Status Quo are going out on tour the Out Out Quoing which marks the band’s long-overdue return to the live circuit – I chatted to Francis Rossi from the group about the tour.
Why did you decide to re-record some of your old tracks?
We wanted to try and give them that feeling and vibe you get when playing the songs live and I was very pleased with the results – the record company said why don’t you use them and put them out on an album – I am sure that some people will take offence that we have messed with their favourite Quo song but I did not get into their house and mess with their Quo albums – we have not touched the original versions – they are still there!
Which versions will you play on the tour?
We will play them in the in the same style as when originally recorded, we have a great band and a very enthusiastic bass player – Rhino, we call him that because he bashes into everything, when he comes on the tour bus and walks from the front to the back he literally bashes into everything, he plays bass very enthusiastically but he is a fantastic bass player.
What motivates you to keep on playing and touring?
Probably ego, wanted to be loved and liked plus the fact that you get such a buzz from playing in front of a live audience, I suppose it is sad in some ways that a man aged 73 still needs to go out there and be validated but the fans do make you feel wanted and after that 90 minutes on stage you just want to go out there and do it all over again.
Shakin’ Stevens is going to be the support act, do you think the Quo fans will appreciate him?
We always try to give the fans the ideal ticket – we were at one point looking at getting Roy Wood back on tour with us as he has done Christmas gigs with us in the past but for various reasons, he could not do the current tour. Whatever your opinion is of Shakin’ Stevens you have to admit he is a damn fine act – he is just so good at what he does. Someone suggested to me that we get Shaky on the tour with us, I thought it was a good idea and here we are, I just hope everyone else is as pleased as we are and will come along early and see him.
Normally for the support act you might only get two to three hundred fans there but when we had Roy Wood on tour with us the fans turned up early and watched Roy from when he first arrived on stage and I hope that they do that for Shaky.
Do you have any favourite venues to play in the north?
We do – we went back to Stockton Globe in March this year and it was marvellous, we had a day off when we were up there and I walked around Stockton and I had a meal in a restaurant opposite the theatre. To see those kinds of theatres come back to life again is brilliant, we have lost so many of them over the years. Progress has this thing that if you gain something you lose something at the same time and we only realise that when it is too late. The feeling from the audience and the band when we played Stockton Globe was incredible.
We were the last rock band to play there before it closed down as a music venue – we must have done something wrong but to go back there and see the theatre come back to life was a joy.
I am excited too about the re-opening of the old Bradford Odeon and I would love to play there when it opens. I am very enthusiastic about playing those old venues particularly with that capacity, it will mean that the larger acts will come back to Bradford, the city needs something of that size.
Status Quo play Leeds Arena on Monday 28 November 2022
