★★★★

WHEN Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt and co started calling themselves Status Quo mankind was still a couple of years away from walking on the moon.

It was still going to be another 10 years until the Brighton Centre would open. But after almost 50 years the mighty Quo are finally on their last fully amplified tour. Rossi has vowed that they will do acoustic shows only after this last hurrah. Sadly Parfitt has already hung up his Fender Telecaster after a heart attack following a show earlier this year. So surely they are slowly winding down as they bring their electric life to an end? No chance.

They were never going to stop without giving it their all. They seemed louder than ever on their traditional preChristmas visit to Brighton. Lots of the set was similar to what we’ve been used to each year. But if it ain’t broke dont fix it. Parfitt’s identikit replacement has perfected his sound, so while that Telecaster was hung on the wall, another was bought in its place.

Like Rossi told his adoring fans, the songs they play are from the last century, but they still explode from the stage in a wall of buzz-saw guitar. Many of those in the crowd were born in the first half of the last century and still love it. After almost two hours the classics, like Down Down, sounded as good as ever. So they are not bowing out with a whimper.

One suspects they will have to drag Rossi from the stage kicking and screaming when the tour gets to its last night and it felt like there was many a tear in the eye of those in the crowd when they all waved goodbye at the end. The Quo stopped to linger and look out at the sea of smiling faces for just a moment longer this time before heading off into the night.