Location: Ljubljana / Hala Tivoli
Concert date: 01.07.2008
Attendance: 3200
Ticket price: 45.00€
Who’d have thought that right after John Fogerty’s visit, the legendary Status Quo would put Ljubljana’s rock pulse under the microscope too! Rossi and co., emboldened by last year’s release of their 28th album, are still roaming the world in search of the famous fourth chord, and it looks like there’s not much hope of ever finding it. Thank God!
After Fogerty (our RockLine report is waiting for you here), another highlight of this year’s live action in Ljubljana was on the cards. For a change, the eager anticipation brought a much bigger crowd to Tivoli than the Creedence Clearwater frontman did, a good 3000 heads, who were first served an appetizer in the form of Ljubljana locals Leaf Fat. A strange decision, not to say a shot in the dark, to bore the crowd with tasteless growling for a full 45 minutes! Leaf Fat did their best, of course, as becomes budding youngsters, but the lads, like most of their peers, suffer from a lack of originality and character. Plenty of people therefore preferred to treat themselves to a beer or two while the youngsters jumped around tirelessly, even if they had to wait (way too) long for it in the sauna of the local snack bar!
But never mind! Shortly before half past nine in the evening the lights in the hall went out once more, which the impatient crowd greeted with a roaring applause. Light on his feet and seemingly bursting with energy, Francis Rossi soon appeared on stage, first offering the audience a few shy hellos before Caroline, itching to dance, found herself right in front of us! Status Quo gave everything from start to finish, down to the last atom of strength, and it was gorgeous to watch the lived-in faces (not to mention the heavy sweating) of the rock grandpas, who even in their quite mature years throw themselves around the stage like playful kids! Rossi’s band is, of course, a majestic name in the music world. Their repertoire always effortlessly morphs into a string of singalong anthems, one after another, fueled by an almost frenzied crowd response. The violent assault of the opening trio of songs was a vivid demonstration of the power of their music, a mockery of the oft-mentioned fourth chord of quasi-musical cosmopolitans. Caroline, The Wanderer and the sharply chopped bluesy rock rouser Rain came at us hand in hand, without a pause, and with infectious roughness soon crashed into the flimsy resistance of our eardrums.
Sound-wise the gig went without major slip-ups, at least judged by the acoustics of Hala Tivoli, which once again proved to be a stepmotherly host. Rossi’s guitar solos in particular often lost clarity in the grip of the heavily accentuated pounding of the bass line. As expected, Status Quo sounded tight and, above all, incredibly fresh, especially for their age, with no needless kitschy stretching and a full bag of simple tricks, exactly the kind of spice that gets the listener’s blood pumping every single time. A special kind of refreshment came in the form of the Hammond of versatile Andy Bown, who at times surprised with delicately blown organ variations on assorted rock & roll themes. Incredibly simple all the way through, yet effective as hell!
The already mentioned tightness was, as per tradition, generously enriched by the duo of Rossi and Parfitt constantly trading vocal duties. After the unforgettable meeting with Caroline and the carefree ambling that followed the hot-blooded dance with the shapely lass, Rick Parfitt soon showed off his vocal chops with Rain! The man really gave it his all, at least until Rossi’s cheeky announcement of Beginning Of The End, the only representative of the younger generation of Status Quo tunes, which, just like its predecessors, earned a roaring applause. Listening to it, it was hard to avoid drawing parallels with the iron-clad Quo repertoire, which of course comes down to the simple combination of the punch of the guitar duels and Rossi’s voice with the indestructible boogie rhythm of John Edvards and Matt Letley. The latter shone at the end of In The Army Now with a short demonstration of various drumming techniques, which understandably bowed to the electrified atmosphere of surely one of Status Quo’s biggest hits. In The Army Now reached cult status long ago on the sunny side of the Alps too, and after the choral singing of by-heart-learned verses echoing in a gradual crescendo from practically every throat in Hala Tivoli, the whole crowd’s shout of “stand up and fight” finally convinced us of that!
Crowd-wide singing remained a loyal companion for most of the songs played, especially gems like Down Down, the melancholic Living On An Iceland, Roll Over Lay Down and of course the obligatory Whatever You Want, onto which Fogerty’s Rockin’ All Aver The World poured ruthless oil on the fire in the encore. The excellent impression was, in my opinion, slightly spoiled at the end by the more or less unnecessarily tossed-in and predictable medley of Rock ‘n’ Roll Music and Berry’s Bye Bye Johnny. The Stats Quo arsenal undoubtedly has much more to offer than highlighting such crowd-pleasing, cheerfully rehashed motifs. After all, in a good forty years of making music the Quo have thrown over 60 hits at us, which puts them at the very top of the rock & roll community!
Text: Daniel Pavlica
Photos: Barbara Milharčič
Setlist:
1.Caroline
2.The Wanderer
3.Rain
4.Beginning Of The End
5.Don’t Waste My Time
6.Don’t Drive My Car
7.Hold You Back
8.The Oriental
9.Creepin’ Up On You
10.Paper Plane
11.Proposing Medley
12.Big Fat Mama
13.Living On An Island
14.In The Army Now
15.Roll Over Lay Down
17.Down Down
18.Whatever You Want
—encore—
19.Junior’s Wailing
20.Rockin’ All Over The World
21.Rock ‘n’ Roll Music/Bye Bye Johnny
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