I caught the Quireboys some six years ago at Bradford Rios, and though some would chortle at such shameful admission, they were actually rather enjoyable. Of course, for those who haven’t seen the band live for whatever reason, the next best thing would be to watch a live DVD or as a last resort perhaps listen to the live CD. I have to be honest, both are a concept I don’t fully subscribe to myself. Okay, you might get a slightly better view of the band than you would at Wembley Stadium but the atmosphere you get at an actual live concert can never be recreated by watching a screen in your living room, no matter how much you’ve had to drink it is never the same. Sure, they were amusing when a much younger me had certain band obsessions, but these days grumpy old Luci just sees such record label cash-ins as a waste of precious time when I could be listening to new music recorded in a studio while getting on with something more productive than staring at a screen pretending to be at a gig.
But enough moaning. As far as label cash-ins go, Global Music are actually being rather generous here offering a live CD and DVD together for the price of one CD so if you’re a fan of the band then you could certainly do much worse than to purchase this. An internet search however brings up a message that the album is not at all endorsed by the band and they urge fans not to purchase this, however there is nothing on the official website or myspace so I’d take that with a pinch of salt.
Of course if you’re familiar with these dudes then you know what to expect musically and it’s good time rock’n’roll to the max. Kicking in with ‘C’Mon’ we’re treated to a set filled with some of the best numbers, including several from debut album ‘A Bit Of What You Fancy.’ The easy rocking rhythms of ‘There She Goes Again’ will get you singing along over the sleazy guitar lines and the piano rounds out the bluesy feel of tracks like ‘Tramps And Thieves.’ Token ballad ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ really highlights the heartfelt croons of Spike, while ‘Sex Party’ and ‘7 O’Clock’ bring the good time vibe to a head and there’s no shortage of glam rock cliché here. It certainly gets the party going and invites you to come along, down a bottle of whiskey and get your freak on with two large breasted women both with big hair and wearing very little.
Recorded at the Marquee Club in 2004, it’s not quite clear why DR2 records are releasing a concert that took place six years ago instead of going either for classic footage or something more recent, but that’s more an observation than a criticism. Production is just raw enough to bring out the live energy, without being too under-produced. Naturally I can’t see the point in purchasing this unless you are really a die hard Quireboys fan – but I suppose not everyone shares my aversion to live albums and as far as they go this isn’t a bad one.
http://www.myspace.com/thequireboys
