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Post by curiousgirl on Oct 8, 2023 21:20:42 GMT
When the Tunes and Chat tour was announced, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see it. I’d been to his solo venture in 2010 and his autobiographical book tour, I Talk too Much in 2019. What else could he offer as I’m very familiar with his stories? Many long time fans are. Then I saw him play a stripped down version of Spinning Wheel Blues with the talented Andy Brooke, and I knew had to go. There was only one gig close to London and it wasn’t sold out. So on Weds, this native South London girl ventured to the wild northern suburbs, to see him at the Radlett Centre. As I arrived, there was the familiar green tour bus, parked outside. Radlett is a well healed one horse town; it has a high street of local shops, including a chippy. The rest of it is residential. We stopped for some cheesy chips and a cup of tea; it was a warm night, so we sat a table outside, as if we were on holiday. Taking our seats, a short while later, the venue was almost full. Only the cheaper seats, where we sat, were not quite full. On stage were the two red chairs from the I Talk Too Much tour. On one of them, sat patiently was support guitarist Andy. As the light went down, a voice announced no photography or recordings which is great because then you can truly relax and enjoy the show. Francis stalked onto the stage, lithe, all in black bar his white shirt and trademark white socks, clearly enjoying making an entrance. He walked across the front, surveying us all, building up anticipation as he started his comedy routine. For that is what part of this show is. Francis Rossi, the stand-up comedian. This didn’t really surprise me. Thanks to old concert clips, gigs from the early 70s, I’d already discovered that he’d tried this back then, telling ‘mother-in-law’ jokes, using stories from his young married life. Except none of the fans were interested; they only wanted heads down no-nonsense boogie. All he had to do was wait a few decades until they preferred to sit for a gig, and nod along sedately, their knees stiff and their air guitars abandoned. Now, they were a captive audience for his jokes.
His humour is very much from the late 60s and 70s which is nostalgic but also dated. He’s like that favourite uncle you enjoy hanging out with but whose stuck in another age. He gets carried away with trait of a stand-up I’m less keen on; picking on the audience in the front rows. I was glad I had a strong bladder and was sat at the back. But it was all done with great affection and commiserations for getting old.
For this tour, he’s really learned his craft as a comedian. He has excellent timing and this was a well thought out routine, despite giving the illusion that it was all thrown together and he was going to run out of time.
There were some familiar stories but they had a fresh spin to turn them into a stand-up. There were some totally new stories too, some of the darker tales from rock’n’roll that we’ve had hints about but never heard. The version I went to did have the "insecure little show off line" near the end. There is a faux Q&A but the questions were not real ones.
But what of the music? That is why I’d gone. This was my favourite part of the show. He takes you through different musical styles over the course of the evening. And hearing music taught like that meant more than the sight-reading method I’d been taught at school. There were 16 tracks and the majority were excellent. He’s well supported by Andy, who also, to my surprise played the lead on some tracks. The blues, country and up-beat numbers, this is his comfort zone. His singing voice is still strong and moving. My personal wish is that he’d allow himself to be vulnerable in the quieter numbers. This was most obvious in Tongue-tied which is a beautiful song. He could have played that fully solo, soften his voice and moved us all to tears without being cheesy. The show builds to some audience participation, singing for the final numbers; again this was always part of those 70s/80s gigs I remember. He clearly enjoys leading it all and the show ends really well.
Of all Francis' solo ventures, this was the gig I enjoyed the most because he's found his confidence solo at last! Also, this gig, like John’s jazz odyssey shows how blooming marvellous Quo’s music is. It is far more than 3 chords. And I hope it lives on for a very long time in the hands of younger musicians over the decades to come.
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Post by granny on Oct 8, 2023 22:12:38 GMT
Thank you curiousgirl for that excellent review. I would have loved to have gone to one of the local shows in Cannock or Walsall but wasn't up to it. Your description is so much better than any I have seen online because most of those were just overwhelmed by actually meeting Francis.
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Post by curiousgirl on Oct 8, 2023 22:23:09 GMT
Thank you curiousgirl for that excellent review. I would have loved to have gone to one of the local shows in Cannock or Walsall but wasn't up to it. Your description is so much better than any I have seen online because most of those were just overwhelmed by actually meeting Francis. Thank you. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. But also I'm sad you weren't up to getting there. I had hoped you might from earlier posts. Maybe, there will be a good DVD recording of one of the shows. I deliberately held back on actual jokes and the tracks to avoid spoiling for those still to go.
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Post by railroad007 on Oct 9, 2023 19:49:32 GMT
Well done Ceegie, great review. I've just seen the news that the Radlett horse is in fact dead.
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Post by MrWaistcoat on Oct 10, 2023 6:24:33 GMT
Great review, and I agree with your comments. I loved the show.
Can you remember any of the questions? I can't now but I do remember thinking they seemed genuine. I cursed myself for being too cynical to write one in the book on the way in!
I liked his chat about the influence of Italian folk, something I had started a thread on a few days before the show!
Of course the tour must be great money, but there's no denying that he's in his element and loving every minute
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Post by curiousgirl on Oct 10, 2023 10:56:54 GMT
Great review, and I agree with your comments. I loved the show. Can you remember any of the questions? I can't now but I do remember thinking they seemed genuine. I cursed myself for being too cynical to write one in the book on the way in! I liked his chat about the influence of Italian folk, something I had started a thread on a few days before the show! Of course the tour must be great money, but there's no denying that he's in his element and loving every minute Thank you! Glad you enjoyed his show too. And yes, I loved all the snippets of info on musical tempos and chords etc... But I do play instruments. At one point, Francis addressed the crowd, assuming that they were either bored or not that interested in this part. He said, "are you following? You're not are you." And from the back I shouted out, "Yes, I am!" Having said that, the musical education is a small part of the show. Yes, we had 5 questions. What was it like playing Live Aid? one about song lyrics - "who drank all your red wine?", Dog or Cat person? What was it like meeting the Queen? And isn't it a come down to have played at Wembley and now you're playing Dunstable? I'm not saying that fans didn't ask these questions but apart from the last one, they were nearly the identical to the questions I heard on his book tour.
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Post by MrWaistcoat on Oct 10, 2023 12:38:58 GMT
Great review, and I agree with your comments. I loved the show. Can you remember any of the questions? I can't now but I do remember thinking they seemed genuine. I cursed myself for being too cynical to write one in the book on the way in! I liked his chat about the influence of Italian folk, something I had started a thread on a few days before the show! Of course the tour must be great money, but there's no denying that he's in his element and loving every minute Thank you! Glad you enjoyed his show too. And yes, I loved all the snippets of info on musical tempos and chords etc... But I do play instruments. At one point, Francis addressed the crowd, assuming that they were either bored or not that interested in this part. He said, "are you following? You're not are you." And from the back I shouted out, "Yes, I am!" Having said that, the musical education is a small part of the show. Yes, we had 5 questions. What was it like playing Live Aid? one about song lyrics - "who drank all your red wine?", Dog or Cat person? What was it like meeting the Queen? And isn't it a come down to have played at Wembley and now you're playing Dunstable? I'm not saying that fans didn't ask these questions but apart from the last one, they were nearly the identical to the questions I heard on his book tour. It’s bugging me now that I can’t remember the questions. But they were definitely none of the above !
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Post by curiousgirl on Oct 10, 2023 13:00:01 GMT
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ebow72
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 71
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Post by ebow72 on Oct 10, 2023 13:53:47 GMT
I am seeing Mr. Rossi in lancaster tonight, whats the mix between tunes and chat? i've seen he plays around 16 songs or are they just snippets? Looking forward to this as it was originally planned for may..
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Post by curiousgirl on Oct 10, 2023 14:04:02 GMT
I am seeing Mr. Rossi in lancaster tonight, whats the mix between tunes and chat? i've seen he plays around 16 songs or are they just snippets? Looking forward to this as it was originally planned for may.. They are full songs. You might even get 17; he dropped one for our gig. Plenty of music and very well played. You should enjoy it. Think Dog of Two Album and that era is for most of it.
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Post by MrWaistcoat on Oct 10, 2023 16:27:05 GMT
How little I can remember from a show 3 months ago is making me feel old ! I can’t remember the mix of tunes and chat , just that there was more chat at the start and that Loughborough gasped at the f bombs early on 😆👍
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Post by Whoppa Choppa on Oct 10, 2023 17:54:47 GMT
What a well written thing! Thank you CG, thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts.
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tqontq
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 579
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Post by tqontq on Oct 12, 2023 7:23:01 GMT
Am I correct to understand he played 17 numbers during the show? Do we have a list? Would love to know what tracks were covered and if there as good as Spinning, April etc... No doubt we will get to hear them with an official release in due course apart from those that are already out there.
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col
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 639
Favourite Quo Album: Dog Of Two Head, Piledriver, Hello, Quo, Live
Favourite other bands.: Ramones, Warrior Soul, Soundgarden, King Buffalo, Small Faces, Motorhead, UFO, Screaming Trees, Kyuss, Clutch
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Post by col on Oct 12, 2023 10:52:59 GMT
I am seeing Mr. Rossi in lancaster tonight, whats the mix between tunes and chat? i've seen he plays around 16 songs or are they just snippets? Looking forward to this as it was originally planned for may.. I was at The Grand myself, I did enjoy it. And my question was asked.
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Post by curiousgirl on Oct 12, 2023 11:18:32 GMT
Am I correct to understand he played 17 numbers during the show? Do we have a list? Would love to know what tracks were covered and if there as good as Spinning, April etc... No doubt we will get to hear them with an official release in due course apart from those that are already out there. Yes, that is correct. But I deliberately withheld it not to spoil the gig for those who are seeing him in the future. No one posted any of the tracks on the other thread which was why I made that decision. If you look on Setlist fm, you can see the full listing.
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