STATUS QUO
Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise, Ireland
3/2/2009
Status Quo, those veterans of not just the 80s, but of the proceeding two decades and the following two decades were celebrating their 40th Anniversary with a U.K. and Irish Tour and the release of their recent great hits compilation, Pictures.
Notoriously joked about as a wedding band, they took to the stage in the Wedding Function room of The Heritage Hotel at 9pm and for the next 100 minutes they rocked the venue with all the classics and a few cover-versions.
They opened with Rossi taking on 'Caroline', while Rick sang 'The Wanderer'. This was followed by 'Rain' before we got our first taste of the 80s with the hit 'Don't Drive My Car'. Rossi spoke briefly to the crowd between every 4 – 5 numbers.
'Mean Girl', 'Softer Ride', Beginning of The End', and 'Is There a Better Way' followed before we were treated to an 80s medley of 'What Your Proposing' and 'Dear John'. It was back to the 60s for a medley of 'Pictures of Matchstick Men' and 'Ice in the Sun' as well as lesser known material like 'Oriental' and 'Creeping Up'.
'We're going to play a few of our slower numbers now' said Rossi as he introduced 'In My Chair'. He commented on the packed room of people, and couldn't get used to the fact that there was no balcony, juts a crammed room of people jumping around.
Rick then gave us 'Living on an Island', before Francis sang a great version of 'In the Army Now' which had us all joining in and singing along. Bown was fantastic on keyboards throughout , Edwards supreme on Bass, while Letley on drums gave us a five-minute drum solo while the others took a quick breather. 'Roll Over Lay Down' was next and from here on they cranked it up a gear as we got 'Down Down', 'Whatever You Want' and the one we were all waiting for, 'Rockin All Over The World', as memories of Live Aid came flooding back.
The encore consisted of a few old classics namely 'Rock n Roll Music' and 'Bye Bye Johnny'. A few drum sticks and plectrums were thrown into the crowd, a couple of waves and the three chords, and five pairs of white runners disappeared quickly. While I was disappointed they didn't do 'Rollin Home' of 'Burning Bridges', it was still brilliant, and one fan said he'd seen them several times, but this was the best performance yet, so I ain't complaining.
Notoriously joked about as a wedding band, they took to the stage in the Wedding Function room of The Heritage Hotel at 9pm and for the next 100 minutes they rocked the venue with all the classics and a few cover-versions.
They opened with Rossi taking on 'Caroline', while Rick sang 'The Wanderer'. This was followed by 'Rain' before we got our first taste of the 80s with the hit 'Don't Drive My Car'. Rossi spoke briefly to the crowd between every 4 – 5 numbers.
'Mean Girl', 'Softer Ride', Beginning of The End', and 'Is There a Better Way' followed before we were treated to an 80s medley of 'What Your Proposing' and 'Dear John'. It was back to the 60s for a medley of 'Pictures of Matchstick Men' and 'Ice in the Sun' as well as lesser known material like 'Oriental' and 'Creeping Up'.
'We're going to play a few of our slower numbers now' said Rossi as he introduced 'In My Chair'. He commented on the packed room of people, and couldn't get used to the fact that there was no balcony, juts a crammed room of people jumping around.
Rick then gave us 'Living on an Island', before Francis sang a great version of 'In the Army Now' which had us all joining in and singing along. Bown was fantastic on keyboards throughout , Edwards supreme on Bass, while Letley on drums gave us a five-minute drum solo while the others took a quick breather. 'Roll Over Lay Down' was next and from here on they cranked it up a gear as we got 'Down Down', 'Whatever You Want' and the one we were all waiting for, 'Rockin All Over The World', as memories of Live Aid came flooding back.
The encore consisted of a few old classics namely 'Rock n Roll Music' and 'Bye Bye Johnny'. A few drum sticks and plectrums were thrown into the crowd, a couple of waves and the three chords, and five pairs of white runners disappeared quickly. While I was disappointed they didn't do 'Rollin Home' of 'Burning Bridges', it was still brilliant, and one fan said he'd seen them several times, but this was the best performance yet, so I ain't complaining.
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