25/5/2008 The Quireboys & Dan Baird @ the Borderline

Subject	The Quireboys & Dan Baird @ the Borderline
PostedDate	5/25/2008
	This was a gig I'd been particularly looking forward too - and I wasn't disappointed.  It was a very strong bill and had sold out some time in advance. Unfortunately I couldn't get there early enough to see Swedish band Diamond Dogs and arrived as the Faces soundalikes were on their last song - a shame as they seemed really good. I never got to see the Georgia Satellites play although I loved their albums, so seeing Dan Baird and his band Homemade Sin tonight has to be the next best thing - especially as the Satellites drummer Mauro Magellan and original bassist Keith Christopher are in the band. As if the band wasn't going to be shit hot anyway, Dan also has Warner Hodges from Jason & The Scorchers playing guitar with him. I was lucky enough to see Warner with 'Ginger (of the Wildhearts) & The Scorchers' a few months ago - boy can he play! The band play mostly their own material, but there are a couple of Satellites numbers thrown in as well such as 'I Dunno' and the crowd pleaser 'Keep Your Hands To Yourself'. This is a hell of a band and they would be well worth going to see on their own! I saw the Quireboys at Islington Academy several years ago and thought they were distinctly average - although I'm sure others who were at that show would disagree. However, they seem to have improved as a band enormously since then and are now a genuinely class act - in fact I'd say one of the best live rock 'n' roll bands in the UK. With their fifth studio album just released they have an impressive back catalogue to pick from and this was always going to be a good show. It turns out to be one of the very best I've seen this year - and regular readers will know I go to a hell of a lot of gigs in a year. So how do you make a great band even better? Let Warner Hodges join you on guitar for a song or two! Original Quireboys bass player Nigel Mogg has now been replaced full time by his loyal longtime stand-in Jimi Crutchley - now rocking the Ritchie Blackmore look: The venue is packed and the atmosphere is terrific.  Some songs from the new album 'Homewreckers & Heartbreakers' get an airing, but to be honest don't make a great impression on me. Maybe the album is a grower, but so far it doesn't have any standout tracks for me like the band's last effort 'Well Oiled' did. It doesn't matter too much tonight though as the Quireboys play so many other great songs and frontman Spike is on good form and in high spirits. Warner Hodges isn't the only member of Homemade Sin to join the Quireboys on stage as towards the end of their set Keith Christopher joins Jimi to play bass - both on the same guitar at the same time! It's been a really great night! In fact, I am not alone in thinking that it was so great that's it's worth doing it all again the following night...