Quireboys - Swansea Review

Considering how often I used to write about the much-loved British rockers The Quireboys on this blog, the lack of coverage which they have received over the past couple of years does make it appear that I have fallen out of love with the band I have seen live many times. Whilst their messy 2022 split and their splintering into two camps has somewhat lessened my interest in a band whom I often saw multiple times a year, the truth is that there just has not been all that much to write about. I last saw The Quireboys in 2022, when I saw the now Guy Griffin-fronted band put on a so-so performance at a long-delayed show featuring a string section and a number of other musicians - but later that year I also saw Quireboys (minus the 'The') which featured a number of the band's original members regrouped around frontman Spike, whom had been removed from The Quireboys earlier in the year. The split was a messy one, with a war of words erupting in the immediate weeks following it - which likely ended up helping neither side's cause. I wanted to remain open minded, so went along to the aforementioned The Quireboys show fronted by Griffin as I had had the ticket for a long time at that point - but it just did not feel like The Quireboys. I am never a line-up snob when it comes to bands, but there are some bands that revolve around one key personality - and The Quireboys, despite what others in the band may think, was always very much, from the outside at least, about Spike. I was looking forward to seeing what Spike would come up with next, then, so I attended his re-launched Quireboys show in December 2022. The lengthy show was, on the whole, excellent. There were a few chaotic moments and songs which felt under rehearsed but, unlike the previous show earlier in the year, it actually felt like I was at a Quireboys show. Despite that 2022 launch, though, Spike's Quireboys have been quiet, at least publicly, since then. 2024 seeks to change that, though. With an album of new material written by Spike and the late Guy Bailey scheduled for a September release, the band booked a short May tour to road-test some of the material and prepare for a handful of summer festival shows. It seems that another tour will be announced for November to tour the album but this recent run of shows was the first proper outing of the now largely-solidified Quireboys line-up. Griffin's Quireboys have been taking pre-orders on a new album which shows no sign of being released for nearly two years at this point, and do not seem to have any live dates planned, so I do wonder if they are struggling without Spike - but Spike, currently, seems to have everything under control, with a strong new Quireboys line-up featuring some classic previous members as well as well-respected peers. Of the four shows announced, the Swansea date made the most sense financially. I had never been to Swansea before, which turned out to be a rather unexciting place, and the Patti Pavilion was quite a trek from the main city centre where I was staying. I did not think that it was the best venue, either, but there was a decent crowd gathered considering that Swansea is somewhat off the beaten path - meaning that, as is typical of Quireboys shows, there was a good atmosphere throughout.

Before Spike and his band took to the stage, though, the growing crowd was treated to two support acts. Up first, from Nottingham, were the punky, hair metal quartet Continental Lovers - who owed quite a significant portion of their sound and look to Hanoi Rocks. Despite battling through tech issues early on, including the main microphone stopping working, the four-piece powered their way through half an hour or so of music which was generally up-tempo and energetic. There was one slower ballad included, but generally the band's songs were power chord-heavy anthems with some tasty guitar leads and a driving rhythm section. Sadly, though, the vocals were buried in the mix. Even after the microphone issue was fixed it was hard to hear the vocals - and this certainly limited the band's impact. Given that all of their songs were on short side and there was not a significant amount of time given over to extended soloing, despite the occasional solo adding colour, the lack of vocal clarity in the mix likely meant that many of the band's main hooks were lost. The traditional support band mix hindered the band from making their full impact - but I heard enough to suggest that Continental Lovers likely have something about them which warrants further investigation. They were something of  throwback to my Uni days in appearance, too. When I was living in Leicester during the early 2010s there were quite a few bands that looked like Continental Lovers in and around the East Midlands who often opened up for bigger bands - so seeing another glam/punk act from Nottingham so many years later was quite nostalgic. Despite the issues, then, the band's set flew by - and they received a fairly strong reception throughout, too, which was nice to see.

Changing the vibe next was a solo set from former The Grip and Honeycrack frontman Willie Dowling. Dowling, who was also associated with The Wildhearts briefly and goes back a long way with Spike, is someone I was familiar with in name-only but had never listened to - and his half an hour or so of piano-driven music was largely enjoyable. He was joined by a bass player as well as some backing tracks with drum loops on, but generally his songs were led by his piano playing - and his lyrics ranged from being quirky to political, often within the same song. Generally, too, his songs were pretty memorable. It is lazy to compare piano players to Elton John, but Dowling's vocal mannerisms and the melodic drive of his playing certainly reminded me a little of John's approach - albeit the songwriting was clearly rooted in a career of playing louder rock music. Quite a few in the crowd were already familiar with his work, so he had little to do to get people on side. A few anti-government quips certainly helped with that - but I did find some of the political statements/lyrics somewhat tiring. I have no issue with politics and music going hand-in-hand - I just find the everyone-who-disagrees-with-me-is-an-actual-fascist attitude which seems to permeate portions of the left these days to be trite. The word 'fascist' has basically lost all of its meaning now (as, indeed, have the terms 'left' and 'right' in my opinion) - and there was a bit of that brand of politics on display. Changes are needed in this country for sure, but meaningful change will not happen whilst those sort of views are what are considered meaningful opposition to the status quo. Moving along, though, I did actually enjoy Dowling's set despite my eyes occasionally rolling. His songs were memorable enough regardless of the subject matter - and it reminded me that I have an LP copy of a Grip album I really ought to dig out.

Around 25 minutes later the lights went down and Spike and the rest of the Quireboys took to the stage. Compared to the army of musicians he had around him in 2022, the current line-up of the band look much more svelt. Joining him again were original bassist Nigel Mogg and classic-era drummer Rudy Richman - with Thunder's Luke Morley (guitar/vocals) and Dowling (keyboards/vocals) making up the rest of the five-piece. Dowling was filling in for founding keyboard player Chris Johnstone on this tour, but he sounded really at home in the band - and it was just as well that he was well-versed in the catalogue as the single-guitar approach meant that the piano was more prominent in the mix than ever. Whilst most of the set was culled from the band's first two albums, five songs from the upcoming album Wardour Street were played. The album's lead single Jeeze Louise kicked off an 18-song set, with the Chuck Berry-esque rock 'n' roll of the piece getting things off to a fine start. Vocally, Spike was on fine form. Early in the set he was a bit low in the mix - but this evened itself out over time, and generally he was his usual self. Following the new number, the early part of the set was generally made up of favourites - with the boogie blues of Can't Park Here and the ever-present Misled seeing plenty of singing from the crowd. With the exception of the new songs played, the setlist was pretty as-expected. The deep cuts from that 2022 show were largely gone, save for Can't Park Here, but given this tour is essentially relaunching the band it made sense to play the hits. The country-esque Sweet Mary Ann was another early on that saw plenty of singing before the surprisingly heavy Raining Whiskey gave the crowd another taste of what is to come.

Whilst most of the songs on the upcoming album were written by Spike and Bailey, Raining Whiskey is a re-worked Frankie Miller piece that was never released. Spike has never hidden his love of Miller and I had expected the song to be more delicate - but it was a real barnburner. It set the tone nicely for the moody Whippin' Boy, which Dowling co-wrote funnily enough, and the strutting Tramps and Thieves. Given the single-guitar approach, the lack of the slide did give the latter a different vibe - but Morley did a great job throughout. I am not sure why Spike has decided to go with only one guitarist given that The Quireboys were always a two-guitar band - but nothing felt significantly lacking as a result. Tramps and Thieves still rocked and Morley did break out the slide for Hey You - which saw everyone singing. The new songs were all well-received, too, and I think my personal favourite of those played was I Think I Got It Wrong Again due to its snappy riffing and a classic Spike chorus. In fact, all of the new songs sounded great - so I am really looking forward to hearing the new album when it drops in September. Happy was another rollocking new one, but it was perhaps King of New York before it which really got everyone going. The set was generally pretty hard rocking, with ballads a relative rarity - so the slow number was very much welcome, and Morley delivered a great solo during it. Sadly there was not too much time left by this point and it was left to a bouncy There She Goes Again and the ever-present barroom groove of 7 O'Clock to bring everything to a close. There was time for a few more, though, with the AC/DC-esque brashness of Like It or Not being the last of the new tunes played, before an excellent rendition of the trashy Mayfair was the last big moment of energy. A lengthy rendition of the ballad I Don't Love You Anymore then brought the curtain down on the evening - with Spike delivering another emotional vocal performance and Morley again nailing the melodic solo. The setlist was:

Jeeze Louise

Can't Park Here

Misled

Sweet Mary Ann

Raining Whiskey [Frankie Miller cover]

Whippin' Boy

Tramps and Thieves

Hey You

I Think I Got It Wrong Again

Ode To You (Baby Just Walk)

King of New York

Happy

Roses & Rings

There She Goes Again

7 O'Clock

-

Like It or Not

Mayfair

I Don't Love You Anymore

This tour seems to suggest that Spike's new version of the Quireboys is well and truly up and running. It is a shame that Johnstone could not make it this time, but Dowling did a fine job in his place - and it was great to hear many of those classic songs again after a bit of a break. Considering I used to see The Quireboys live multiple times a year it has been strange of late not doing so. Still, last night in Swansea was another fun one - and the added bonus of the new songs meant that it is only made me more excited for Wardour Street to drop.