The Quireboys - Plymouth Review

It seems tradition now for The Quireboys to undertake an unplugged tour of the UK each year. For the past two years I have caught the stripped down four-piece version of the popular British rockers at a Working Men's Club in the Northamptonshire town of Rushden (one of which was a spur of the moment trip after a football match in Luton), both of which proved to be memorable nights. While The Quireboys truly excel in their all-out hard rock mode, which has brought them plenty of success all over the world since forming in the mid 1980s, their acoustic shows are still something special. Stripped down to the bare bones, the band's songs shine in their beautiful simplicity. This formal also allows the band to relax somewhat, with frontman Spike often taking the time to tell the crowd various stories from the road and joke around on stage with the other members of the band. Joining Spike in these unplugged jaunts are fellow classic-era Quireboys member Guy Griffin (guitar/vocals), and longtime members Paul Guerin (guitar/vocals) and Keith Weir (keyboards/vocals). The chemistry between these four musicians, who have been working together since the early 2000s now, is clear they clearly enjoy these more low-key shows as much as they enjoy the high-octane rock of their usual gigs. Luckily this time I did not have to travel far to see the band, as they opted to come down to the South West for a show at the underused Hub in Plymouth. This was The Quireboy's first trip to Plymouth for quite some time, and there was a good-sized crowd gathered in the venue for the entirety of the evening which helped to create a good atmosphere throughout.

Before The Quireboys took to the stage there was one support band however, and The Stretch Report has the task of warming up the crowd. It was strange having a set of electric hard rock supporting an acoustic headliner, but it would have worked well if The Stretch Report were actually any good. Sadly however, they were not. Despite a relatively promising start with a couple of generic but enjoyable enough three-chord rock songs, the set went downhill pretty quickly with derivative song after derivative song that showed little songwriting prowess and few interesting ideas. What made things worse was the fact that the band just were not very tight at all. The sound was often mushy, with some truly horrid guitar tones, which when combined with the sloppy playing just made for a fairly miserable set. Sloppy covers of Cheap Trick's Surrender and Slade's Mama Weer All Crazee Now could not save the set, and I was happy when the band walked off stage. There are so many better bands that could have filled this slot, including the excellent local act Departed, and The Stretch Report were definitely one of the weakest support acts I have seen for quite some time.

Luckily The Quireboys came on stage about 40 minutes later to wipe away all the memories of The Stretch Report. The show was delayed in starting for a while however as there seemed to be some problems with one of the monitors, but luckily this was sorted out and the band took to the stage at around 21:50. The band seemed fired up for the show from the start, and hit the ground running with three songs from their 1990 debut album A Bit of What You Fancy. There She Goes Again seems to be the band's go-to set opener for their acoustic shows, and it gave the crowd an early chance to sing, taking over from Spike in the chorus to fill the room with voices. Misled and the quieter Roses & Rings followed, before another oldie Devil of a Man was pulled out of the vaults. This song is a regular in their unplugged sets, and it is always special to hear it live. Spike always sings the lyrics with real passion, and it is clearly a fan-favourite. The band moved forward in time next for a couple of numbers from the late 2000s including a stunning rendition of another fan-favourite Mona Lisa Smiled. The unplugged format of the show reduces the guitarists chances to solo, but Guerin took a short solo section during this one. In fact, he handled the vast majority of the lead playing with Griffin often content to sit back on his stool and strum the chords in his usual laid-back, cool way. Another newer number Beautiful Curse followed, before Spike took a chance to plug their latest studio project - an album of their favourite blues songs called White Trash Blues. A couple of these songs were played during the night, in a stripped down acoustic form of course, with a powerful version of Slim Harpo's I'm a King Bee going down particularly well. Another staple of the band's unplugged sets is the old Spike solo number Have a Drink With Me, which always sees Spike, drink in hand, toasting the crowd and encouraging all drinks in the air. This always goes down well, and the heartfelt ballad is always a highlight of the night. Another blues track, Rufus Thomas' Walking the Dog, was another powerful wig out with plenty of excellent piano from Weir. Weir, who was really high in the mix throughout the night, played his heart out all night. His barroom style of piano playing has always been perfect for the band, but he really was on another level tonight with plenty of extended solo sections in many of the songs. There was still time for a couple more surprises late on, with a rare outing for the beautiful Late Nite Saturday Call wowing the crowd, before one of the band's biggest hits Hey You was wheeled out. This song would not normally be a surprise at a Quireboys show, but it is not one that is usually done acoustically. It worked well however, and made for a perfect end to the main set, along with the closing number 7 O'Clock which saw Spike armed with his trusty harmonica. There was still time for a couple more, despite it being well past 23:00 by this time, but it would not be a Quireboys acoustic show without a version of I Don't Love You Anymore. The heartbreaking power ballad is always an excellent experience live, but the version in Plymouth was particularly potent, with Spike dragging out the ending for quite a while to allow the rest of the band to jam somewhat. There was time for one more after this, with Sweet Mary Ann allowing the crowd to have one final sing along before the band finally took their bows and left to plenty of cheers. The setlist was:

There She Goes Again
Misled
Roses & Rings
Devil of a Man
Mona Lisa Smiled
Hello
Beautiful Curse
I'm a King Bee [Slim Harpo cover]
Whippin' Boy
Have a Drink With Me [Spike solo material]
Walking the Dog [Rufus Thomas cover]
Late Nite Saturday Call
Hey You
7 O'Clock
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I Don't Love You Anymore
Sweet Mary Ann

This was my final gig of the year, and it was a great way to sign 2017 out in style. Out of the three Quireboys acoustic shows that I have now witnessed, this was the best in my opinion. The venue and the atmosphere were better, and the band really seemed on top form (even more so than usual). With the promise of another full electric tour next year, and most probably another acoustic run, I am sure it will not be too long before my next Quireboys outing!