STATUS QUO, 10cc @LG Arena, Birmingham 7/2/13

As a very small boy RTM loved nothing more than making fake radio shows. At the age of five this usually entailed borrowing our mum and dad's records and playing them while we told the time to our action man figures (this surely is what DJing is - minus the action man figures, obviously)

    

One of the albums that our parents had was "Original Soundtrack" by 10CC.  We used to play "I'm Not In Love" then got a little older and got our own LPs and rather lost touch with Graham Gouldman and the boys. 

Strange then that RTM got the chance to reconnect with them tonight and our verdict is that they weren't bad at all. They do play "....Love" of course, and "Dreadlock Holiday" which is the one about loving cricket that every cricket ground thinks they have to play before a one-day game, but there is more to them than that. 

Opener "Wall St Shuffle" rocks in an understated Eagles type way, while "Good Morning Judge" and its funky baseline hits the spot. Best of all, however are the harmonies in "I'm Mandy Fly Me" and last song "Rubber Bullets" with its boogie guitars and sax solo. You know when something is way better than you thought it would be? Yeah, that.  

"You got your phones at the ready?" Enquires Francis Rossi. "I'm serious," says the Quo's venerable frontman. "There's a lot of old men on this stage and you'll need to film it if one of us dies, you can put it on wotsit tube." Welcome to the tongue in cheek world of Status Quo. 

These Christmas shows have become something of a fixture on the gig calendar in the last decade. This is the modern Quo, not the Fantastic Four version, so they play a couple of songs from brand new album "Bula Quo," the superb "Looking For Caroline" and "Go, Go, Go." The songs are basically a soundtrack for the film of the same name ("we feel we should apologise for it, but they gave us a lot of money," says Rossi) and form a quartet of new(ish) songs that are played, along with "Rock and Roll And You" and "End Of The Beginning" from the previous "Quid Pro Quo" opus. 

The band deserve credit for playing these songs. It would be easy for them to turn up, knock out the hits and go, but they don't. They look to be genuinely enjoying themselves, with Rossi in particular chatting to the crowd like he's with mates in the pub. 

There are plenty of classics from the Quo back catalogue, right from opener "Caroline" to main set closing "Rockin All Over The World" and listening to them, you realise what a phenomenal band they are. Like AC/DC, Thin Lizzy or Iron Maiden they have that signature twin guitar sound, that is at once familiar and yet could only be Status Quo.  

Underrated musicians too, both Rossi and Rick Parfitt are superb guitarists, while new drummer Leon Cave gets a solo spot and has seemingly fitted in well. 

Often Quo encore with Christmas songs at these shows, not tonight - although they do return with "Burning Bridges" which sounds incredibly like one anyway, before "Juniors Wailing" and  a medley "Rock n Roll Music" and "Bye Bye Johnny" end a brilliant night. 

With a slot at Download 2014 in the bag, it appears that the rock and metal world is again waking up to the fact that Status Quo are one of the very finest bands we have. There have been better gigs this year, but nothing has been more fun than this.

STATUS QUO, The Treatment @Wolverhampton Civic Hall 13/3/13

You have to hand it to The Treatment. The chances are that if you have been to a rock gig in the last two years, they have been the opening act. In the last six months they have been around America with Kiss and Motley Crue, the length and breadth of Britain with Thin Lizzy, they have supported Slash on his recent short arena tour and now this, sold-out jaunt with the original Status Quo.

Such experience has proved invaluable and they are slowly moving from the fresh-faced kids with potential that RTM saw at the bottom of a free gig in Nuneaton a couple of years ago to a confident hard rock band.

Depending on your point of view they are outdated glam chancers, or are trying to inject some of the sunset strip into British rock. At RTM we are very much in the latter camp and, whilst you are never going to get a Dream Theater or Slayer or whoever singing songs like “I Want Love” or “Get The Party On” in a world where bands like Bon Jovi are sticking out execrable nonsense, there needs to be some good time rock and roll about and in that respect The Treatment are as good as it gets right now.

In case you didn’t know this reunion of the original Status Quo line-up – “The Frantic Four” of Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, John Coughlan and Alan Lancaster – is a pretty big deal. This is the bands second show in Wolverhampton in the space of a week and both were sold out.

The chants of “Quo, Quo, Quo” have started almost as soon as The Treatment end and at 8.05 precisely the houselights go down and the voice says “Are you ready to rock? Will you welcome the finest rock band in the world…..Status Quo!” The quartet duly launch into the old blues boogie standard “Junior’s Wailing.”

To say the reception is good is an understatement. All around RTM there is pandemonium a fact that the effortlessly charming Rossi has 3, albeit cheekily, when he says “you feel better now? It like you have finished after whatsitcalled….you’ve had your climax now, you’ve climaxed all over this band…”

Actually the whole show is one big thrill. Absolutely flawless from beginning to end, the band is clearly loving it and the crowd lap it up. The songs too are pretty much just a joyous run-through of boogie, Lancaster sings the first two, Parfitt weighs in with “Little Lady” and Rossi sings most of the rest.

The two guitarists show their skills here, with the interplay really to the fore, while Coughlan – who has aged a little better than bassman Lancaster, who is clearly struggling with his movement by the end – keeps the beat superbly despite the stifling heat.

After “Roadhouse Blues” finishes the main set they are soon back for “Don’t Waste My Time” and the Chuck Berry standard “Bye Bye Johnny almost literally waves us a fond farewell.

This is the second time RTM has seen Quo. The first was the Christmas show last year, which was good, but nowhere near as good as this. This is Quo as they should be, just a damn fine boogie rock band, with rubbish like “Margarita Time” and a Christmas carol medley stripped away. The gig had a relaxed vibe – Lancaster found time to pick his nose before “(April) Spring Summer and Wednesdays” for example – but was an almost perfect celebration of a fine British rock band. 

STATUS QUO @LG ARENA, Birmingham 17/12/12

Whilst we know that Status Quo are one of the great institutions of UK music. Every Christmas they embark on this trek around the country and everyone who has seen it says how excellent it is.  RTM has previously been skeptical and has avoided such things. However, this year we caved in and decided to go and see what the fuss was about.

Where we do draw the line, though, is in watching Bonnie Tyler, who is the chief support for this evening. Frustratingly this means we miss Eddie And The Hot Rods too, but some things are a price worth paying.

When we do enter the arena, we find the dynamics of the crowd quite interesting. And happily we are far from out of place clad in a Thin Lizzy t-shirt. There are some people who seem to be waiting for the local Am Dram Society to murder some pantomime, but mostly it is music fans that know their way around a Marshall stack that greet us.

If that means portents are good, any lingering doubts are swept away just about the second that the opening riff to “Caroline” starts up. Immediately it becomes clear that what Quo are providing is a boogie rock masterclass, that is part Chas and Dave and part Thunder. Francis Rossi exudes cheeky chappy charm, Rick Parfitt shooting the crowd with his guitar a la Steve Harris, while both are backed superbly by bass man John Edwards, keyboard player Andy Brown – who also appears on guitar – and drummer Matt Letley, on his last tour with the group.

As you would expect the hits are here and all present and correct, but there is more than a smattering of tunes to keep the people who don’t think a gig is just a jukebox happy. There is a medley with a different take on some of their songs and an outing for “Rock N Roll And You” from last years “Quid Pro Quo” album – which largely convinced us to check the band out in the first place – which proves that they have much to offer still.

Indeed, the real massive hits are saved for the end of a captivating hour and three quarters. There can be no one who has ever heard music who doesn’t know “Down Down,” “Whatever You Want” and “Rockin’ All Over The World.” This triumvirate would have been a suitable – and stunning – way to finish this off. As it is we get a Christmas medley and “Burning Bridges” by way of closure. And yes, I know its festive but that doesn’t make a Christmas medley any better.

There is one other quibble. “Margarita Time” is just awful. It is as awful now as when we first heard it all those years ago, but that doesn’t detract from the inescapable fact that this was just about the most fun you could have possibly had and will appear in the best gigs of the year list.

Tonight was the night we finally got the appeal of the Quo.