Then there is the band who over the years have often been ridiculed by the music press for producing 3 chord songs (they countered this by jokingly naming their last album ‘In Search of the Fourth Chord’), produced a number of very cheesy singles, and never made it in the US. With the Quo sound it’s like the taste of Marmite, you either love it or hate it!

So what makes crowds in Europe flock to see this band every year? For me, it’s that you just can’t help but get caught up in the songs. Yes they may be only 3 chord riffs (not true actually), but they’re catchy; you can’t help getting into them when you’re at a Quo gig.

Status Quo have been going in some form since 1962, when they were founded by Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster when they were at school, but it wasn’t until 1968 that they had their first hit ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’. By now Rossi and Lancaster had been joined by Rick Parfitt and guitar and John Coughlan on drums. Sales remained high in the UK throughout the 1970s, but tensions within the band saw founding member John Coghlan leaving the band late in 1981, and Lancaster in 1985.

So to Quo of 2009, by the time the lights go down, the audience is ready to party. Enter stage left the current Quo line up of Rossi, Parfitt, Andy Brown (keyboards and guitar since 1976), John ‘Rhino’ Edwards (bass since 1986) and Matt Letley (drums since 2001).

‘Caroline’ is the usual starter, followed ‘Something 'bout You Baby I Like’, ‘Break The Rules’, ‘Mean Girl’　and ‘Softer Ride’. I don’t know whether it’s just my memory that’s fading, but it seems that we had a changed setlist this year, including more ‘older’ songs than have made it into the setlist in previous years. The speed of the set is incessant little break, except when Mr Rossi needs a breather and decides to have a chat with a couple of members of the audience, cracking jokes often at his or the band’s expense. The second half of the set comes with ‘In The Army Now’ (with lots of audience participation), a drum solo which has also crept in recent times, giving the older members of the band a well deserved breather. Finally we get ‘Roll Over Lay Down’, ‘Down Down’, ‘Whatever You Want’, and then of course the John Fogerty cover ‘Rockin' All Over The World’. Another change to the set comes with encore including ‘Don't Waste My Time’ a favourite of mine, and then three classic rock n roll tracks ‘Rock 'n' Roll Music’, ‘Shake Baby Shake’ and ‘Bye Bye Johnny’.

And so ended another yearly pilgrimage to see one of the longest running rock bands the UK has given the world. When you leave a Quo concert you always seem to come out with a warm fuzzy glow! The only regret of mine, and I don’t know if the band ever think this, is that they never made it across the pond in the USA. I’m sure had they made the push they could have made it big, and who knows where they would be now.