The Quireboys / H.E.A.T. / Aaron Buchanan and the Cult Classics / Those Damn Crows - Kentish Town Forum, London (UK) - 14 September 2018

Tonight's proceedings kicked off with Those Damn Crows who reminded me somewhat of the Little Angels crossed with both the Georgia Satellites and something heavier.




Next up was Aaron Buchanan And The Cult Classics, and I always find the exaggerated crowd management of Aaron Buchanan more like a mime artist or circus performer rather than a Rock 'n' Roller, therefore, I find it hard to take him seriously. He was a bit too slick for me and I found the sheer amount of strobes super-distracting from the business in hand. He also had some technical problems at the beginning where the vocals couldn't be heard.




However, H.e.a.t are more to my taste, if a bit incongruous as a Quireboys support group. There was possibly too much attention seeking from vocalist Erik Grönwall; certainly, his spitting a big cob of white spit upwards, letting it land on his face, showing everyone and then rubbing it on his face was far too over the top. A mistake covered up with bravado? To be honest, I wasn't sure. The standing vertical on the crowd using hands as stepping stones for his feet to walk over the audience and forward roll gymnastics were more successful as stunts, although I thought the set was a bit short to include an AC/DC cover ('Whole Lotta Rosie'). All that said, Grönwall brought a lot of energy to the performance with his floppy Mohawk when he headbanged giving him the appearance of a demented cockatoo. The band delivered some big-sounding Melodic Hard Rock and AOR, and it seemed they had passionate fans in the audience who could even have been there for them as a priority.




However, the occasion belonged to The Quireboys, who were on top form. The plan was to do the 'Homewreckers And Heartbreakers' album in its entirety, which they duly did, and they were all excellent tracks that went down well. It was a treat to hear some of these great numbers live for the first time, but no doubt because they are unfamiliar, the crowd only really went truly wild when tracks from the early days were played. Original member Guy Bailey was in the audience and got a cheer given he wrote most of that material. Original member Spike deserved a medal also, as even though he suffered a broken leg earlier in the year, his moves were, if anything, as charismatic as ever; high kicking and launching his microphone upside down with his leg as if he'd never been in a cast. In fact, the whole band were super polished and professional with just the right amount of looseness that their particular brand of Rock 'n' Roll requires. They joked at the press conference they'd even had a rehearsal for this one.




Spike was also full of good humour at the show, and he joked after a particularly good reaction to an old track, "We did that one in 1991. You old bastards!" The crowd had a massive sing and dance to 'Misled', 'There She Goes Again', 'Hey You' and '7 O'Clock', and Keith Weir received a shout-out for his tinkling ivories that are essential to any Quireboys show. By the time we got to the encore, 'This Is Rock 'N' Roll' and 'I Don't Love You Anymore', the crowd had definitely been given what they came for. It's the 30th Anniversary of 'A Bit Of What You Fancy' soon. Time to do it all again? The Royal Albert Hall, yes please!

Review and photos by Dawn Osborne