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And yet now,
some 30 odd years later, the Quo are lumped in the same bag as
artists like ‘Cliff Richard’ and ‘Cilla Black’. And for as far as I
can see, for no other crime than being over 50 years old.
Mind you,
nobody takes the mick out of the ‘Rolling Stones’ (and they are
positively ancient), and you couldn’t get a ticket for love nor
money for ‘Led Zepplin’ in fact the reverence held for that band was
positively reverential. And they are all well into their 60’s.
Now don’t
get me wrong, I would never put Status Quo in the same league as
‘The Zep’, but when we were kids Status Quo was cool, and no school
disco or wedding party was complete until everybody got down and got
with it to ‘Caroline’ or ‘Down down’.
And you have
to remember, it was Status Quo that opened the legionary ‘Live Aid’
a gig only eclipsed in myth by ‘Woodstock’
And yet
now……a joke!!
And to be
honest I really can’t see why, as Status Quo does exactly what they
say on the tin.
Every year
they return to The Colston Hall, and every year they sell out two
nights at nearly forty quid a ticket. They must be doing something
right.
The use a
tried and trusted formula that’s for sure. The lights go down; there
is a rumble of a synth, that sort of stadium rumble that gets the
hairs up on the back of your neck. Ricky Parfitt’s rhythm guitar
kicks in before Francis Rossi cranks out the opening riffs of
‘Caroline’. The crowd erupts.
Now this is
the forth time I have see the Quo (yes my wife likes them), and they
always open with ‘Caroline’. It could be that the audience is made
up of people of a certain age that really does not respond well to
‘change’, I prefer to think that it is the Status Quo signature and
it is their way of simply saying ‘evening’.
The gig
itself is nearly two hours long (not bad for gentlemen of their age)
and they cram as many songs as they can into that time (thank the
Lord they didn’t stick the dire ‘Margarita Time’ in there.)
They often
tag several classic Quo numbers onto the ends of songs in way of a
medley, just so the audience doesn’t go home disappointed that they
didn’t play their favourite song. Now since the band have been
recording since the mid sixties, that’s a lot of songs to cram into
a two hour set. However, I for one wasn’t disappointed.
There was
one poignant moment when they played ‘You’re in the army now’. I
always used to think that this was a bit of a throwaway pop song.
However, in the light of world events, it suddenly had a clout I had
not perceived before (blimey, the Quo making a political statement,
who’d have thought it eh!)
If he hadn’t
been in a band Frances Rossi could easily have been a stand up
comedian, and on the occasions that there was a break between the
songs (probably giving Parfitt the opportunity to change the
batteries in his pace maker) Rossi bantered with the crowd like as
if he were holding court in his local as opposed to entertaining
1800 people.
Mind you he
did explain the strange smell of curry that kept on wafting around
the hall. Apparently one of the road crew was cooking the bands
supper down in the Green room….rock & roll boys!
One thing
that did make me chuckle was the sheer age range of the audience.
Clearly there were people there who had brought along their
grandchildren.
In fact at
one point, an elderly lady, who had probably decided that an hour
was quite enough for her thank you so very much, staggered down the
steps with her walking stick. I kid you not; she could have doubled
for the Queen, only older. Perhaps that’s why people point the
finger and laugh. There were people in that audience that were older
than my parents (and I aint a teenager anymore, by a long
shot!.......not that I can imagine my mum going to a Quo gig…mores
the pity).
So, Status
Quo! Institution or joke?
I had a
think about this and I thought in order to express where I think
they lie in the order of things, I would compare them to television
comedy. (Bear with me), If bands like the ‘The Kaiser Chiefs’
and ‘Snow Patrol’ are like say ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ and
‘Have I got News for You’, and bands like ‘Radio Head’
are ‘The Mighty Boosh’ and say ‘Baby Shambles’ is ‘Shameless’
then Status Quo is the ‘Only Fools & Horses Christmas Special’.
It aint cool, it aint cutting edge, buts lets be honest; it wouldn’t
be Christmas without it.
So no! I
don’t think they are a joke, and if the capacity crowd at the
Colston Hall is anything to go by, Status Quo remain dear to many
people’s hearts and a damn fine rock & roll band.
And just as
an aside, I tried to buy their new CD (the self effacing titled ‘In
search of the forth chord) for my wife as a Christmas stocking
filler. I couldn’t get it anywhere, everybody had sold out!
So I guess
that Status Quo has had the last laugh. |
