Pre pandemic you were pretty much guaranteed that if you missed one Quireboys show then you wouldn’t have to wait too long before they’d be back at a venue near you. Following the surprising split at the start of 2022, it seems that a full on electric show fronted by Spike is now long overdue. The news that Spike had gathered together a tantalising lineup of Quireboys alumni to both record with and tour was something to look forward too. Sadly, with the untimely death of Guy Bailey last year, that lineup was not to realised for the tour. Tonight though, that guitar slot is filled by Luke Morley, long time friend and contemporary, and they play to a packed house at KK’s Steel Mill.
They start with new song, ‘Jeeze Louise’, that hits with a familiar swagger. With Rudy Richman and Nigel Mogg back in the fold it’s almost like a step back in time to the 90’s. It slips seamlessly into the classic old drinking song ‘Can’t Park Here’. In fact as the show continues, it seems the last 30 years have been dismissed with a set comprised only of new songs and those up to an including second LP, Bitter Sweet & Twisted. The result is a well balanced mix of nostalgia and the outlook of a positive future. Guy Bailey is remembered often and those early songs of ‘Misled’ and ‘Whipping Boy’ celebrate his songwriting and legacy. Luke Morley is introduced as the man from Terraplane before some friendly banter discussing who had the most appearances on Top Of The Pops.
‘Tramps And Thieves’ rocks along at a fair pace and if that got the the crowd participation up a level then ‘Hey You’ got it to where it should be. There’s an emotional rendition of ‘King Of New York’, again dedicated to Guy with Willie Dowling’s keyboard contribution being particularly striking. Despite a couple of technical problems with the PA dropping out on ‘There She Goes Again’ and main set closer ‘7 O’Clock’ the band are unperturbed and don’t miss a beat.
The encore in itself gives a snapshot of the band; new number ‘Like It Or Night’ highlights the whiskey soaked blues of the Quireboys while debut single ‘Mayfair’ rocks hard with abandon and ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ proves they had the heart-wrenching ballad mastered right from the start. With that the show is over and if, perchance, you were visiting from another planet you’d be able to blast off home in the full knowledge that that was the Quireboys and that was rock n roll. Long may they continue.
Setlist:
Jeeze Louise
Can’t Park Here
Misled
Raining Whiskey
Whippin’ Boy
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
I Think I Got it Wrong Again
Ode to You (Baby Just Walk)
King of New York
Happy
Roses & Rings
There She Goes Again
7 O’Clock
Encore:
Like It or Not
Mayfair
I Don’t Love You Anymore
