The Quireboys / Rebecca Downes - The Garage, London (UK) - 10 January 2019
Opener Rebecca Downes has a strong voice reminding a little of Cindy Lauper. Her biggest song 'Sailing On A Pool of Tears' has apparently been played by Planet Rock and it was the stand-out song from the set.
It was an acoustic set from the Quireboys tonight in an intimate venue, so there was little room for Spike to swing his mike and he concentrated on communicating the passion of the songs instead. The set was full of the classics, kicking off with 'There She Goes Again', 'Misled' and 'Roses And Rings'. Although there was no drummer on stage, the ivories, as always, featured hugely with lots of honky-tonk tinkly piano in evidence. Their drummer Simon Hanson (ex Squeeze) was, however, a rowdy member of the audience with the repartee between him and the band becoming part of the show.
Announcing that it's the ten-year anniversary of 'Homewreckers And Heartbreakers' we then got two tracks from that album, 'Mona Lisa Smiled' and 'Hello', before recent song 'Beautiful Curse'. It was back into the classics with a dramatic version of 'Whipping Boy', a track rarely played live.
Spike invited the crowd to raise a glass before introducing a couple of drinking songs, 'Have A Drink With Me' and 'Late Night Saturday Call'. Although commenting on the uncomfortableness of his bar stool, Paul Guerin delivered faultless solos, even managing to slip in a little flamenco when no one was looking.
With a "Yee Ha" we got 'Sweet Mary Anne' before Spike thanked the audience for keeping 'White Trash Blues' in the charts for four or five weeks and making the announcement that new album 'Amazing Disgrace' is on its way. We were in the home straight with old classics '7 O'clock' (which Rebecca Downes joined to sing the chorus), 'I Don't Love You Anymore' and then, ending on a high note, 'Sex Party'.
It was nice to see the Quireboys in a lovely small venue after their large shows for the recent anniversary, reminding me of their early shows as the Queerboys way back when, although there's a lot of water under the bridge and many line-up changes since then. As usual Spike thanked the audience for keeping Rock 'n' Roll alive with the Quireboys and the acoustic set helped to change things up and keep it different and fresh. The crowd sang all the words throughout the show, becoming an integral part of proceedings from the off. It is a huge compliment to say it felt like a party of friends.
Review and photos by Dawn Osborne
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