I have had an incredible week. Getting to see the original Status Quo lineup twice has been quite simply amazing. Quo are a band that have just always been there. Watching the Hello Quo film brought that home, there was just so much that I remembered watching on TV at the time. I grew up in a household where interests were (still are) actively encouraged, so I must have reacted to Quo's music as one day I was bought a video box set featuring stuff from the original lineup - all that hair flying around obviously made an impression.
Fast forward many years later and I'm idly wandering around HMV when I come across a box set of four early Quo albums on CD. It was only tenner and worth every penny as it rekindled the relationship with their stuff of that era. This inevitably has led to more purchases and then came news of the reunion. Did I want to go? Too bloody right!
They say the waiting is the hardest part, but finally March rolled around. I filled in a lot of that waiting time explaining that the version of Quo I was going see wasn't the current version. They wouldn't be performing songs about being in the army or burning bridges. I was eager to know what they would be performing, so couldn't resist a peek at the set list when the tour began. Although there are other songs I would have hoped to have heard played live by the Frantic Four I was not disappointed in the least.
Both of the gigs were amazing. At Manchester I was seated and had a great view. Hammersmith was a different beast, I was standing. Despite the sloping floor I was a tiny bit too short to see them well, but to be honest the atmosphere made up for that.
The sound was amazing. It wasn't polished, it was a raw and loud onslaught on the eardrums - it was marvellous! The audiences were brilliant and bounced along, even on the balcony! It pumped you full of adrenaline and made you feel good.
I'm so glad I was able to go more than once. It doesn't matter that the set list was the same each night - that just meant that I knew when to take a deep breath because a favourite track was about to begin and just had to be sung and danced along to! My personal highlight on both nights was Big Fat Mama. I expected to be hoarse after Hammersmith, I sang along that loud!
I have already posted links to videos and photos for the Manchester gig here.
Some Hammersmith Photos -
Here's a link my unedited Hammersmith photo set on Flickr.
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