There’s been much speculation that Status Quo’s Somerset show may just be the band’s final date. The reasoning for this comes from Rossi himself, who having already confirmed there will be no activity from the band in 2025 due to his solo tour, questions the ability for the band to tour in 2026 when he will turn 77 and Andy Bown will be in his 80th year. There has, however, been little fanfare about it all, but you can see where Rossi is coming from and if indeed it does transpire to be the final curtain for the band then the opportunity to catch the Vivary Park show is too good to miss.

Anybody who will have seen the band on any of their Spring and Summer dates thus far will attest that the band are firing on all cylinders with a set driven by energy and passion. Tonight is no exception and there’s a huge crowd in Vivary Park to witness it. The intro drone gives way to the unmistakable intro riff of ‘Caroline’ with Richie Malone assuming the position infront of the white Marshall stack sounding every bit as good as it did opening the Live At The NEC album back in 1982 (the album that introduced me to the Quo). The heaviness continues with Rhino taking the lead on ‘Rain’ which thankfully wasn’t a portent as the night remained dry for the duration. Another Parfitt number is next up with Malone singing lead on ‘Little Lady’. It’s then back to Rossi for ‘Softer Ride’ and what turns out to be the most recent song in the set; ‘Beginning Of The End’. Rossi then apologises for his attire, dressed in a black fleece instead of his trademark white shirt. You’d have thought a raucous ‘Hold You Back’ and the energetic medley would be enough to keep him warm.

Over the years, I’ve warmed to the quirky ‘Oriental’ and despite, or maybe because of the awful lyrics, its an irresistible bit of fun which contrasts with the drama of ‘In The Army Now’. There’s then a run of true Quo classics; the heaviness of ‘Roll Over Lay Down’ gives way to an extended ‘Down Down’ which has Rossi stretching out and ‘Whatever You Want’ before closing on ‘Rocking All Over The World’.

As they return for the encore, Rossi states that they usually only play one, but tonight they’ve got time for some more, so in addition to the expected ‘Burning Bridges’  they manage to squeeze in a couple of absolute belters with ‘Don’t Waste My Time’ and ‘Paper Plane’ which sends the crowd into one final heads down boogie, and with that its all over. If that is the last show then we’ve had a wonderful stay of execution of 40 years since the ‘End Of The Road’ tour bringing joy to millions of concert goers across the generations. Thank you Status Quo for the memories of all those loud sweaty nights.

Setlist:
Caroline
Rain
Little Lady
Softer Ride
Beginning of the End
Hold You Back
What You’re Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Something ’bout You Baby I Like / Wild Side Of Life / Rollin’ Home / Railroad / Again and Again / Mystery Song
The Oriental
In My Chair
In the Army Now
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin’ All Over the World

Encore:
Don’t Waste My Time
Paper Plane
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)