Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The devout and the inspired will always go to the final preaching of the long lived and the elegantly able; like a fine wine served at room temperature in a Guernsey hotel, the taste is enough to feel inebriated just to be in the company of the exulted and prime music stalwarts. For the fans of Status Quo they were not about to allow their main hero of Francis Rossi or the memory of the band that started out all those decades ago to simply fade into the realm of acoustic sessions, this final night of the last ever electric tour in the U.K. was to be a celebration of all things Quo.

History falls into two camps when it comes to the music of Status Quo, there are those that eulogise and praise eternally what the band have given to the nation, the good times that they have provided and one in which live they will forever outshine an awful lot of groups with arguably a more friendly media attached to their arsenal. Then there are those who don’t see the joy in the faces of the audience, who don’t understand the three bar blues dressed provocatively in Rock and Roll clothes and lauded patches proclaiming the arrival of one of Britain’s much loved bands. Whichever camp the disciples fall into, there can be no doubting the love that surrounded the band as the final resting place for the electric nights of the Liverpool Echo Arena.

Only Francis Rossi remains from the original line up, yet unrepentant, bloodied but unbowed he soldiers on, the ever alert guard to which Rock ‘N’ Roll relies upon to keep the flames burning, yet as the evening opened up, the voices that were overheard came from all over, the fortunate ones who came to lay a wreath and shower affection on the band for the final electric time, were heavily accented in many languages, in this alone the prize for longevity is to be adored in many countries, not just your own.

As songs such as The Wanderer, Softer Ride, Caroline, Paper Plane, In The Army Now, Down Down and Whatever You Want all rang out across the Echo Arena, as the odd introduction by the main man was greeted with smiles and applause, the penultimate bell could be heard signalling the end of an era, the Echo Arena has been host in its short life to many an important gig, but as Quo called it Time on the electric, this was perhaps the one show in which a Rock fan could say with heart breaking, they just had to be there; for very few can Rock all over the world like Quo.

Ian D. Hall