Review - 'Tunes and Chat' Tour - Cheltenham Town Hall

Hi all.

I'm a long term guest reader of the Board and a first time contributor. In recent weeks I've found some of the discussions on this Board particularly interesting so have decided to make an account to occasionally contribute my two pence.

I attended Francis' show at Cheltenham Town Hall on Friday evening and wanted to share some thoughts on it, so please don't read on if you're planning to attend an upcoming show and don't want to be spoiled on any of the show's content.

I thought this was a well constructed career retrospective show, which whilst it doesn't run in full chronological order, starts exactly where it should with 'Pictures of Matchstick Men', after an opening monologue from Francis where he wonders around the stage in his usual flamboyant way. It's clear he is really enjoying these shows and particularly enjoying being in front of small, intimate audiences. 

The song performances were excellent, he and Andy Brook perform in sync very well together and Andy is the perfect foil for Francis on this tour, choosing to mostly keep his head down and concentrate on the playing, which he does very well. I preferred this show to the 'I Talk Too Much Tour' with Mick Wall, because I think that one had a very clear narrative structure each night, covering the same themes and questions. With this show I think there is more room for spontaneity. There were some minor sound issues in the Town Hall but that can happen sometimes and didn't for me detract much from the show's content. 

I thought the set was strong, there was an emphasis on material from 'Ma Kelly's' and 'Dog of Two Head' which was refreshing to see and it was the first time I'd heard 'Spinning Wheel Blues' played in its entirety. Francis the show man came out in full force during 'Nanana', getting the crowd to sing along to the chorus and then breaking it up so the men had a go at two versions of the chorus in different octaves and then the women had a go, before bringing it all together again. 'Gerdundula' also had several false finishes which was quite entertaining. The first Act concludes with 'Burning Bridges', personally I would have preferred possibly 'Caroline' or 'Paper Plane' to neatly conclude the early years of the band and then there could have been solely later material in the second Act, but this is nit picking at show construction. 

It was good to hear a full length version of 'What You're Proposing' and Francis play the solo on 'Break the Rules', both live firsts for me, and a real highlight was hearing 'Rock and Roll' played in this setting, which I felt sounded brilliant. It's one of those tracks with more emotive lyrics and I'm pleased that as part of the merchandise you can now buy a t-shirt with the quote: 'We can pray, what we say makes a difference in the end' which is one of those examples of a Quo lyric which really sticks with me.

I also thought 'Tongue Tied' is one of the most important inclusions of the evening and not just because I felt it was important to include material from more of the latter stages of Francis and Quo's career, but because of the emotive lyric: 'I keep feeling that there's not long to go, why does living go so fast?' In my view by including this you're able to just lightly touch on mortality and provide contrast between this and the earliest tracks of Quo's career (Matchstick Men and first song for Bob and Francis, Spinning Wheel Blues) to give a broad narrative landscape. Though of course it's more likely Francis included this track just because he likes it!

As the show reached it's conclusion, there was a heckle from the crowd: 'Francis, will you please talk about Rick?'
Francis' response was that he didn't really want to talk about Rick because Rick isn't here anymore and he felt this would kill the atmosphere and mood of the show. He then immediately launched into the double header finale of 'Rocking' All Over The World' and 'Caroline'. I know this issue really upsets some fans. My view is that it is possible for an artist to include grief or loss within their shows as a powerful theme. My favourite artist is Bruce Springsteen and this is something he does quite well, particularly on his current tour. But that's not who Francis is, he wants to always think about what's next, what's coming up and to do so in an upbeat mood. And whether you agree with that or not, that's the guy we have and I think that he was able to explain that view very well and articulately. My final thought is that he also explained during the show that as part of the meet and greets he had been asked by someone early on in the tour 'So how does it feel to have sunk this low?' He answered and explained to the crowd that he's doing this show because he wants to. He enjoys being in front of a crowd but particularly a small crowd and he doesn't need to do this but is choosing to because he has a love for performing and entertaining. 

In our small group was a family member in their early 70s. They left the show feeling energised and motivated by seeing how fit and healthy Francis was and how he clearly still has such a drive to keep going. Perhaps that's one of the most important points of all.

I hope you've enjoyed this summary and well done if you made it this far!