|
Post by Crapmodem on Dec 10, 2017 0:17:08 GMT
So I went to see Status Quo play Hammersmith on Friday night.
As usual I will put exactly what I think, although I will try not to offend.
The place was crowded but not full. Perhaps about the same as when the FF played there in 2014. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the swift decline of public interest in Aquostic, the failure to realise this was happening in time, together with the poor (in my opinion) publicity is now leading to declining crowds on what is supposed to be the band's home turf.
Having said that, the crowd were certainly 'up for it' - the chanting during Rain was louder than I can remember for current Quo in many years.
I was at the very right hand end of the 8th row in the stalls, with Cammy and his mate in front of me and (Sir) Paul Hirsh behind me.
At the start of the gig, the sound was terrible. Remember the version of Caroline on the Riffs album? That's what it sounded like. Francis did say that the sound check had been atrocious. Fortunately things on that front improved fast.
The band played and sang very well. The gig was a stormer. I was bored rigid.
Why? The absence of Rick is certainly a factor. Richie is delivering in spades, so no offence to him, but I want to see Rick Parfitt up there and, may he rest in peace, that ain't gonna happen.
But there is a much more significant reason. Until recently the comparatively static set list has annoyed me, but a Quo gig is a Quo gig, so I just let it ride. Not any more. As Softer Ride ended, I thought "not BOTE again surely?" But there it was. The Oriental followed by CUOY? Inevitably. God it was boring.
Don't Drive My Car was tremendous. Not because it rocks, although it does. Not because it is an inventive new take on a Quo favourite, although it is. The reason it was so good is that it was a breath of fresh air, in the middle of a pile of 20 year old laundry. The roar of the crowd at the end of it should be telling the band something but, yet again, nobody is listening. Don't Waste was a smaller breath of fresh air after a long time out but apart from that it was just same old same old.
If you are going to get Andy up front for Don't Drive, the obvious accompanying move is to put Bad News in the set. Lose BOTE, TO, CUOY etc. What about Lies? Mess of Blues? Dust To Gold? Red Sky? Claudie? Jam Side Down? Frozen Hero? Any of those would spruce things up and few would complain.
I have no bad feeling towards anyone - it's been a fantastic trip and I have a wonderful store of memories, plus some beautiful friendships, but it is at last time for me to move on.
To those who are still enjoying it (Cammy certainly was) I wish you much happiness.
But there you have it. That's my lot. Exactly 350 Status Quo concerts, thank you and goodnight.
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,559
|
Post by mortified on Dec 10, 2017 8:20:44 GMT
Don't Drive My Car was tremendous....it was a breath of fresh air, in the middle of a pile of 20 year old laundry.
Love that analogy! Excellent report, Mr Modem. Extremely well balanced. And it has indeed been a blast. And a pleasure. The jury is still out for me (and mine). I think Ali and Karen would chuck it right now. We weren't even supposed to be going this time had it not been for the Aquostic debacle. I enjoyed Newcastle immensely but the travelling is becoming a real chore. It probably always has been; I'm just less tolerant than I was I don't think many would disagree with you about the set. Rather than anticipation of what we're about to see and hear, it has become one of acceptance. Or not obviously. That is easily resolved (says he with no authority whatsoever). But, like you say, no one is listening. Or they are but ducking the issue. Or happy with their lot. Which is fair enough. One thing is certain with this band though. It has never been an uninteresting ride. For any of us. Constant debate proves that. See you out there sometime maybe. Never say never say....
|
|
LOZ
Special Forces
Guardian Of The Calendar
BEEP BEEP YOU WONT CATCH ME.
Posts: 3,344
|
Post by LOZ on Dec 10, 2017 11:00:27 GMT
this is (I think) the only year that ive not done the winter gig. (the problems with my neck prevented me from going anyway) but ya know what.... I aint hardly thought about it or missed it.
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Dec 10, 2017 12:18:09 GMT
Completely share the sentiments about the set - and I've been going to merely one gig per year for quite some time. Still .. the predictability paired with the fact that I don't much like half of the songs takes so much away from what certainly is a very good and tight performance from the band. I miss the excitement and I'd probably not have gone had they switched our acoustic gigs to electric as well. They played a summer festival in one of my favourite spots here and I couldn't bring myself to go. Remember, not so long ago we had three QPQ songs in the set or the fantastic opening threesome of Caroline, Paper Plane and Hold You Back. I loved it. Makes me feel sad to think how it has deteriorated since. On the other hand - I'm very much looking forward to the gig next Wednesday. I know it'll be exciting with a different and even different acoustic set. They've got a lot to consider next year. If they get it right I'll be back in 2019, if not .. Congrats to the 350 gigs Crapmodem
|
|
|
Post by problemshalved on Dec 10, 2017 14:06:05 GMT
As the set list has been largely static since Heavy Traffic, is it really the set list that has led to boredom, but simply no person can attend that many gigs without eventually realising why the hell am I doing this so often apart from habit. I think even seeing Bruce Springsteen that often with his famous reputation for variety, would eventually lead to the same conclusion.
As I have said before Quo have relied on a hard core of multi giggers all through their long history but eventually through old age, better things to do with life and lack of a new generation of multi giggers, it becomes a law of diminish8ng returns
|
|
|
Post by cammythemortonfan on Dec 10, 2017 14:07:12 GMT
So I went to see Status Quo play Hammersmith on Friday night.
As usual I will put exactly what I think, although I will try not to offend.
The place was crowded but not full. Perhaps about the same as when the FF played there in 2014. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the swift decline of public interest in Aquostic, the failure to realise this was happening in time, together with the poor (in my opinion) publicity is now leading to declining crowds on what is supposed to be the band's home turf.
Having said that, the crowd were certainly 'up for it' - the chanting during Rain was louder than I can remember for current Quo in many years.
I was at the very right hand end of the 8th row in the stalls, with Cammy and his mate in front of me and (Sir) Paul Hirsch behind me.
At the start of the gig, the sound was terrible. Remember the version of Caroline on the Riffs album? That's what it sounded like. Francis did say that the sound check had been atrocious. Fortunately things on that front improved fast.
The band played and sang very well. The gig was a stormer. I was bored rigid.
Why? The absence of Rick is certainly a factor. Richie is delivering in spades, so no offence to him, but I want to see Rick Parfitt up there and, may he rest in peace, that ain't gonna happen.
But there is a much more significant reason. Until recently the comparatively static set list has annoyed me, but a Quo gig is a Quo gig, so I just let it ride. Not any more. As Softer Ride ended, I thought "not BOTE again surely?" But there it was. The Oriental followed by CUOY? Inevitably. God it was boring.
Don't Drive My Car was tremendous. Not because it rocks, although it does. Not because it is an inventive new take on a Quo favourite, although it is. The reason it was so good is that it was a breath of fresh air, in the middle of a pile of 20 year old laundry. The roar of the crowd at the end of it should be telling the band something but, yet again, nobody is listening. Don't Waste was a smaller breath of fresh air after a long time out but apart from that it was just same old same old.
If you are going to Get Andy up front for Don't Drive, the obvious accompanying move is to put Bad News in the set. Lose BOTE, TO, CUOY etc. What about Lies? Mess of Blues? Dust To Gold, Red Sky? Claudie? Jam Side Down? Frozen Hero? Any of those would spruce things up and few would complain.
I have no bad feeling towards anyone - it's been a fantastic trip and I have a wonderful store of memories, plus some beautiful friendships, but it is at last time for me to move on.
To those who are still enjoying it (Cammy certainly was) I wish you much happiness.
But there you have it. That's my lot. Exactly 350 Status Quo concerts, thank you and goodnight.
Hi! It was lovely to see you on Friday. Of the list of songs to throw into the mix, I don’t understand why Rolling Home isn’t considered. It has all the elements- a song that Joe Public knows, a singalong chorus, a potential everyone get clapping bit ( just going into “all the money that I’ve saved”) and they know it works when played as part of the medley and live acoustically. David, I hope that In two years time they make the changes that could entice you back. If not, it’s been great to see you over the years and we’ll catch up at the McVention next October 👍
|
|
|
Post by 747727 on Dec 10, 2017 18:05:44 GMT
I agree with most of that. The set needs an overhaul. There is no reason to play the oriental cuoy and bote. No one apart from the big quo fans know them so they could all be dropped for something else. Id be happy to see rain go too as rhino ruins it not only with his awful voice but the key drop makes it worse too. The version of ddmc is pretty bad too and im not keen on andys singing either. I booked tickets for the acoustic tour which is what I wanted mainly as the set list is different so I was disapointed when it was changed. Also rhinos bass sounded terrible is was so twangy and didnt suit quo's sound at all.
|
|
|
Post by mikebelgium32 on Dec 10, 2017 18:51:35 GMT
So I went to see Status Quo play Hammersmith on Friday night.
As usual I will put exactly what I think, although I will try not to offend.
The place was crowded but not full. Perhaps about the same as when the FF played there in 2014. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the swift decline of public interest in Aquostic, the failure to realise this was happening in time, together with the poor (in my opinion) publicity is now leading to declining crowds on what is supposed to be the band's home turf.
Having said that, the crowd were certainly 'up for it' - the chanting during Rain was louder than I can remember for current Quo in many years.
I was at the very right hand end of the 8th row in the stalls, with Cammy and his mate in front of me and (Sir) Paul Hirsch behind me.
At the start of the gig, the sound was terrible. Remember the version of Caroline on the Riffs album? That's what it sounded like. Francis did say that the sound check had been atrocious. Fortunately things on that front improved fast.
The band played and sang very well. The gig was a stormer. I was bored rigid.
Why? The absence of Rick is certainly a factor. Richie is delivering in spades, so no offence to him, but I want to see Rick Parfitt up there and, may he rest in peace, that ain't gonna happen.
But there is a much more significant reason. Until recently the comparatively static set list has annoyed me, but a Quo gig is a Quo gig, so I just let it ride. Not any more. As Softer Ride ended, I thought "not BOTE again surely?" But there it was. The Oriental followed by CUOY? Inevitably. God it was boring.
Don't Drive My Car was tremendous. Not because it rocks, although it does. Not because it is an inventive new take on a Quo favourite, although it is. The reason it was so good is that it was a breath of fresh air, in the middle of a pile of 20 year old laundry. The roar of the crowd at the end of it should be telling the band something but, yet again, nobody is listening. Don't Waste was a smaller breath of fresh air after a long time out but apart from that it was just same old same old.
If you are going to Get Andy up front for Don't Drive, the obvious accompanying move is to put Bad News in the set. Lose BOTE, TO, CUOY etc. What about Lies? Mess of Blues? Dust To Gold, Red Sky? Claudie? Jam Side Down? Frozen Hero? Any of those would spruce things up and few would complain.
I have no bad feeling towards anyone - it's been a fantastic trip and I have a wonderful store of memories, plus some beautiful friendships, but it is at last time for me to move on.
To those who are still enjoying it (Cammy certainly was) I wish you much happiness.
But there you have it. That's my lot. Exactly 350 Status Quo concerts, thank you and goodnight.
|
|
|
Post by mikebelgium32 on Dec 10, 2017 19:02:56 GMT
, I’m not really good with my new IPhone. Anyway. So you was not in the front, wearing a santa hat, mr crapmodem. I saw 4 of them hats. I still enjoy the show. I don’t mind Rhino and Andrew singing. It was very emotional for me, the opening with Caroline, litlle lady,... I do miss Rick. Richie does his best, but it will never Be the same.
|
|
|
Post by smokie on Dec 11, 2017 13:12:20 GMT
Don't see how anyone could disagree or take offence with any of that.
I'm sure quite a few of us on here sat nodding our heads whilst reading it, I know I did.
We've all got our reasons for going/not going and I'm one of those currently in the "not going" camp.
It's mainly the set list for me and I don't buy this "flow" thing or that other thing about blank faces when they've introduced songs in the set that haven't been well received. It's a joke really the length of time that The Oriental, Creeping etc have remained not only in the set but in the same place in the set. It's either a lack of imagination or complacency, or a combination of both.
I think I would have gone had the show near me been Aquostic.
Perhaps they will come back refreshed and enthused, I hope they do but I/we will just have to wait and see.
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Dec 11, 2017 14:23:50 GMT
Don't see how anyone could disagree or take offence with any of that.
I'm sure quite a few of us on here sat nodding our heads whilst reading it, I know I did.
We've all got our reasons for going/not going and I'm one of those currently in the "not going" camp.
It's mainly the set list for me and I don't buy this "flow" thing or that other thing about blank faces when they've introduced songs in the set that haven't been well received. It's a joke really the length of time that The Oriental, Creeping etc have remained not only in the set but in the same place in the set. It's either a lack of imagination or complacency, or a combination of both.
I think I would have gone had the show near me been Aquostic.
Perhaps they will come back refreshed and enthused, I hope they do but I/we will just have to wait and see. I was just listening to an interview with Francis from November, and I think he creates these 'reasons' in his mind for not changing the set. To him they are valid reasons, to us they are either not true or are excuses. Maybe he should put someone else in charge of the set list....like he did Alan for the first FF reunion!
|
|
frozenhero
Administrator
Drop-D beautiful
Posts: 1,420
|
Post by frozenhero on Dec 19, 2017 17:22:45 GMT
If you are going to get Andy up front for Don't Drive, the obvious accompanying move is to put Bad News in the set. Lose BOTE, TO, CUOY etc. What about Lies? Mess of Blues? Dust To Gold? Red Sky? Claudie? Jam Side Down? Frozen Hero? Any of those would spruce things up and few would complain.
That's it! In a nutshell! But the band haven't listened, and they probably won't at this point...
|
|
|
Post by smokie on Dec 19, 2017 21:18:16 GMT
Don't see how anyone could disagree or take offence with any of that.
I'm sure quite a few of us on here sat nodding our heads whilst reading it, I know I did.
We've all got our reasons for going/not going and I'm one of those currently in the "not going" camp.
It's mainly the set list for me and I don't buy this "flow" thing or that other thing about blank faces when they've introduced songs in the set that haven't been well received. It's a joke really the length of time that The Oriental, Creeping etc have remained not only in the set but in the same place in the set. It's either a lack of imagination or complacency, or a combination of both.
I think I would have gone had the show near me been Aquostic.
Perhaps they will come back refreshed and enthused, I hope they do but I/we will just have to wait and see. I was just listening to an interview with Francis from November, and I think he creates these 'reasons' in his mind for not changing the set. To him they are valid reasons, to us they are either not true or are excuses. Maybe he should put someone else in charge of the set list....like he did Alan for the first FF reunion! I think you've probably hit the nail on head there. I think I've read in the past that when they have changed the set, they pretty quickly changed it back to what we all know and dislike. Then the "it didn't flow" excuses are trotted out to justify sticking to what they know. Any change would take time to adjust to but they just don't seem, or want to do that and that attitude has lead us to where we are. Is disillusionment too strong a word?
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Dec 20, 2017 0:19:58 GMT
I was just listening to an interview with Francis from November, and I think he creates these 'reasons' in his mind for not changing the set. To him they are valid reasons, to us they are either not true or are excuses. Maybe he should put someone else in charge of the set list....like he did Alan for the first FF reunion! I think you've probably hit the nail on head there. I think I've read in the past that when they have changed the set, they pretty quickly changed it back to what we all know and dislike. Then the "it didn't flow" excuses are trotted out to justify sticking to what they know. Any change would take time to adjust to but they just don't seem, or want to do that and that attitude has lead us to where we are. Is disillusionment too strong a word? No. One of the things he said, and I'm paraphrasing, is that he wanted people to know what they were doing. I won't say anymore because I can't remember it well enough! But in other words they are sticking to the tried and trusted, he has to feel comfortable with it. It begs the questions, how did he feel when he went and played his solo gigs with a new set, how did he feel in 2013 when the FF had a new set? Does it feel that bad? If he can do that why can't he do it every year with Quo (or at least every few years)!?! If you feel disillusioned smokie, that's fine with me!
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Dec 20, 2017 9:27:59 GMT
If you are going to get Andy up front for Don't Drive, the obvious accompanying move is to put Bad News in the set. Lose BOTE, TO, CUOY etc. What about Lies? Mess of Blues? Dust To Gold? Red Sky? Claudie? Jam Side Down? Frozen Hero? Any of those would spruce things up and few would complain.
That's it! In a nutshell! But the band haven't listened, and they probably won't at this point... Nope, sadly they don't listen. And we have tried, constructively. We've done polls which songs we'd love to hear the most live and which songs could be taken out without the vast majority bothering. We tried to tell them what the fans that go to gigs want, but they weren't interested
|
|
frozenhero
Administrator
Drop-D beautiful
Posts: 1,420
|
Post by frozenhero on Dec 20, 2017 10:22:35 GMT
Has anybody ever tried to contact Rhino through his tourlog email address? I'm sure he would be glad to hear that (some) fans would prefer them having a go at some of his tracks instead of him struggling with Rick's vocals...
|
|
|
Post by Rick Roper on Dec 21, 2017 10:31:53 GMT
Having read Mr. Modem's review, I can empathise with him completely. Only met you once David, it was a pleasure to meet you though...
I had absolutely no interest in the Aquostic stuff, and like many others, I feel that there is an absolute refusal to move out of the comfort zone regarding the setlist, which has become so predictable over the last 15-20 years really. I'm sad to say, but the Band that I've loved and held far and away above any other for the last 40 years since I first saw them, is slipping off my radar... Rick's death left a gap which can never be filled - No discredit to Richie Malone at all, I've heard he's a great guy and a top player - But no-one will ever replace the dynamic driving force and stage persona that was Rick Parfitt. Ever.
The Frantic Four are now the Frantic One, as I suspect the friendship between Francis and Alan now lies in tatters once again. I feel honoured to have been present for the two Frantic Four concerts which I attended - Little did I know it would be the last time I saw any band with Rick Parfitt playing in it. I am really glad that it happened, and that at the time hatchets had been buried.
In much the same way as Mr. Modem, I now find myself in a position of not being able to force myself to go to a post-Parfitt Quo gig... It's not the way I wanted it, but I drew a line after the Frantic Four - To me it was a Band going full-circle. I had seen the Frantic Four back in 1977 and seeing them in 2013 and 2014 brought back many happy memories. Those memories will be with me for the rest of my life, and I do not want to destroy them.
I wish the current lineup All the Very Best, and I will continue to be a member of FTMO. But from now on, I won't be at a Quo live show again. I've met a lot of fantastic people at the shows I've been to (all 408 of them), too many to mention. It's been a blast!
I'll be waiting for Airbourne to come around again, last time I saw them in Leeds it was mental! And bloody loud! But there will NEVER be any band who can replace Status Quo in my life.
Rick Roper.
|
|