Wednesday 1^st October 2008 @ Colston Hall, Bristol

Status Quo have rocked our towns for over forty years and as they continue to do so, as does the die-hard fan return with undying devotion. With this in mind, I was quite prepared to ‘rock out’ at the prestigious event to be held at Colston Hall for their current Winter Tour; however, after an impressive start with the opening song Caroline and guitar solo from Rick Parfitt, I began to feel increasingly agitated by a certain lack of energy amongst the crowd. With the occasional tap of the foot, nod of the head and twitch of the shoulder there appeared to be a baffling sense of unnatural reservation.

After several impressive intros, but overall uninspiring songs later, I began to drift finding myself lost in the visual effects and the thought of a sordid affair to be had with some cheesy chips hereafter. Enough was enough, in the search of a pulse, I latched onto a couple of hard core fans and slipped easily into the depths of the mosh pit!

I was met with further disappointment. I found myself dancing like a granny to Rockin’ All Over The World whilst losing all co-ordination and nearly toppling over. Somebody dared to let out an appreciative “Oi Oi” to the band, which was met with disturbed looks of disgust from various onlookers. This posed me with the question; surely, whatever our age, music is there to be enjoyed, not endured? Music is when we lose ourselves in the moment and celebrate the success of our favourite band, not mock and criticise those who do so.

On the note of commemorating pure musical skill and talent however, I need not falter Status Quo and their efforts. With a drum solo to leave one weak at the knees, Matthew Letley really pulled out all the stops. This is what the gig was about for me, the celebration of 40 odd years of relentless musical expertise. A band which the devoted fan will proudly take to their grave as being the heroes and masters of their generation.

www.statusquo.co.uk

Kitty Moorsom