Event: Moon & Stars festival, headliners Status Quo
Date: July 12, 2024
Location: Piazza Grande, Locarno, Switzerland
“Current status: black and white”
Sometimes, even as a hardened and battle-worn metalhead, life drops you in front of a band you only half-listen to at the occasional party, while those familiar riffs and killer choruses from their biggest hits keep bouncing around in the back of your head. So there I was, with my wife and a group of friends, in the little town of Locarno in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where the English boogie-woogie champions Status Quo were headlining Friday night at the Moon & Stars festival.
The concert was a birthday gift for our old friend Darko‘s milestone birthday. Darko has been a die-hard fan of the band for years but had never seen them live. We managed to keep the whole thing secret until the very last second before walking into the venue — what followed were tears of joy and liters of Red Bull vodka.
Since Rick Parfitt‘s death in 2016, Status Quo has been more or less a solo project for chief songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Francis Rossi. He still keeps two veterans by his side: Andy Bown on keyboards (and guitar), an official member since 1981 and a touring member since 1973, and bassist John “Rhino” Edwards, who has been in the band since 1985. The younger contingent is made up of drummer Leon Cave (since 2013) and rhythm guitarist Richie Malone (since 2016), who will get more airtime in this write-up.
A massive stage had been set up in the square in Locarno, and by the time we arrived the place was packed with fired-up fans. Wanting to get Darko right in the thick of it, we pulled a proper Balkan-style push through the crowd and worked our way up to around the twentieth row, with Darko even managing to get to the tenth. By my count there were somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 people there, which well exceeded my expectations.
To a recorded intro, the five musicians marched on stage in white sneakers, black jeans, and white shirts — rock and roll uniform, par excellence. Richie fired up the opening support riff on the evergreen Caroline and it was immediately clear we were in for a divine sound. Francis joined in with the main riff and together they were already filling 80% of your available ear capacity. When the other three kicked in, the square filled up with proper rock and roll sound. Every guitar came through crystal clear on its own (including when Andy added a third on certain tracks). The bass and drums cut through like seasoned Canadian lumberjacks, while the keyboards rounded everything out perfectly.
The classic four-on-the-floor boogie rhythm had everyone shaking and bouncing non-stop, which — with storm clouds pressing in and the humidity through the roof — meant liters of sweat. I personally knew maybe half the songs, but everything else was played so convincingly that I never lost the buzz for a single second. I did pick up a new favorite in Hold You Back, which has a great bouncy Irish melody to it.
The band is in excellent shape — physically, instrumentally, and vocally. The songs are of course pitched a key or so lower for the venerable Francis (the man is 75), which was most noticeable on the massive hit Whatever You Want towards the end of the set. Everyone except the drummer got their moment to shine vocally, and they all delivered.
I have to come back to the already-mentioned Richie Malone on rhythm guitar. The guy treats his instrument like an ex-girlfriend he ends up in bed with one more time. He cuts, wrecks, caresses, scratches, bites, and worships it, coaxing out filthy sounds and fast rhythms. You know how that goes. Hands down, Star of the Night!!!
As you can see below, the setlist was drawn mostly from the boogie era between 1972 and 1982, with the obligatory dip into the eighties via their cover of In the Army Now and even a jump into the new millennium with a couple of tracks. Understandably, they completely ignored the early, semi-psychedelic period that the average fan barely knows.
Bottom line: this is how the old masters do it — killer sound, a setlist packed with hits, and a genuine love of the music. During the intro to one of the songs, Francis half-muttered to himself: “I fuckin’ love playin’ this one!” And you could feel it!
text: Igorac
photos: Igorac
Setlist:
1. Caroline
2. Rain
3. Little Lady
4. Softer Ride
5. Beginning of the End
6. Hold You Back
7. What You’re Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again and Again / Slow Train
8. The Oriental
9. In My Chair
10. In the Army Now (orig. Bolland & Bolland)
11. Roll Over Lay Down
12. Down Down
13. Whatever You Want
14. Rockin’ All Over the World (orig. John Fogerty)
—encore—
15. Don’t Waste My Time
