PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Having seen The Quireboys many times over the past twenty years, or so, I was looking forward to a night of good old Rock ‘n’ Roll when I headed down the stairs to Club Academy, Manchester. A venue which reminds me of a school dining hall, although there wasn’t a bar serving alcohol in my school days!
I arrived in the midst of New Day from opening act Bad Touch. I caught Good on Me and a well executed cover of Led Zeppelin’s Rock n Roll, which ended with a short drum solo, then Down the last song from this Norfolk based five piece. With his flowing hair and handle bar moustache, singer Stevie is quite striking. Bad Touch play good old style heavy rock, in a similar vein to bands like The Answer and Little Angels. This wasn’t a case of ‘Touch Too Much’ as I’d love to see much more Bad Touch!
Set List:
Waiting on the Morning Light
Too Late
Water’s Edge
New Day
Good On Me
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin Cover)
Down
Band Members:
Stevie- Vocals
Rob.G- Lead Guitar
Seeks- Guitar
Bailey- Bass
George- Drums.
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/badtouchrocks
Website: http://www.badtouchrocks.co.uk/
Bonafide (and The Quireboys both ) played at Hard Rock Hell in 2011 and 2012 but I hadn’t realised that this was actually the first time they have played Manchester. A blasting start came with Bombo, the title track from their latest album. We got a mix of tracks both old and new, and at one point someone shouted I love Sweden and, without missing a beat, Pontus Snibb (love that name) shouted back I love the UK! The chorus to Hard Livin’ Man reminded me of AC/DC’s Love Hungry Man, although the song itself was much faster, perhaps a hybrid of Love Hungry Man and Junkyard’s Hollywood.
From my limited experience they always finish off with Fill Your Head With Rock and why not, it’s a great song. Stevie from Bad Touch joined them on stage and, with him and Pontus, there was a lot of hair flying around! Lovely long lustrous locks that most women would kill for (although probably not the facial hair!) Towards the end the remaining Bad Touch boys came on. Pontus came off microphone but, luckily, his voice is powerful and people could still hear. The audience loved this one and were joining in clapping and singing along. A great show from Bonafide, hope they don’t leave it too long before their next trip to Manchester (and the rest of the UK). Early next year is mooted so that will be one for Louella’s diary!
Set List:
Bombo
Dirt Bound
Doing the Pretty
The Mess
Rock N’ Roll Skal
Can’t Get Through
Down
No Doubt About It
Hard Livin’ Man
Fill Your Head With Rock
Band Members:
Pontus Snibb: Vocals & Guitar
Mikael Fässberg: Guitar
Martin Ekelund: Bass
Niklas Matsson: Drums
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bonafiderocks
Website: http://www.bonafiderocks.com/
Bombo can be purchased from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bombo-Bonafide/dp/B00E3C0QUU/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1382376575&sr=1-1&keywords=bonafide+bombo
At last The Quireboys took to the stage with Spike holding up a pint as if in a ‘let’s all have a drink together’ salute to the audience and announcing ‘We are The Quireboys and This is Rock n Roll’ although that was to come later as the set opener was Black Mariah followed by Too Much of a Good Thing, twenty years down the line I still haven’t had too much of The Quireboys! They have a timeless Gypsy/Pirate style and Spike and Guy Griffin still look much the same as they did when I first saw them around 1990! Paul Guerin and Keith Weir have been long-standing members but I didn’t recognise the bass player or drummer and have had to do a bit of research. The current drummer is Pip Mailing, however due to an injury he wasn’t playing this gig, but we got a lively deputy in Dave McCluskey from The Union. Playing bass was Pip’s (twin – I’m told) brother Nick, looking rather dapper in a black hat, waistcoat and tie!
I couldn’t see Keith from my place, to the left hand side of the stage, but his keyboard skills feature heavily giving an almost folk rock sound. There was a good mix of classic Quireboys and songs from the new album ‘Beautiful Curse’ Spike’s pint glass always seemed full, refilled constantly as if by magic! He removed the red carnation from his lapel and threw it out to the crowd. Trying to catch Spike’s carnation is like trying to catch the bride’s bouquet and a bit of a scuffle ensued! Spike has a very sexy, gravelly voice comparable to Rod Stewart and the song Mona Lisa Smiled has same the lasting quality as Stewart’s Maggie May. Spike asked if anyone remembered Top of The Pops? Of course many of us in the audience do, and I remember Hey You being aired on this prime time programme of yesteryear! Everyone was singing along and dancing to this one. Spike dedicated the title track of the new album, Beautiful Curse, to Paul Guerin as he’s just got married! Next came Chain Smoking (is that caused by marriage?). Spike then had the cheek to say ‘Sorry but Newcastle has a better footy team than Manchester’ before I Love This Dirty Town. We got lots of front of stage riffs from Griff, or should that be Griff’s Riffs! Spike asking ‘What’s The Time?’ and the swift production of a harmonica, led into 7 O’Clock the last song of the main set and no Quireboys concert would be complete without it.
The band left the stage resulting in lots of shouts for more! For Crying Out Loud! I don’t mean that literally, that was the first of three encore songs and, being a Quireboys gig, it was about drinking, women and cars. More Griff’s Riffs came next with Mother Mary, the next single and video to be released in a few weeks. The last song was what we’d all come for – Sex Party! Although, after that the party was over until next time! I’ve heard rumours of an acoustic tour early next year and a bit of internet surfing found a couple of dates in January and February but nothing on The Quireboys own website yet so watch this space!
Set List: Black Mariah / Too Much of a Good Thing / Misled / There She Goes Again / This is Rock n Roll / Mona Lisa Smiled / Diamonds and Dirty Stones / Twenty Seven Years / I Don’t Love you Anymore / Tramps and Thieves / Hey You / Beautiful Curse / Chain Smoking / I Love This Dirty Town / 7 O’Clock / For Crying Out Loud / Mother Mary / Sex Party
Band Members: Spike (Vocals) / Guy Griffin (Guitar) / Keith Weir (Keyboards) / Paul Guerin (Guitar). Current drummer Pip Mailing was unable to play due to injury but Dave McCluskey from The Union filled the breach. The bassist on this tour was Pip’s brother Nick Mailing.
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quireboys
Website: http://www.quireboys.com/
Beautiful Curse can be purchased from Amazon:
[amazonmp3 asin=”B00DCZH0ZI”]
