lay Down”, “Gerdundula” and “Junior’s Wailing”, then with one of my personal favourites “Rain”, then “Mystery Song” and “Wild Side of Life”. I saw the band twice at Newcastle City Hall; on 12th May 1975 and again on 9th March 1976.
From the 1975 tour programme: “”To begin with in 1971 we played for a tenner or a fiver just to keep going and retain the right to play things our way” says Richard Parfitt. “We knew it was the only way to build a future for ourselves and a reputation we could live with”. After a decade as rock musicians the Quo now have the respect and approval of a massive following who have put their seal on a band who can truly said to have succeeded by “Public Demand”. The swaying thousands who form massed choirs and wave their scarves at a Quo concert to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”…have turned the Quo into unsuperstars of the Seventies…When the critics eventually put their group hierarchy into perspective in later years it will almost inevitably be those groups who kept to basics like the Stones, the Who and Quo who will be remembered as being the heart of this Generation’s music….Quo believe in what they are doing and millions ll over the work have come to believe they are “On the Level” too.”
Support for the 1975 tour was the excellent Pretty Things, who were a big favourite of mine at the time. They had just released the “Silk Torpedo” album which saw them entering a glam / heavy rock phase. Its opening song “Joey / The Dream” is just great. Front man Phil May was as energetic as ever, the rest of the line-up had changed quite a bit since the first times I saw them in the early 70s. Quo released two albums” “On the Level” and “Blue for You”, both of which were respectable slabs of rock, although not as heavy as the “QUO” album. Andy Bown joined the band as a permanent member on keyboards. Support for the 1976 tour was Shanghai, a new band fronted by 60s rocker Cliff Bennett of the Rebel Rousers fame. These were, as always, great gigs.
Status Quo also recorded two shows at Glasgow Apollo in 1976, and released them as a live album, called simply “Live”. The record is one of the few that manages to capture the excitement and rawness of a band at the height of their powers, and documents just how great Quo live were in those days. That it was recorded at the Apollo was entirely appropriate; the great venue had, along with Hammy Odeon and Brid Spa, become a second home for the band. The Glasgow crowds really knew how to rock and got fully behind Quo. On the other side of the coin, if a Glasgow crowd didn’t like a band, they would let them know. The “Live” album was the blueprint for the recent classic frantic four line-up reunion.
Typical setlist of the period: Junior’s Wailing, Mad about the Boy, Backwater / Just take me, Is there a better Way, Little Lady / Most of the Time, 4500 Times, Rain, Roll over lay Down, Don’t waste my Time, Roadhouse Blues, Caroline, Bye Bye Johnny.
It was 1978 before I saw Quo again, when they returned to the Reading festival as triumphant headliners. I’ll write about that weekend of rock tomorrow.
17 May
Status Quo 1974 QUO and on tour again
Status Quo 1974 QUO and on tour again
Quo-woh-oh-oh-oh….Some time in the mid-70s the Quo rituals started. A few drinks in the City Tavern and then in the City Hall bar, catch some of the support act (always guaranteed to be good, so had to watch them), and then up to our seats, the lights would go down and then our chant would start…”Quo-woh-oh-oh-oh….” The Quo intro drone would play and then they would run on stage, Alan at the front for the first song, which we knew would be “Juniors Wailing”.
“Love me baby, love me when I’m down; I said love me baby, love me when I’m down; Yeah you gotta love me baby; ‘cos there’s no use hanging around” (Junior’s Wailing, cover of a Steamhammer song).
Yes it was the same every time, but that was part of the fun, the ritual. The guys (I was going to call them our heroes, which they were, but that just doesn’t feel right, they were more like our mates) were up on that stage and everything felt good. For a few hours we were removed from our day to day lives, and subjected to loud music, frantic rocking with a sell-out crowd, all of whom understood and felt it in exactly the same way as we did. Oh and we had to wear denim. Levi jacket and jeans and t-shirt (ok maybe Wrangler was also allowed).
The other ritual was “the jig”. Not sure when it started, or exactly which song it featured in (I think it may have been included during “Roadhouse Blues” which was always extended and epic) but it became a regular feature of Quo shows in the ’70s, and we came to look forward to, and enjoy it. It’s going to sound naff now, and pretty uncool, but it was basically an Irish type jig played on guitar, led by Francis, and we all had to jump up and down to it. Picture a completely full, hot, sweaty, City Hall, towards the end of the gig, everyone in denim, hair flying around, jumping up and down in our seats with the three Quo front men on stage jumping up and down in front of us. Pure magic (ok it doesn’t sound cool, but you had to be there).
I saw Status Quo twice in 1974, the 9th and 10th times I saw the band. The first time was at Newcastle City Hall on 20th May 1974. The band were so popular that this time they sold out two nights at the City Hall, I went on the second night. I saw them again later that year when they came back to the North East and played at Sunderland Empire on 1st December 1974. I remember going to the Sunderland gig with a load of mates. Looking at the ticket for that gig we were right up in the cheap seats that night (40p! bargain). Note the Empire tickets never named the band in those days.
Support act for the City Hall show was Montrose and at the Empire it was SNAFU. There was a big buzz around Montrose at the time. Montrose were fronted by the late great guitarist Ronnie Montrose and (later of Van Halen) Sammy Hagar on vocals. They had just released their debut album, and the awesome tracks “Bad Motor Scooter” and “Space Station #5” were big dance floor favourites at rock nights in the local Mayfair (Newcastle) and Mecca (Sunerland) ballrooms. It was one of the few times that the City Hall was completely full for the support act.
I’d seen Montrose just two days before, when they appeared on the bill at the Who’s Charlton concert. Montrose were great, very loud, rocking and full of energy. One of the few acts who almost (in my view) managed to upstage the mighty Quo. Hagar was a crazy front man, and Montrose an ace guitarist. From the QUO tour programme: “Montrose have compiled an energy-laden set consisting mostly of original compositions with the bonus of an amazing live version of the Roy Brown classic “Good Rockin’ Tonight”, that’ll keep your feet a dancin’ and your fingers poppin’.” Well I don’t remember my fingers poppin’ 🙂 but I do remember some “Good Rockin'”.
Typical Quo Setlist from this year: Junior’s Wailing, Backwater/Just take me, Claudie, Railroad, Roll over lay down, Big Fat Mama, Don’t waste my Time, Roadhouse Blues, Caroline, Down Down, Bye Bye Johnny.
Status Quo released their seventh studio LP “QUO” 1974. The album included the single “Break the Rules” which reached No 8 in the UK single charts. QUO reached No 2 in the album charts. It is pure classic Quo and one of their heaviest, due to the influence of bass player Alan Lancaster, who wrote six of the eight tracks. “Backwater” and “Just Take Me” were soon to become live favourites; “Backwater” in particular, is one of Status Quo’s best rockers. Quo hit No 1 in November 1974, with “Down Down” another classic, and yet another live favourite. There were truly on a roll.
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