Status Quo just never stop. In 36 years, they have overcome drink, drugs and quadruple heart bypasses to keep chugging through the same three-chord numbers into the 21st Century.

Even in the event of a nuclear meltdown, Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi would peel themselves off the floor, put on some nice white trainers and set off on a tour of Europe, playing to any surviving life forms they could find.

There is something about this persistence that appeals to the British psyche. Never mind that all their songs sound the same.

The if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it philosophy has gained them almost 40 Top 20 hits and a hardened following of people who think life is already quite unpredictable enough, thank you very much.

You know where you are with the Quo. Saturday's sell-out gig - part of the 40-date XS All Areas Tour - was no exception, kicking off with a dramatically energised rendition of Caroline, all blasting boogie riffs and middle-aged pogoing.

We crossed our fingers, hoping that Rick's dicky ticker would hold out.

The elderly audience did their best to keep up, bless them, all pointy fingers and side-to-side hip waggling.

But after the first 20 minutes most of them needed a bit of a sit-down.

And while everybody screamed politely when father-of-eight Francis took off his trademark waistcoat, it was clear any post-gig activity was going to revolve around making a nice cup of cocoa.

"Well, I've stalled as long as I can," was how Francis reluctantly introduced the new single, Thinking Of You. "I'm worried because I can't remember the words or any of the chords."

What, all three of them? Come on Francis, we know it's going to go chunkerty-chunkerty-chunk like all the others, except for the ones that go kerchunk-kerchunk-kerchunk-ker.

It was in fact a kerchunker of uninspired monotone drudgery, sounded much like Roll Over Lay Down, and is another Top 20 hit for sure.

The crowd finally got what they'd been waiting for in the form of an off-key Whatever You Want and the obligatory Rockin' All Over The World before a triumphant encore of Paper Plane and Burning Bridges, the closest the Quo get to anthemic grandeur.

As they left the stage, Francis's grey ponytail swinging in the breeze, you realised Status Quo really are going to carry on until they drop.

And you have to admire them.