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Let’s put some background markers down first – I first saw Quo in Sheffield in 1977 and assuming an average of a gig per tour since and then throw in the ad-hoc promotional stuff like the first Aquostic gig at the Roundhouse, Milton Keynes 1984, the Frantic Four’s Final Fling, the Guinness World Records last gig at Wembley, Live Aid, etc. etc, I’ve probably got fifty gigs under my belt. I’ve got family members I’ve seen less than Status Quo. They are in my DNA and I’ve loved them through good times and through some rather dark times – the ’80s, Bula Quo, the covers albums.
Honestly, (and only two people know this – my girlfriend and the readership of GRTR!!), three days of the year have always felt somehow inherently different to me….my birthday, Christmas Day and the day I was going to see Quo. So, I’m straddling the line here and I admit that I went because this tour really does look like the last one rather than to satisfy any curiosity that the set list might have changed (it hadn’t – in many years).
Status Quo has become a considerable brand, spanning the generations and outlasting cool to become part of the great British Entertainment legacy. Hell, for years Quo simply wouldn’t go away so eventually the popular culture establishment had to embrace them and now they are the darlings of the chat-show and major event circuit.
But like all big brands, personnel inevitably changes. C-Suite executives at BMW have changed many times over the years but a BMW is still a BMW. This was still Status Quo – the drone, the chugging, biting Tele-Strat attack, the witty repartee, the jigging and reeling, the sing-alongs, the camaraderie. But it felt different…
It’s in the “visual and the vocal” that I missed Ricky the most. There is no question that Parfitt’s replacement, Ritchie Malone, has all the chops so from the opening bars of Caroline to the jammed out “Bye, Bye….”, you can close your eyes and you’re back in your happy place. Parfitt’s vocal duties are fairly admirably handled by Rhino Edwards and Andy Bown but there was always something special about the Rossi/Parfitt vocal range and combination that fit the Fender Tele/Strat country rock jangle so perfectly.
Without wishing to get all nostalgic and blow smoke about how things “just aren’t the way they used to be”, you can get used to your living room with that wall knocked out and your bedroom with new furniture. I won’t have to get used to seeing Quo without Parfitt and I’m okay with that. I’ll go and see Rossi all day long so let’s hope his solo project provides that opportunity going forward. Acoustic – I’ve done, it was a novelty and I and don’t need to go again.
But here’s a thought – Rhino’s got talented musical off-spring honing their skills in The Woodedz, Francis’s son, Nick Rossi (Little Egypt) put out what I thought were a couple of very decent and worth-checking-out albums in Eyes Of The World (2003) and Rolling Down The Road Again (2011), Léon is a spring chicken drummer and Ritchie can rock the rhythm tight and all night…..Frantic Four 2, anyone ? Think what you could produce with a formula that’s worked for the best part of forty years plus some young blood with a fire in the belly and twelve bar boogie in its DNA – just saying.
Who can complain when your favourite band has given you something to look forward to for nearly forty years ? I can’t say I miss them already but I’ve got one unique day of the year less from now on.
Review by Mark ‘Mad Dog’ Shaw
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