|
|
Post by therockdoctor on Oct 14, 2023 8:50:14 GMT
Mcvention day 1 was a great start to the event. A big crowd gathered early and it was nice to catch up with so many old friends. Jackie Lynton is doing all of the introing for the bands and is his usual funny self!
First band up was "Quo No" and they did a decent hour-long and very varied set, including a stab at "Hey Little Woman". This band doesn't take itself too seriously and they did a good job with their opening slot.
Next up came "Status No" and they were considerably more polished, with a broad 75-minute set. The organisers' policy of encouraging bands not to repeat songs is great for us punters.
Locals "Heavy Traffic" did the honours in headlining day 1 and they were superb. Their polish and stage craft is incredible for such a young band and their youth was reflected in their choice of set, especially early on when unheard stuff like "Thinking of You" got a run. It was a nice touch to have John Coghlan join the band on tambourine for the closing songs including "Bye Bye Johnny".
Looking forward to day 2, kicking off with the Coghlan Q&A this afternoon!
|
|
|
|
Post by 4th Chord on Oct 14, 2023 17:46:34 GMT
Mcvention day 1 was a great start to the event. A big crowd gathered early and it was nice to catch up with so many old friends. Jackie Lynton is doing all of the introing for the bands and is his usual funny self! First band up was "Quo No" and they did a decent hour-long and very varied set, including a stab at "Hey Little Woman". This band doesn't take itself too seriously and they did a good job with their opening slot. Next up came "Status No" and they were considerably more polished, with a broad 75-minute set. The organisers' policy of encouraging bands not to repeat songs is great for us punters. Locals "Heavy Traffic" did the honours in headlining day 1 and they were superb. Their polish and stage craft is incredible for such a young band and their youth was reflected in their choice of set, especially early on when unheard stuff like "Thinking of You" got a run. It was a nice touch to have John Coghlan join the band on tambourine for the closing songs including "Bye Bye Johnny". Looking forward to day 2, kicking off with the Coghlan Q&A this afternoon! Hope you're having a great time! |
|
|
|
Post by therockdoctor on Oct 15, 2023 8:48:07 GMT
Mcvention day 1 was a great start to the event. A big crowd gathered early and it was nice to catch up with so many old friends. Jackie Lynton is doing all of the introing for the bands and is his usual funny self! First band up was "Quo No" and they did a decent hour-long and very varied set, including a stab at "Hey Little Woman". This band doesn't take itself too seriously and they did a good job with their opening slot. Next up came "Status No" and they were considerably more polished, with a broad 75-minute set. The organisers' policy of encouraging bands not to repeat songs is great for us punters. Locals "Heavy Traffic" did the honours in headlining day 1 and they were superb. Their polish and stage craft is incredible for such a young band and their youth was reflected in their choice of set, especially early on when unheard stuff like "Thinking of You" got a run. It was a nice touch to have John Coghlan join the band on tambourine for the closing songs including "Bye Bye Johnny". Looking forward to day 2, kicking off with the Coghlan Q&A this afternoon! McVention day 2 was a long one, kicking off with a Q&A session with John Coghlan, hosted by Jackie Lynton. There were a few questions for Jackie to run from, but it ended up being fairly free form and was saved by the great comedy timing of Jackie. John's clearly not doing as well as even a couple of years ago and seemed a bit lost on the stage at times, but still cracked a few jokes and told some funny stories. An excellent start to the day's proceedings. The first band of the day was "Hercules" and they played a very well-received hour-long boogie rock set. It's never easy getting a crowd on side for a set of original material but they played well and got the big crowd on side. This super tight outfit did a fine job of providing something a little different before the Quo onslaught returned. And what better way to provide the next onslaught than "State of Quo". I have a lot of affection for this band, having seen them many times in their earliest incarnation with John Coghlan back in the mid-90s, helping out with the website, etc. The only remaining member from those days is my old mate Paul Carr and it was lovely to say g'day to him again. The band's own drummer couldn't make it, so it was over to Jay Fitzpatrick to take on drumming duties, a task he performed magnificently. Their set was classic Quo, played hard, and including gems like "Who Asked You" and "4500 Times". The younger bands might be taking over the tribute scene, but State of Quo are still up there with the best in my opinion and this was a stonking 75-minutes. It was left to "Baz Barry's Spare Parts" to close out the day - and close it out they certainly did! Jay Fitzpatrick was on duty again in this band, this time playing lead guitar - and again, he was brilliant. Baz chooses to play no singles at all and only chooses songs up to about 1976 so there were some very obscure tracks getting a run during this set. John Coghlan guested on drums for "In My Chair" and "April, Spring, Summer and Wednesdays" and Baz spoke very kindly of him. The set ran to almost two hours and included such rarities from the early days as "Little Miss Nothing" and "When My Mind Is Not Live". It was a brilliant display of musicianship and the chance to hear songs never played live by Quo was fantastic. Day 3 coming up, what a weekend! |
|
|
|
Post by therockdoctor on Oct 16, 2023 9:19:59 GMT
Mcvention day 1 was a great start to the event. A big crowd gathered early and it was nice to catch up with so many old friends. Jackie Lynton is doing all of the introing for the bands and is his usual funny self! First band up was "Quo No" and they did a decent hour-long and very varied set, including a stab at "Hey Little Woman". This band doesn't take itself too seriously and they did a good job with their opening slot. Next up came "Status No" and they were considerably more polished, with a broad 75-minute set. The organisers' policy of encouraging bands not to repeat songs is great for us punters. Locals "Heavy Traffic" did the honours in headlining day 1 and they were superb. Their polish and stage craft is incredible for such a young band and their youth was reflected in their choice of set, especially early on when unheard stuff like "Thinking of You" got a run. It was a nice touch to have John Coghlan join the band on tambourine for the closing songs including "Bye Bye Johnny". Looking forward to day 2, kicking off with the Coghlan Q&A this afternoon! McVention day 2 was a long one, kicking off with a Q&A session with John Coghlan, hosted by Jackie Lynton. There were a few questions for Jackie to run from, but it ended up being fairly free form and was saved by the great comedy timing of Jackie. John's clearly not doing as well as even a couple of years ago and seemed a bit lost on the stage at times, but still cracked a few jokes and told some funny stories. An excellent start to the day's proceedings. The first band of the day was "Hercules" and they played a very well-received hour-long boogie rock set. It's never easy getting a crowd on side for a set of original material but they played well and got the big crowd on side. This super tight outfit did a fine job of providing something a little different before the Quo onslaught returned. And what better way to provide the next onslaught than "State of Quo". I have a lot of affection for this band, having seen them many times in their earliest incarnation with John Coghlan back in the mid-90s, helping out with the website, etc. The only remaining member from those days is my old mate Paul Carr and it was lovely to say g'day to him again. The band's own drummer couldn't make it, so it was over to Jay Fitzpatrick to take on drumming duties, a task he performed magnificently. Their set was classic Quo, played hard, and including gems like "Who Asked You" and "4500 Times". The younger bands might be taking over the tribute scene, but State of Quo are still up there with the best in my opinion and this was a stonking 75-minutes. It was left to "Baz Barry's Spare Parts" to close out the day - and close it out they certainly did! Jay Fitzpatrick was on duty again in this band, this time playing lead guitar - and again, he was brilliant. Baz chooses to play no singles at all and only chooses songs up to about 1976 so there were some very obscure tracks getting a run during this set. John Coghlan guested on drums for "In My Chair" and "April, Spring, Summer and Wednesdays" and Baz spoke very kindly of him. The set ran to almost two hours and included such rarities from the early days as "Little Miss Nothing" and "When My Mind Is Not Live". It was a brilliant display of musicianship and the chance to hear songs never played live by Quo was fantastic. Day 3 coming up, what a weekend! The final day of McVention 2023 was a big Sunday! Things kicked off at 5.30pm with Ian Hill (State of Quo's frontman) performing a solo set, 45-minutes of Quo-inspired boogie. He was very well received even though his voice was almost shot from the previous night's hard work with State of Quo. Jay once again did some work, taking on guitar duties alongside Ian! Next up was Baz Barry with his original band, "Predatur". Many fans obviously knew the material and gave it a worthy response. I didn't know the songs but the boogie rhythms and Baz's sharp wit made the 75-minute set an easy listen. Three Quo songs were chucked in for good measure, in the shape of opener "Shy Fly", then "Umleitung" and "Is It Really Me?/Gotta Go Home". The stage then became an auction room and the lots generally sold well, especially rarer stuff like Francis's waistcoat, an original Rick silver Tele necklace and the chance to have "Heavy Traffic" play a gig anywhere in the UK! It was good to hear that Quo had donated many of the items for the auction. There was also a short video message from Francis, filmed on his "Tunes & Chat" tour recently. Young Jay Fitzpatrick, co-organizer of McVention and musical genius, got a real surprise when he was presented with a plaque by the previous organizers of Scottish conventions back in the early 2000s. He was clearly touched by the well-deserved recognition and Jay ahd his team certainly put on an excellent event for all of us. Another surprise announcement came next - with the handing over of the convention baton to new people, sponsored by FTMO. The new group (including Jay!) have set a date of March 14-15, 2025 for their "Quovention" and more details will follow at www.quovention.co.uk This news was greeted with rapturous applause! At 10pm, it was finally time for the headline act to take the stage, Dutch band "Status Quotes". They played an incredible two-hour set of Quo classics with too many awesome song choices to mention here. The last song before the encore was "Don't Waste My Time" then they came back for "4500 Times" before bring Jay and a number of other band members on stage for a raucous finale in "Caroline". We had a fantastic weekend at McVention, exhausted but happy! |
|
|
|
Post by dennis on Oct 16, 2023 11:17:39 GMT
Marvellous stuff! Thanks for the link - plenty of time to plan & a more central location too ![]() |
|
|
|
Post by tramper on Oct 16, 2023 15:39:24 GMT
Sorry we didn't meet up R. D. We probably bumped into each other at some point but hey..
3 excellent reports there.
Just like to add how awesome Status Quotes were on the Sunday night.. awesome 👌
|
|
|
|
Post by tramper on Oct 16, 2023 18:39:16 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by railroad007 on Oct 16, 2023 20:29:01 GMT
Sadly myself, Bluehighway and Pete Kircher broke down on the way and you'll have to wait a bit longer for the debut of this power trio.
|
|
|
|
Post by tramper on Oct 17, 2023 11:16:52 GMT
Sadly myself, Bluehighway and Pete Kircher broke down on the way and you'll have to wait a bit longer for the debut of this power trio. 🤣🤣😂 maybe in Bilston 🤷🏻😉 |
|
|
|
Post by railroad007 on Oct 17, 2023 14:55:48 GMT
Sadly myself, Bluehighway and Pete Kircher broke down on the way and you'll have to wait a bit longer for the debut of this power trio. 🤣🤣😂 maybe in Bilston 🤷🏻😉 We are actually doing a warm up gig at the Bilston Centre for STD studies. Blue will be opening the gig with a cover version of the Fine Young Cannibals song "I'm Not The Man I Used To Be" followed by Pete making his vocal debut covering The Undertones classic "You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)" |
|
|
|
Post by vivfromcov on Oct 17, 2023 22:03:47 GMT
We are actually doing a warm up gig at the Bilston Centre for STD studies. Blue will be opening the gig with a cover version of the Fine Young Cannibals song "I'm Not The Man I Used To Be" followed by Pete making his vocal debut covering The Undertones classic "You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)" 😂 Railie! But surely Bluey will be singing ‘Is It Really Me’ 😁 |
|
|
|
Post by vivfromcov on Oct 17, 2023 22:06:53 GMT
Thank you Lee ( therockdoctor ) for the excellent reports! Wish I could have been there! 🙂 |
|
|
|
Post by rockonquo on Oct 18, 2023 6:58:06 GMT
What a blinder setlist.  |
|
|
|
Post by charles on Oct 19, 2023 11:02:21 GMT
What a blinder setlist. I would have killed for a FF gig with that setlist. * * note to Francis: feck your flow |
|
