John's tribute to Rick - what a night!

When John announced that he was dedicating this last gig of this year to Rick, playing in London at the Half Moon in Putney, I knew I had to be there.  

For those of you who don't know it, its a small pub venue, perfect for a loud, sweaty gig with a few 100 people.  In the past The Who, U2 and the Stones have played there. So a top place to remember our own rock god, Rick Parfitt.

Plenty of familiar faces in the crowd I recognised but don't know personally.  And it was sold out!  But they could have squeezed in a few more. 

John started the night by reading a poem from a Dutch fan, Wilbert, remembering Rick and using as many Quo song titles to describe him.  You can see a short clip of this in the other JC thread. Of course John was very emotional and shed a few tears during this moment.   Then Mick and the band supported him over to the drums, and we were off.  Junior's Wailing kicked in and were they heavy or what!  Top sound and I knew we were in for a good night.

The band were on excellent form.  John was supported by long time member Mick Hughes, and newish bassist Rick (I saw him play back in April) and another chap called Rick (from a trib band). And they were all excellent.  And these three members were good singers too.

And two guest harmonica players. Russ Chad who came from Alyesbury.  And Olle who flew in from Sweden and he played on two tracks - Break the Rules and Roadhouse Blues.  

(I'm sorry I didn't catch all your names properly.)

The Quo Army sang along and chanted Quoooo at regular intervals.  Some one behind me, kept asking for 4500x but we didn't get it.

There were two halves to the set plus an encore.

I think this was the set list but I may have missed some tracks out. Or got the order wrong.

Roll Over Lay Down
In My Chair
April Spring Summer and Wednesdays
Down the Dustpipe - 1st guest on harmonica
A Year - as a tribute to Rick
Break the Rules
Wild Side of Life
Spinning Wheel Blues
Something bout you baby I like
Caroline
Hold You Back
Paper Plane
Rain - Mick told us a lovely story here about Rick loving to hear the sound of rain when he holidayed in a caravan or tent.
Big Fat Mama

Last track before the encore was Roadhouse Blues.

The encore was What Ever You Want and Down Down

John spoke again in the 2nd half and told us another lovely story about how Rick could cook a great roast dinner.  And this is when he told us that Alan had written 2 songs which had been part recorded. Alan and Rick's parts had. John is going to add drums. And they will release those 2 tracks in Rick's memory.  So a bittersweet moment to know how close we were to more music from them.  Still 2 tracks is better than nothing.

It was a great night to remember Rick.  And swap stories/share our grief with fellow fans.  During the final track of Down Down, I imagined a young Rick, grinning at us all and hammering away on rhythm guitar as always.

On a personal note, my magic ipod didn't let me down. I mostly play in shuffle mode with over 1000 tracks on it. On my way, there no Quo until I neared Putney when first Little Lady came on (76 version) and then Drifting Away which ended as I arrived in the bar. On my way home, the first track was Tongue Tied which has the line, "why does living go so fast"  How weird is that!

Thanks John and to all members of the band and fans for making such a great evening to remember Rick.