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Events and Reports - The Quireboys - 2 times Live in Hamburg, August 2004
Quireboys, Headbangers Ballroom, Hamburg Germany August 4th 2004
Everything was perfect on this sunny day when Quireboys (that is London Quireboys to our American readers) played Hamburg. The venue "Headbangers Ballroom" was located at the harbor in the entertaining St. Pauli part of Hamburg.
The club "Headbangers Ballroom" was a small pub with a bar in the middle and the band setting up their gear in a corner. I don't think the surroundings could get any more intimate to experience a band that actually supported Rolling Stones and Guns N' Roses in their heyday.
In true Quireboys style we all put on our pin-striped suits and bandanas only to sweat like pigs already when the local support band "Electric Angels" hit the stage with their 70's inspired Rock. Most memorable track from Electric Angels was their cover of Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic. After Electric Angels the bar naturally drew our attention. We got a chat with Quireboys' keyboard player Keith Weir, who hung out around the bar. Soon after we got out first glimpse of the true legend - Spike. Anyone familiar with the image of Quireboys know the fine Englishmen are about drinking, having a great time and drinking of course. Hell, they write songs about drinking because it is something they can relate to and sure Spike seemed pretty drunk drinking half a bottle of beer in one zip while ordering a Whiskey and coke.
The band opened with first single off the new album Good To See Ya and the song's title was very symbolic and mutual. It felt so good to hear Spike yell out "Good evening Hamburg - We're the Quireboys and this is Rock 'N' Roll.
Spike entertained the audience in between the songs. He proposed several toasts throughout the show. Of course in straight coca cola with absolutely no whiskey in it :) Spike said that they were professionals and that explained him only drinking cola and no booze. Cool with self irony. He proclaimed that Quireboys was there to take Rock 'N' Roll back and introduced This is Rock 'n' Roll as a celebration to everybody who liked Rock 'N' Roll and life in general.
After a bombardment of vintage Quireboys material, the band focused on their excellent new album "Well Oiled". First up was the drinking tune The Finer Stuff, where Spike appealed to the crowd to clap their hands in the middle play if they liked drinking. The bouncing Lorraine Lorraine sounded great and newcomer Paul Guerin seemed very comfortable with the new material. It surprised me that Guy Griffin didn't play all solos, but Paul took over most solos. Paul Guerin did a fantastic job on the rocking solo in This is Rock N Roll. Paul Guerin really fits the band perfectly and his Les Paul is a very important ingredient in Quireboys' live sound. The mid-tempo ballad Sweet as the rain was a welcomed song in the set. Everybody was sweating like pigs and Griff looked like he just took a dive in a swimming pool.
The crowd received the newer songs with excitement and after the three songs from "Well Oiled" Spike said that now they would play a 3 chord song. A clever fan yelled "oh, another one of the 3 chord songs" while Spike cheeky replied "Yeah, but this time it's in G" and Griff started strumming the classic chords to Hey You.
The last part of the set was basically the hits off "A bit of what you fancy". The only song to break the shoal of classic songs was Black Mariah. Black Mariah really comes to life played in concert. The driving signature riff builds up to climax and the band end the song very bombastic. Spike was in a great mood and joked all the time. Black Mariah was introduced as a song about Guy Griffin getting arrested and that should explain why he walks so funny. Griffin sends a visual kiss to Spike and says "Love you too". There was a certain "interaction" between Guy Griffin and Spike. A cocktail combined of a bit tension, love and respect between them - kind of a Steven Tyler/Joe Perry relationship. By that I don't insinuate anything drug related, but they are the songwriting partners in Quireboys - a great team, but on and off stage they are totally different personalities. An example was Spike approaching Griff with "What are we playing?" Griff didn't answer and Spike smiled and told the audience that Griff is always that way - he always ignores Spike - but he could just wait till his next solo, where Spike would steal the attention.
All in all this show was the perfect example of the lost art of Rock 'N' Roll namely to entertain the audience. A Quireboys show is all about having a great time and we certainly did. The band sounded excellent. They closed with a breathtaking version of I Don't Love you anymore, where Paul Guerin and Guy Griffin both played some very emotional notes, before Griff took over and did the great solo himself. As final encore Sex Party was blasted out with so much energy that the crowd really felt they got their money worth after such an intimate and energetic concert.
Guy Griffin was the maestro (or like Spike said; they all let him think that), but it was clear that he is the captain of the show. Since Nigel Mogg lives in L.A and just had a baby Quireboys had drummer Pip's brother Nick on bass. Nick hadn't played that many shows with the band and he wasn't that loose in his performance, but did a great job though. Thumbs up for filling in without a lot of rehearsals.
Keith Weir certainly is an important person to the band. His bar-piano always adds that old time Rock 'N' Roll flavor to the songs. His solo in Misled was brilliant.
Overall a fantastic show, where everybody had an excellent time. The band was on fire and was driven by the joy of playing even though the venue's capacity probably was less than 150 people. The vibe was loose and Spike's hoarse voice sounded great. He certainly lived up to his reputation with great vocals, quite a few drinks and funny comments all the time. He shared funny stories and teased the other guys - for example there was a story about Keith Weir, who had been down the Reperbahn before the show and found a new wife.
A Quireboys show is all about having a great time and everybody certainly enjoyed a great dose of Quireboys' old time 100 percent pure quality Rock 'N' Roll.
Setlist:
Good To See Ya
Misled
Tramps and Thieves
This is Rock 'n' Roll
The Finer Stuff
Lorraine Lorraine
Sweet as the Rain
Hey You
There She Goes Again
Sweet Mary Ann
Black Mariah
7 o'clock
I Don't Love You Anymore
Sex Party
Quireboys, Alstervergnugen Festival, Hamburg Germany August 27th 2004
Because of the fantastic night 3 weeks earlier we once again returned to Hamburg for some nice English Rock 'N' Roll. Alstervergnugen is like a big town party concentrated around the Alster lake in central Hamburg. It is Hamburg's largest summer festival and had free admission.
Quireboys was to close one of the stages Friday night. We arrived early to checkout the party, but the rainy weather put a brake on the beautiful scenery and also our lust to explore the town before the show. We wanted to save our energy for the show.
Once again the show was fabulous. The only thing deviating from the club show 3 weeks earlier was that this definitely wasn't a crowd dedicated to Quireboys' music. I saw a few Quireboys t-shirts and the first 2 rows had Quireboys fans, but from there it was Mr. and Mrs. Germany on their yearly night out.
Spike was very happy and not drunk at all. Once again it was a pleasure to enjoy the fine collaboration between Paul Guerin and Guy Griffin. They both play with reserve of strength and emotion. The best track of the night was a splendid version of Sweet As the Rain. The setlist was the same as above with addition of Turn Away and C'mon as encore. The straight rocker C'Mon worked perfectly as encore because it's so melodic and straightforward. C'mon should be a permanent song in the set in my opinion.
Spike thanked the audience before the encore and especially the fans and said "It's been hard but that's life" leveled against all the people hanging around the different bars and not really caring for the music.
After the show we met up with the nice gentleman Keith Weir and arranged to meet the guys for a drink down at the Reperbahn. We all had a great night out and were honored to hang with one of the greatest bands around. Spike stayed home at the hotel, but the rest of the gang were extremely nice people. Last time I didn't talk much to Guy Griffin, but I was in for a nice surprise since he was the nicest guy and smiling all the time.
We left at around 3 o'clock because we had a long drive at night back to Denmark. All the way home we listened to Quireboys and when I think of this particular night, the first vision is always guitar ace Paul Guerin smoking a huge cigar at PJ's Beer Bar, Hamburg.
| You can click most pictures for a bigger version
All pictures taken by Martin Borg | Written by Michael
Tuesday, October 26, 2004 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Rebecca (blyth) (Anonymous) - Sunday, June 19, 2005 | i loved the gig at south shields lol, n im so glad u played 7 o clock its ma fav song lol :D
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| Comment by anon (Anonymous) - Sunday, November 20, 2005 | What r the guys (LOL) doing now? Where r they?
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