11/12/2009 The Quireboys & Wolfsbane @ The Forum

Subject	The Quireboys & Wolfsbane @ The Forum
PostedDate	12/11/2009
	This is a very odd bill! I don't know who's idea it was to put the Tamworth terrors Wolfsbane on with the Quireboys? You would think that fans of Blaze & Co's out and out metal crew wouldn't be too keen on the old school Faces/Stones style Geordie rock 'n' rollers - and vice versa. However, I love both bands as do a few friends of mine so it's a right result for some of us! Unfortunately, due to me grossly underestimating how early the mighty Wolfsbane would take to the stage, and me just generally being useless I didn't arrive in time to see much of their set.  I'm hopeless - I need some sort of personal manager or something to organise me as I seem to be so totally unable to do it for myself and get to a gig early.  I have to say I was rather disappointed with what little I did see of Wolfsbane's set. I thought they were great when they supported the Wildhearts at The Forum last year, but tonight finishing with an uninspired cover of Springsteen's 'Born To Run' instead of one of their own great songs seemed rather lame. To be honest I didn't think as Blaze left the stage that his heart was in it like it was a year or so ago - possibly due to the tragic death of his wife since then. When the band last played in London Blaze hinted that they may well be back now and then for the odd special gig. This time things seemed a bit more final to me... I wasn't sure if the Quireboys would be able to fill a venue this size in 2009. I needn't have worried - the fans are out in force. This is no doubt helped by the fact that this is the 'A Bit Of What You Fancy' anniversary tour - celebrating the band's first (and still their finest) album. Like their Geordie peers the Wildhearts, the Quireboys really seem to have a new lease of life in their reformed lineup based around a couple of the original members - both bands are really at the top of their game as live acts at the moment. The past year or so has seen a couple of changes in the Quireboys lineup: Drummer Pip had left and been replaced by ex-Tokyo Dragons man Phil Martini last time we saw the band, and now bass player Jimi has gone and has his place taken by a mystery man who appearing to be impersonating Eddie Spaghetti from the Supersuckers!  The band seems none the worse for these changes, and there are more surprises in store for later... Like The Wildhearts did recently, the show kicks off with the band playing (nearly) the whole of their first album. Unlike their northern peers, the Quireboys missed out one song... Needless to say, this first part of the show goes down a storm with the crowd! Well it would do, seeing as most of their best songs were on that first album. Fortunately, there are enough good songs from the bands later albums to fill out the rest of the show. And then they trot out not just the missing song from the first album, but also a couple of special guests! I thought I spotted original bassist Nigel Mogg lurking near the cloakroom earlier - obviously too tight to pay a quid to park his coat as now he appears on stage still wearing it! He's also strapped on a bass guitar. As if that wasn't enough, we also get original member Guy Bailey on stage cranking out some choice guitar licks. So we have the Quireboys, joined by Mogg and Bailey playing 'Sex Party' as the final song - they really couldn't have finished the show on a higher note!