Quireboys - Sunday 24th November - Islington Academy

Brief review:  A new phase of touring for Spike and the Quireboys. Featuring Thunder's Luke Morley on guitar (as "musical director"), the band whipped through a range of songs old and new. And what good fun it was as you'd expect. Spike seems happy to be free of the noise going on around the split of the band(s) a couple of years ago and hopefully, all parties have moved on and we can enjoy the music we love hearing.

Venue and View:  Front left, standing.

Setlist
Jeeze Louise
Can't Park Here
Misled
Sweet Mary Ann
Raining Whiskey
Whippin' Boy
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
You and I
I Think I Got It Wrong Again
King of New York
Happy
There She Goes Again
Roses & Rings
+
Like It or Not
I Don't Love You Anymore

Quireboys - Sunday 26th May - Triangle, Deptford

Brief review:  Launch Party for the new Wardour Street album from 'Quireboys' (as this incarnation with Spike seem to have settled on). A slightly chaotic brief show (it was a freebie for pre-orders of the Boxed Set), the whole thing was held together by the brilliant Luke Morley (of "Terraplane" as he was constantly teased) in a sort of musical director role.

On this showing, the album should be good.

Venue and View:  Very small venue - standing, effectively 2nd row to the left.

Quireboys - Saturday 2nd September - O2 Academy, Islington

Brief review:  The Quireboys (version without Spike). Moved from the much larger Kentish Town Forum, the O2 Academy is probably a more realistic venue for the band at the moment. Not packed, but enough there to make an atmosphere and the band were on good form. Griff's vocals are definitely improving show on show and the band are as solid as ever.

Venue and View:  Front right, standing.

Quireboys - Friday 21st April - Pattern's, Brighton

Brief review:  An evening of Rock ‘n’ Roll with the Quireboys in Brighton. They may be ”Spike”-less, but the rest of the band still play most of the classic QB stuff well.  Audience numbers are thin though, but do include Luke Morley from Thunder.

Venue and View:  Nice cosy venue - stand anywhere you wanted for this one!

Setlist

I Love This Dirty Town
Misled
Gracie B
Roses & Rings
Turn Away
27 Years
Louder
Mona Lisa Smiled
Original Black Eyed Son
Too Much of a Good Thing
Lie to me
This Is Rock 'n' Roll
7 O'Clock
+
I Don't Love You Anymore

* This setlist may not be 100% accurate - it is based on shows around he same time as this one.

Quireboys - Saturday 3rd September - Forum, Kentish Town

Brief review: The much postponed "Orchestral Show", reduced to a single night from the 2 sold pre-Covid. Now Spike-less, this was always going to be a challenge for the band, but I think they came through it well. A varied set list with some rarely played favourites, the "Orchestra" turned out to be 4-5 (excellent) musicians on strings and wind sections. It worked well as a one off and it will be interesting to hear if the upcoming CD / DVD of the performance captures how well it came across in the room.

I do think the real challenge for the band going forward is how to grow their fan base - it must be hard for them to be profitable currently without outside interests.

Venue and View:  Front left on the floor. Very sparse, so lots of room!

Setlist
Gracie B
Roses & Rings
There She Goes Again
Mona Lisa Smiled
Hello
Blackwater
The Promise
Stubborn Kinda Heart
Late Nite Saturday Call
I Don't Love You Anymore
I Love This Dirty Town
Louder
This Is Rock 'n' Roll
Original Black Eyed Son
7 O'Clock
+
Sex Party

Quireboys - Tuesday 24th May - Guildford Boileroom

Brief review:  A Spike-less Quireboys. He has been sacked by his bandmates which will likely lead to many disputes about the band name. Not going to take sides in this one at all and was happy to go and see the remaining musicians with Guy Griffin on vocals He did a decent job, albeit with fairly short set and small audience.

Venue and View:  Excellent small venue. Very sparse indeed, so could stand wherever you wanted.

Setlist
I Love This Dirty Town
Misled
Gracie B
Turn Away
There She Goes Again
Roses & Rings
Louder
Mona Lisa Smiled
Original Black Eyed Son
Hello
This Is Rock 'n' Roll
I Don't Love You Anymore
7 O'Clock
+
Sex Party

Quireboys - Friday 21st January - Concorde 2, Brighton

Brief review:  First gig of 2022 and a decent show from the Quireboys - largely celebrating the re-recording of their debut album, A Bit Of What You Fancy. As often the way, Spike's between song rambling was often cut off by the band starting the next song.

We had a bit for a scramble back to the station using our "plusbus" tickets on the number 7 due to the Brighton and Hove bus app providing false "live information" and a swathe of train cancellations.

Venue and View:  Left hand side, about a quarter back. Venue cooler that in normally is!

Setlist

I Love This Dirty Town
Misled
Man on the Loose
Hey You
There She Goes Again
Whippin' Boy
Long Time Comin'
Roses & Rings
I Don't Love You Anymore
Sweet Mary Ann
Take Me Home
7 O'Clock
+
Mona Lisa Smiled
Original Black Eyed Son
This Is Rock 'n' Roll
Sex Party

The Dead Daisies / Quireboys - Wednesday 10th November - Shepherd's Bush Empire

Brief review:  Managed to bag some promotional free tickets for this one and enjoyed the Quireboys romp though their re-released debut album "A Little Bit Of What You Fancy". In fact, it was basically a setlist from 1990!

I don't know much about the Dead Daisies, but with Glenn Hughes on vocals and Doug Aldrich also in the band, it was a fair guess that there would be some decent rock music performed. And despite not knowing much of the material, in was perfectly enjoyable - maybe not quite enough to make me rush out and buy their albums, but I wouldn't be adverse to seeing them again. 

Venue and View:  Front left for Quireboys and first half of DD. By the merch desk at the rear after Fortunate Son.

Setlists

[Quireboys]
Misled
Man on the Loose
Long Time Comin'
Whippin' Boy
Hey You
There She Goes Again
I Don't Love You Anymore
Sweet Mary Ann
7 O'Clock

[Dead Daisies]
Unspoken
Rise Up
Dead and Gone
Chosen and Justified
Mexico
Bustle and Flow
Lock 'n' Load
Fortunate Son 
Midnight Moses 
Drum Solo
Mistreated 
My Fate
Leave Me Alone
Saving Grace
Like No Other (Bassline)
Holy Ground (Shake the Memory)
+
Long Way to Go
Burn

Quireboys - Sunday 10th February - Garage (Upstairs)

One Liner: Spike and the boys in a traditional "Sunday" London show. Moved to the cosier upstairs part of the Garage, the band were on good form as always. Set was a bit shortish though.

Setlist
There She Goes Again
Misled
Roses & Rings
Devil of a Man
Mona Lisa Smiled
Hello
Beautiful Curse
Whippin' Boy
Have a Drink With Me
Late Nite Saturday Call
Sweet Mary Ann
7 O'Clock (with Rebecca Downes)
+
I Don't Love You Anymore / Fool to Cry
Sex Party

Quireboys - Sunday 17th September - Nell's Blues Club, Kensington

One Line Review: Good show from the boys, with blues material from their new album mixed in with a few Quireboys classics. Also nice to have a chat & photo with Spike afterwards.

Setlist
Going Down
Leaving Trunk
Misled
There She Goes Again
White Trash Blues
I Wish You Would
Take Out Some Insurance
Mona Lisa Smiled
I Don't Love You Anymore
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
Crosseyed Cat
Walkin' the Dog
7 O'Clock
+
I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
Sweet Mary Ann

Quireboys - Sunday 23rd April - Islington O2 Academy

More Quireboys and an electric show in Islington. Spike and the boys seem to favour Sunday nights in the capital - assume the venues are cheap then!

Decided to skip the ridiculous number of support acts (please stick to one maximum) and the venue was pleasantly busy enough without being packed. Only downside was not being able to get a phone signal or WiFi to enable the O2 2 for 1 Tubourg offer!

Show was good - with a slight change of set from recently. Loads of old favourites and a vocal audience. A real surprise with Black Mariah being in the encore too.

Setlist
Twisted Love
Too Much of a Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Gracie B
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
Breaking Rocks
Tramps & Thieves
Hey You
I Don't Love You Anymore
Roses & Rings
Sweet Mary Ann
7 O'Clock
+
I Love This Dirty Town
White Trash Blues
Black Mariah
Sex Party (with support bands)

Spike's Free House - Sunday 7th June - Borderline

Luke Morley & Spike Gray

Spike from the Quireboys is a big fan of Frankie Miller and 70's legends Free. This show was designed to showcase the material of both the Scottish Rocker and Free. Andy Fraser - Free's bass player was due to be in the band, but his untimely passing a few months ago turned this into a fitting tribute to his music as well.

Spike had assembled a first class band - featuring members from many of my favourites - Luke Morley (Thunder), Mark Stanway (Magnum), Simon Kirke (Free) and Nick Malling (Quireboys). Spike was full of his normal summer spirit and entertained the crowd between songs with a few comments. The music was King here though and an entertaining set was of the highest quality. It would have been great to have been a little longer, but I guess if the aim was to send the crowd home wanting more then it was mission accomplished.

There did seem to be a few people under the influence (indeed there was an unpleasant smell of vomit in the venue) and a few female audience members barely able to stand. Shame they won't remember much of this. Finally, 1 point scored for a Ling-alert!

Setlist
Be Good To Yourself
Wishing Well
Cocaine
My Brother Jake
A Bottle Of Whisky
Intensive Care
Fortune
Mr Big
The Other Side Of Town
Living In A Cheap Hotel
The Hunter
Cold Cold Nights
The Brooklyn Bridge
All Right Now
+
Darlin'

Quireboys - Sunday 19th April - Esquires, Bedford

Spike, Keith & Paul

A sort of "hometown" gig for the Quireboys (well, Griff anyway!) at Esquires in Bedford. Now that's actually a fair trek from south of London, but as we missed out on seeing the boys at the end of last year due to a clash of dates, it seemed a worthwhile jaunt to see them in a tiny venue.

The handful of pubs nearby seemed functional and very quiet (some were suffering from a power cut). In the Ship, I managed to win the pool 3-2 on the final black. I was also quite pleased to find a chippy open on a Sunday.

The venue itself had 2 rooms - a nice bar and small stage in one and the "Holy Moly" room where the boys were playing. Social media from the boys had promised a prompt 8:30 start - predictably this slipped to 8:45. Spike appeared to be particularly "refreshed" after a spending time with Phil Mogg apparently the night before. The show was acoustic again - no drummer or bass - and the songs strangely missed nearly all the material from their new album. That meant we knew most of them and an enthusiastic sing-a-long was had by all. The late start meant we had to leave before the encore, but catching the fast train meant being home at a civilised hour at least.

Nice to see rock and roll being kept alive in Bedford! Yee-ha!

Setlist to follow.

Quireboys - Wednesday 23rd April - Half Moon, Putney

Quireboys night 2. To be honest, I was hoping for a bit of a mix-up of the setlist. That said, it was good enough last night with few obvious omissions that maybe it was not surprising it followed the same pattern. Roses and Rings was excluded and I can't help thinking I missed something else from yesterday's list as this was 20 minutes shorter tonight. It was still good, but felt a bit rushed with little banter between songs. Perhaps the band wanted some time at the bar afterwards! Still if last night was a 9/10 event, this scored a solid 8.

If anyone can correct last night's set it would be appreciated!

Setlist
Black Mariah
Too Much of a Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Tramps and Thieves
Homewreckers and Heartbreakers
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
27 Years
I Don't Love You Anymore
Mona Lisa Smiled
Sweet Mary Ann
Beautiful Curse
Hey You
Mother Mary
Mayfair
7 O'Clock
+
I Love This Dirty Town
Sex Party

Quireboys - Tuesday 22nd April - Half Moon, Putney

So legend has it that 30 years ago this month, the Quireboys played their first official shows at the Half Moon in Putney. As Spike joked with the crowd, "I'd have been 12!". Not quite. The Quireboys though have been around a fair old while, dispensing top quality bar-room (and arena-filled) entertainment wince the mid 1980's (I first saw them in 1987 at the Reading Festival and was hooked thereafter). 

So, Putney was a great place to keep rock and roll alive with a couple of hundred fans over 2 nights. Back with a bassist and drummer (The Union's Dave McCluskey), this was the boys in full on electric mode. A full on set of nearly 2 hours compromised of the hits, the misses and the near things. In truth, there's barely a dud song amongst them, with the new material standing up well alongside the classics.

Spikes vocals were good and the twin guitars of Paul Guerin and Guy Griffin were superb. A great night had by all.

Setlist (Approx)
Black Mariah
Too Much of a Good Thing
Roses and Rings
Misled
There She Goes Again
Tramps and Thieves
Homewreckers and Heartbreakers
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
27 Years
I Don't Love You Anymore
Mona Lisa Smiled
Sweet Mary Ann
Beautiful Curse
Hey You
Mother Mary
Mayfair
7 O'Clock
Sex Party
+
I Love This Dirty Town

Quireboys - Sunday 9th February - Borderline

"We're the Quireboys and this is acoustic Rock and Roll!" says Spike by way of hello to a packed Borderline. After a brief interlude following the successful electric tour in support of their excellent last album, "Beautiful Curse", the boys are back on the road - this time without a drummer (probably a welcome relief seeing how many they get through!)

A set of classic and new material is interspersed with some amusing anecdotes. Spike cheerily teases that 'Pretty Girls' "could never have been written in Swansea" and regularly name-checks Guy Bailey who is predictably in the crowd. The band are on great form - they are quality musicians to a man - and the material very much suits a bar-room acoustic atmosphere.

Highlights included "Mona Lisa Smiled", "Misled", "Beautiful Curse" and of course "I Don't Love You Anymore".  Lots of crowd participation, a few beers held aloft and I'd wager that pretty much everyone went home happy.

"Thanks for keeping Rock and Roll alive!" says Spike at the end. It's our pleasure.

Setlist
Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You
Devil of a Man
Beautiful Curse
There She Goes Again
Roses & Rings
Mona Lisa Smiled
Twenty Seven Years
Whippin' Boy
Hello
Misled
Pretty Girls
Have a Drink on Me
Chain Smokin'
Mother Mary
Sweet Mary Ann
Hates To Please
7 O'Clock
+
I Love This Dirty Town
I Don't Love You Anymore

Quireboys - Thursday 17th October - Islington Academy

Spike from The Quireboys

"Know your Quireboys Drummers". That is becoming almost a speciality quiz question for me (the drummer and/or bassist appears to change nearly every time we see them). 2 points to me then for identifying the Union's Dave McClusky on sticks. No points to Richard for suggesting I was wrong despite have a chat with the guy in person a few months back!

A new set from the QBs - based around their excellent new album "Beautiful Curse". The band were on good form and you'll be able to watch it all on DVD soon. Spike appeared to be drinking less and singing more and his vocals and charisma showed through. The normal London spot of ex-member Guy Bailey at the bar, who to be fair hasn't weathered quite as well.

As a nod in his direction, the band substituted "Sex Party" in for "Mayfair" which was on the original setlist.
A quick note about the merchandise. Great effort! A good selection of items - many signed.  All at sensible prices too. Other bands take note please!

As Harry Redknapp may say  - top top band - top top show.

Setlist
Black Mariah
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Homewreckers and Heartbreakers
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Mona Lisa Smiled
Diamonds and Dirty Stones
27 Years
I Don't Love You Anymore
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
Beautiful Curse
Chain Smokin'
I Love This Dirty Town
7 O'Clock
+
For Crying Out Loud
Mother Mary
Sex Party

Thin Lizzy / Quireboys - Monday 17th December - Shepherd's Bush Empire

Third gig in 4 days for me and off to the Shepherd's Bush Empire. We are here primarily for the Quireboys who are support, but also taking a first ever look at Thin Lizzy who are supposedly on the last night of their "farewell tour". Yeah, we've all heard that before.

The Quireboys were good - a fairly safe set - and Spike worked hard to engage with the pretty sparse crowd. Looking forward to a new album and shows in 2013.

Thin Lizzy's crowd had swelled slightly (maybe 2/3 capacity on the floor and a reasonable filled level 1 seating). Setlist was predictably greatest hits based and whilst Phil Lynott is generally regarded as "irreplaceable", Ricky Warwick and the rest of the plectrum flinging band were good fun. I may be tempted if and when they tour again.

Setlists (subject to confirmation!)

QUIREBOYS
Tramps And Thieves
There She Goes Again
Misled
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Roses & Rings
Whippin' Boy
Mona Lisa Smiled
Hey You
Mother Mary
This Is Rock And Roll
7 O'Clock

THIN LIZZY
Are You Ready
Jailbreak
Don't Believe A Word
Killer On The Loose
Chinatown
Dancing In The Moonlight (It's Caught Me in It's Spotlight)
Massacre
Waiting For An Alibi
Angel Of Death
Still In Love With You
Whiskey In The Jar
Emerald
Suicide
Cowboy Song
The Boys Are Back In Town
+
Rosalie
Black Rose

Quireboys - Thursday 3rd May - Borderline, London

A Thursday night at the Borderline - a great venue to see a band like this, but arguably slightly too small as it will invariable be sold out which makes it slightly uncomfortable and a real "mission" to make it to the gents at the back of the venue and back to a spot on the floor.

Guitarist Paul Guerin and Spike were spotted at the Pillars of Hercules pre-show and we were quite surprised to see Spike with no drink in hand.

We got into the venue early to see Irish guitarist Pat McManus - ex Mama Boys - of whom I have a couple of dusty singles. He was pretty good, albeit a little self indulgent at times, but his Gary Moore tribute  Belfast Boy was excellent. Pat would also return later to add fiddle to half a dozen or so songs in the Quireboys set.

The Quireboys were predictably good. Spike pretending he was drinking diet coke (unlikely it would appear), but he did seem reasonably sober, with not too much inappropriate rambling between songs. Despite a couple of old favourites missing, it was good to have a mixed up set and to be honest, whatever they play will go down a storm in a small venue like this. Another good night out!

Setlist

Tramps & Thieves

There She Goes Again

Hey You

Misled

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Roses & Rings
White Trash Blues
One For The Road

Last Time

Louder

Mona Lisa Smiled

This Is Rock 'n' Roll

Mother Mary

Sweet Mary Anne

7 O'Clock

I Don't Love You Anymore
Dirty Town

The Quireboys - Saturday 11th December - Forum, Kentish Town

Spike in typical pose

The last show of 2010 for me. Feeling a little bit under the weather after the previous days' pub crawl - so it was quite useful that I wasn't meeting Richard until later on Saturday evening. We went into the venue early to catch "The Dan Reed Network" who were OK, but I think Dan himself seemed to be enjoying their performance more than most of the audience! I'm certainly not tempted to pay money to see them at their own show. Whilst waiting between the acts I remembered that I'd seen the Quireboys here (when it was known as the "Town And Country Club") around 1990 - scary!

The venue was only half full, giving easy access to an excellent view a few rows back in our normal "front-left" position. Last time we saw the Quireboys they were doing an acoustic set and I was pleased to be able to grab a copy of the limited edition of 1000 signed double CDs from that mini-tour. Tonight was plugged in and, as normal, was a belter of a show. Starting with ""Hoochie Coochie Man" / "Mayfair", the band rocked through nearly all of their favourites in a 2 hour set. The 11:20 finish meant a late return home, but the show was well worth that. Perhaps not surprisingly I felt a lot better by the end than I had at the start. A great gig to finish the year!

Setlist (need confirmation please!)
Hoochie Coochie Man
Mayfair
C'mon
Man on the Loose
There She Goes Again
Tramps And Thieves
Mona Lisa Smiled
Roses And Rings
I Love This Dirty Town
Ode to You (Baby Just Walk)
The Finer Stuff
Lorraine Lorraine
Searching
This Is Rock 'N' Roll
Hey You
Whippin' Boy
Sweet Mary Ann
Misled
7 O'Clock
+
I Don't Love You Anymore
Sex Party