Quireboys - Saturday 19th December - O2 Academy, Sheffield

The last gig of 2009 for me and a night away in Sheffield. Richard and I had been seeing Quo in Brighton when the Quireboys played London, so in the absence of any Thunder Christmas shows this year, we took a weekend break to Yorkshire. This meant the (freezing) delights of Leeds United (baaa!) v Southampton at Elland Road earlier in the day and an evening of classic rock in the evening.

We caught the end of Wolfsbane's set and positioned ourselves for the main event. The QB's were on top form, ripping through the whole of their classic 1989/90 debut album "A Bit of What You Fancy" and numerous other fan favourites. This is one band I am happy to see time and time again.

Rather predictably having visited a few bars on the way home and with the best intentions of calling it a night, in true Quireboys fashion we found the hotel bar open. This meant an "early night" of around 3am. Eeek!

Setlist 
Mayfair
Don't Bite The Hand
The Finer Stuff
Tramps And Thieves
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
7 O'Clock
Man on the Loose
Whippin' Boy
Sweet Mary Ann
I Don't Love You Anymore
Hey You
Misled
Long Time Comin'
Roses & Rings
There She Goes Again
Take Me Home
+
I Love This Dirty Town
Sex Party (with Blaze Bayley from Wolfsbane)

The Union - Tuesday 15th December - Relentless Garage, Islington

The first ever gig from the Union. Thunder's Luke Morley joins forces with long-time guitar/vocalist mate, Peter Shoulder. This was at the "Relentless Garage" which used to be the plain old "Garage" at Highbury and Islington. I'm really not into this constant renaming of venues any more than I am renaming of pubs. 

We managed to get returns on the "lottery only" style of ticket allocation, but weren't totally shocked to find the venue not full!

The bar was expensive (and provoked a few comments from the punters) and the headline act played a short but accomplished bluesy set - all filmed for a DVD release next year. It'll be interesting to see how the album turns out too.

Photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/katharinahaack/4271996636/ 

Setlist Easy Street You Know My Name Black Monday Come Rain or Shine Holy Roller This Time Next Year Saviour Watch the River Flow + Lilies Proud Mary

Status Quo - Friday 11th December - Brighton Centre

Much better than Croydon! And the bonus of the legendary Roy Wood as support. Marvellous! 9/10.