Status Quo

LG Arena

Birmingham

The venue may look completely different and Francis Rossi may have lost his trademark ponytail, but Status Quo were as steadfast and rock solid as ever at the LG Arena.

The Quo in Birmingham marks the start of the festive season as surely as the first door of an advent calender – and fans were delighted from the outset. Inconceivably, a number of shows have recently been cancelled due to Rossi’s ill health but he and Parfitt seemed to be in fine form as they delivered their distinctive chords on Saturday night.

The ecstatic crowd, which had been gathering steadily while Roy Wood and his Rock and Roll Band provided some warming support, went wild for Caroline before the Quo went on to deliver their now familiar set of festive cheer.

Indeed The Roy Wood Band were in fine form themselves, recovering from some early technical sound problems with a host of hits including See My Baby Jive, Blackberry Way, and Angel Fingers before leaving the arena standing to rapturous applause after the Christmas classic I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.

Back to the Quo, the crowd bounced to Hold You Back and nothing was going to dampen the party atmosphere.

Time had seemingly stood still for ninety minutes as the old masters of rock and roll mesmerized the crowd with a mix of tracks old, new and classic with a notable drum solo from the impressive Matt Letley and a rousing rendition of Rocking All Over the World bringing the show to a climax.

Within the blink of an eye Quo were lining up their last hurrah including Paper Plane, Juniors Wailing, Rock and Roll Music and of course the now customary Bye Bye Johnny.

Times may be a changing, but not that much for these veteran rockers, which is just the way we like it.

The group will now go on to play Manchester Apollo tonight and tomorrow, followed by Brighton Centre on Friday and then Wembley Arena and Glasgow Secc, where they will be reunited with Roy Wood and co.

The Quo are now synonymous with Christmas and today sees Rick Parfitt release a festive single with non-other than Rolf Harris.

The Australian legend penned Christmas in the Sun – a tribute to the holiday season in Oz – and approached Parfitt to record a duet.

The Christmas concerts round off an incredible year for the band, which also performed at Glastonbury.

By Phil Lawrence.