Continuing the spirit of FTMO fan club conventions at Butlin's, some of the same organizers ran the first QuoVention at the well-known Robin 2 in Bilston (near Wolverhampton) on the 14th and 15th March.
Although this convention was much smaller than the FTMO ones, it still attracted members of the Quo Army from all over the world. There were large contingents from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden - and even one from Australia (sadly not me this time, though!).
The event was opened on Friday evening by "Break The Rules" who played a varied set including "Backwater", "Just Take Me" and "Daughter" (watch their fine version of "Backwater" and "Just Take Me" here). Next up were "Status No" from Scotland and their set was also a mixed bag, ranging from "Claudie" and "A Reason For Living" all the way to "The Anniversary Waltz"! (Watch their performance of "A Reason For Living", ably assisted by a very willing audience, here.)
Headlining the first night were the hugely popular Swedish stars, "Sound of Status". Issues with visas prevented them from making their previous slot at the last FTMO convention so it was great for the UK fans to get a chance to see them again. Jeff Rich jumped on the drum stool for a couple of songs with them too (including "Whatever You Want" which can be seen here). More unusual tracks in their set included "Long Legged Linda" and "Unspoken Words". (Watch them in action with "Shady Lady" and "Unspoken Words".)
With the QuoVention not resuming until 4pm on Saturday, there was time for another tribute to play in the afternoon at the Café Metro near the Robin. "Just Doin' It" played a varied set over a couple of hours to a packed house, including "4500 Times" (the "Rock 'Til You Drop" version) and "For You". Rick's son (with Lyndsay) was in the audience for this gig too.
Kicking off the second evening of the QuoVention were the very popular "Belgian Quo Band". They played a quality set and were joined by Leon Cave for "Big Fat Mama", "Juniors Wailing" and "In The Army Now". Watch their versions of "Caroline", "Softer Ride" and "Big Fat Mama" (with Leon Cave).
The Glamdads were up next, fronted by well-known Quo fan, Alan Crook. They sported outrageously bad seventies clothes while banging out a set of glam and rock classics such as "Tiger Feet" and "Born To Be Wild".
The brief respite from Quo was broken when the next band took the stage. German outfit "Frantic Quo" were one of the better acts of the event by all accounts and their fine rendition of "Rain" can be seen here.
It was down to Scotland's "The Quo Story" to close out the convention. This class act played well and Richie Malone joined them for a large part of their set. Watch Richie in action on "Rain", "Mean Girl/Softer Ride" and the big finale of "Rockin' All Over The World" (joined by Rick's son Tommy and a cast of thousands from the other bands!).
For those with enough stamina, there was more live Quo to be had, with an after-party held at The Trumpet jazz pub! The Belgian Quo Band played again with Leon guesting on a few numbers, what a night!
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Francis was interviewed by Dan Walker on Channel 5 News on 17th March. It was yet another promo for his forthcoming solo tour and the interview can be seen here.
Revisit the March 2025 event list
Francis gave a one-hour interview to Billy Sloan on BBC Radio Scotland on 22nd March, as a promotional effort around the new "Live!" special edition release.
The interview focused on Quo playing in Scotland (and particularly Glasgow), especially The Apollo/Greens Playhouse.
Francis said that he thought the original album "sounded messy" and he was "so surprised" by the remix in that it's "far better than the original". Several tracks were played during the intervew and I agree with Francis, they sounded amazing!
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After the cancellation of the previous night's gig in Geelong (due to low ticket sales), it was relief to know that the Melbourne's iconic Corner Hotel in Richmond would still play host to "12 Gold Bars" on 23rd March.
The crowd started filling the front bar from midday in anticipation of both "Live & Dangerous" and the main event. It was great to catch up with many Quo friends while we waited for the doors to the big band room to open. There was a delayed start thanks to a missing security guy, but things finally kicked off when "Live & Dangerous" took the main stage at 1.45pm. They played an excellent 45-minute set of Thin Lizzy classics, with the guitar work being particularly impressive. Simon Croft (who's clocked up over 2,500 shows in the Queen "We Will Rock You" musical band!) was amazing and their energetic set was very well received by the packed room.
With the late start, 12 Gold Bars took the stage at about 3pm and decided to play straight through rather than having their usual break about halfway through the set. The 250-or-so punters were well up for it and "Whatever You Want" certainly did the job as the opener! I think the setlist was the same as the last gig I saw when they played with John Coghlan in Sydney in January but with a slightly different order (they opened that gig with "Down Down", for example, while it came much later in this set).
The band does what it says on the tin, playing the "12 Gold Bars" album in full including a great version of "Living On An Island" with their talented young keyboard player (playing his last gig with them before heading off to tour in the UK). The well-known songs got good reactions, but it was the album tracks that stood out for the diehards - "Slow Train" and "Big Fat Mama" were incredibly good and their inclusion of "Accident Prone" continues to be a delight. "Roll Over Lay Down" was wonderfully heavy, "Hold You Back" was knackering and "Rockin' All Over The World" closed out the main set with fine audience participation. The band literally walked off and then straight back on for the encore of "Caroline" to wrap up by the scheduled finish time of 4.30pm.
The whole band played very tightly and it was a better performance overall than the Sydney gig in my opinion. The lead work from Pete Robinson was spot on throughout (even continuing to play while a new guitar strap was fitted) and the driving rhythm section was unwavering.
It's sad to hear that this tour will probably be the band's last due to the high costs associated with touring in this country. Their professionalism in bringing the Quo songs to a local audience in Australia has been much appreciated.
Revisit the March 2025 event list
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