Music > Live Reviews

THE QUIREBOYS & BLIND TIGER

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

28/01/20

I love discovering new, original sounding music, whether that be new artists or even new genres. Sometimes, though, it is good just to kick back with something that is familiar, comfortable and unchallenging. And that is what this Sunday night at the Waterfront is all about for me, seeing a band I first saw over three decades ago, the Quireboys.

But first, we have BLIND TIGER with something that is both familiar but not for me. On their FaceBook page, they describe themselves as alternative rock. I can’t see that at all. This is like grunge and Britpop and post-rock and the whole of the 21st century didn’t happen. Maybe they tailored the set for what they thought the audience wanted with a set of NWOBHM-meets-hair metal. Think Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Dio and Skid Row then throw in a touch of Brian Adams and even early (pre-Final Countdown) Europe. Blind Tiger are far from terrible, they are decent musicians, they are good at what they do and anybody that likes that kind of thing will love them. I don’t wanna be negative about anybody that has the courage to get up on stage and put on a show but this is not a style of music that does anything for me and it just left me cold.

And now for the THE QUIREBOYS. From the Marquee and what was then the National Jazz & Blues Festival (better known as the Reading Festival) to tonight’s show, I have lost count of the number of times that I have seen the Quireboys but it must be well over fifty. I guess you could say that I know what to expect.

Following an introduction from the legend that is Alan Clayton of Dirty Strangers, the Quireboys kick off with I Love This Dirty Town and it is just as expected. Sleazy, bluesy rock ‘n’ roll riffs from the guitars of Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin and heart-rending ballads all topped off with Keith Weir’s honky-tonk piano and Spike’s gravelly tones. These are songs that could slide straight into the Rolling Stones or Faces catalogues, albeit that they are better than almost everything the Stones have done since the early 70s.

As always, the set features a good number of songs from classic 1990 debut album A Bit of What You Fancy – you can’t go wrong with the likes of Misled, Man on the Loose or the stone cold classic Whipping Boy – but there is newer stuff too. Last year’s Amazing Disgrace LP gives us Sinner Serenade and Original Black Eyed Son, whilst Homewreckers & Heartbreakers gives us Mona Lisa Smiled and Hello. If I have any complaints, it is that debut single Mayfair (named after the Newcastle nightclub rather than a dubious publication) goes unplayed, there is nothing from St Cecilia and the Gypsy Soul and the stage is a bit too small for Spike to strut his stuff to full effect but hell, you can’t have everything.

The Quireboys do nowt new. They aren’t pushing the boundaries of music. What they do is play good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll with tinges of country and blues and they do it bloody well. For a rocking night out, go see the Quireboys. They will not disappoint.