The Quireboys & Dan Reed - 13/12/2010

[Rockingbear]

The Quireboys & Dan Reed

Sheffield O2 Academy – Monday 13th December 2010

This was a hastily re-arranged show following last week’s postponement due to the snow. I did not have a ticket for the original gig but was fortunate to be offered a free one for this one.

Initially I thought there was going to be a very poor turn out as when Dan Reed strolled on to stage there were less than 50 people in attendance, however, by the time he completed his hour long set there were four to five times as many people in the crowd.

The first part of the set was just Dan and his acoustic guitar, playing a mixture of new tracks and reworked old Dan Network classics including “Salt Of Joy”, “Ritual” and “Long Way To Go”. I could have done without the four bimbos in front of me just yakking away whilst Dan was playing. Fortunately, he kept cranking up the volume which for the most part drown them out!

The second half of his set featured his Swedish backing band plus Quireboys’ drummer Phil Martini. “Cruise Together” was outstanding as was the Dio cover of “Holy Diver”.

“Rainbow Child” written in a car park of a Grateful Dead concert was superb as was the funked-up set closer “Get To You”.

This was the third time that I had seen Dan Reed in the last eighteen months and even though this was only a support slot, it was the best performance to date. There was more aggression in his playing and I think that he has realised that though fans do appreciate his new material there is definitely a hankering for the old Network days.

Following the show Dan came out for a meet and greet and I got a live DVD signed.

The last time I saw The Quireboys play was in Mansfield over twenty years ago, the weekend before Carol first started working in Southampton. I use to quite enjoyed their laid-back Faces style of rock ‘n’ roll back in the eighties but have to admit to not listening to them since that time.

If you had told me at the beginning of the evening that I would have enjoyed the whole of the hour and forty-five minute set I would have seriously questioned your sanity?

I was surprised how well I remembered most of their songs especially those taken from the debut album “A Bit Of What You Fancy”. The latter peaked at #2 in the UK Album Charts. The on-set of grunge, however, meant that they never capitalised on this success. Also one has to admit that there barroom style of rock ‘n’ roll is best suited to small, intimate venues and not the larger arenas.

Ledad singer Spike was on fine form and mercilessly ribbed guitarist and chimney-sweep Guy Griffin throughout the show. The band and audience were enjoying themselves in equal measures.

My personal favourite tracks of the evening were “Misled”, “Mona Lisa Smiled” and the five tracks that closed the main set: “This Is Rock ‘n’ Roll”, “Hey You”, “Whippin’ Boy”, “Sweet Mary Ann” and “7 O’Clock”.

The band returned for a three-track encore including a stonking version of the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman” with local lad, Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) sharing lead vocals.

“I Don’t Love You Anymore” showcased Spike’s vocals with “Sex Party” bringing the show to an almighty climax!