Originally Posted by Susan Foreman  Went to the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham last night
The headliners were The Francis Rossi Band, better known as Status Quo
Setlist - Caroline/The Wanderer/Something 'bout You Baby I Like/Rain/Softer Ride/Beginning of the End/Hold You Back/Medley (What You're Proposing, Down the Dustpipe, Wild Side of Life, Railroad, Again And Again, Slow Train)/The Oriental/Creepin' Up on You/Gerdundula/In the Army Now/Drum Solo/Roll Over Lay Down/Down Down/Whatever You Want/Rockin' All Over the World/Paper Plane/Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)/Bye Bye Johnny
I last saw them over 30 years ago, and they are one of those bands where you know exactly what you are going to get. However, without Rick Parfitt in the band anymore, there was something missing. The songs were wonderful and the interaction between Francis Rossi and the audience was still there, but without Parfitt, it seemed to be Francis Rossi and backing band.
This tour is supposedly the last electric tour that the band are going to play. Instead, from 2017, they are going to be concentrating more on acoustic tours and recordings.
With a set full of back-to-back hits, for me they worked best on the faster, older songs, and it was a delight to hear 'Caroline', 'Down Down' and 'Paper Plane' although the folk trappings of 'Gerdundula' were also welcome. However, the big surprise was 'In The Army Now'. I have always found the recorded version to be incredibly tedious, but in the live arena, with the lightshow depicting gunfire (ala Metallica's 'One'), the song took on a whole new poignancy and was certainly a highspot |