Status Quo - Hammersmith 28th March 2014

I loved seeing the original Frantic Four Quo line up last year, so when the opportunity arose for one last chance I felt I had to go again. (and again, I'll be at one of the Manchester gigs too.)

Forget all the jokes about only knowing three chords and churning out the same songs, this was all out rock and roll. It's a very different show to those with the current line-up. It's not polished, it's just four guys ploughing through the classics. (Not that I personally mind the current line-up either, if it's a Quo show I know I'm going to have a good time)

Setlist wise it was mostly the same songs as last time, with a small running order change, an additional seque into Gotta Go Home from Forty-Five Hundred Times and an encore opener that was guaranteed to please the crowd!

We were catching up with old friends before the gig but we did manage to catch three Dr Feelgood tunes from Wilko Johnson who was the support act. I couldn't actually see him as we shoe horned ourselves in at the back. When people moved to the bar in the break we managed to get a better spec.

This time around we were surrounded by slightly rambunctious concert goers, they were having fun at least, but there was a bit too much conversation going on while the band were playing. I tuned them out mostly and concentrated on trying to see as I was a bit shorter than most of the audience.

Sounding even tighter than last year, Quo didn't disappoint.  A couple of songs had slightly different arrangements but all were powered home by the dynamics of the band. There wasn't loads of between song chat from the stage, and I'll be honest what there was I couldn't hear very well. I think Francis explained he had a sore leg due to playing football with Alan and he was bandaged up a bit tight.

The venue was hot and sweaty, as was both the audience and the band so bursting out into the chill of the night air shorty after the last notes of Bye Bye Johnny had rung out was a bit of a shock to the system making it a relief when the tube wasn't crowded and we could have a sit down. And the journey back to Milton Keynes was less of a nightmare than last time too. It wouldn't have matter too much though, it was a great night and I'm going to be feeling a little bit sad at the Manchester gig knowing that it's unlikely that I'll get to see this line-up again.

Cropped and edited photo set here.
Full unedited photo set here

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