Upsetting the Status Quo

It’s been a bad year for music fans. 

David Bowie, Prince and George Michael are just some of the stars that have left us, along with one of the founding members of a band that have been rocking for half a century.

Just a few days before Christmas, I headed up to Glasgow to catch the mighty Status Quo live. Billed as “The Last Night of the Electrics” tour, it really was a ‘last chance to see’ gig, with the band finally coming to the end of 50 years of rock’n’rollin’ on the road.

Notably absent was one of the two original members of the blues and boogie combo – Rick Parfitt. Fellow founder Francis Rossi and the band delivered an evening of hits galore, shout-along crowd-pleasers one and all. I can think of very few bands that can do a couple of hours on stage, only play songs everyone knows by heart, and still have to miss out some of their greatest tunes.

Parfitt was recovering from a heart attack, and had finally announced a couple of months before that he wouldn’t be returning to the band.

It’s an amazing history – the Quo were making hits and touring before I was even born, and it’s 30 years since I first saw them at Wembley, supporting Queen.

The passing of time has left it’s mark on their audience too. It’s rare that I feel like one of the younger people at a concert nowadays, but there was a large amount of grey hair and/or bald heads in the sea of denim. Heavy duty head-banging has been reduced to some moderate bonce-bobbing, and there were many pauses for breath, or a rest for knackered knees, as fans made their way up and down the stairs of the SECC.

Air guitar was played though, and I doubt I’ll see that many deliriously happy old people in one place again unless they start pumping laughing gas into retirement homes. It was past most of their bedtimes, and they’d probably rather have had a cup of tea than a pint of beer, but a truly great time was had by everyone as the years were rolled back.

Just after the tour wrapped up for Christmas, the news broke that Rick had passed away, at the age of 68. The tributes from fellow rockers were warm. Queen’s Brian May summed the feelings of fans up rather splendidly, saying that Parfitt had “truly joyfully rocked our world”.

Considering his seriously rock-and-roll-excess lifestyle, it’s perhaps a surprise that Rick managed to keep going as long as he did, but no less sad that his journey has now ended. Status Quo spent more time in the singles charts than The Beatles. Their songs will continue rocking all over the world for years to come, too.

Rock on!

And finally...

Wishing you all the best for 2017 – I hope the New Year brings you happiness and success, and thanks for all your support in 2016. Cheers!

This post first appeared as my 'Thank grumpy it's Friday' column, in the North West Evening Mail, on the 30th of December 2016. At least, I think it did. It's not visible on their website and I haven't had the print copy yet.

Of all the deaths in the music world this year, Rick's has affected me the most. I've seen Status Quo three times (so averaging once a decade, really!) and loved each show. 

Genuinely part of my my entire lifetime of listening to music, this, for me at least, means more than Bowie, Prince or Michael - all more successful and influential and all writers and performers with incredible talent. But have I had more enjoyment from their music than the no-nonsense, no frills, good old rock made by Status Quo? No.

And that's it for 2016. For the first time, I might not stay up to see in the new year because:

a) I'm hideously old
b) I've got a horrible cold

If you are, have a great evening and see you on the other side...

(CD A-Z: Marillon - "Marbles by the Sea".)