Rockin' all over the pub

THEY have cornered the market in three-chord headbanging rock.

For more than 30 years Status Quo's simple formula has shifted millions of records and delighted denim-clad fans all over the world. Critics say they have built a career on one song and three riffs and question just how far it can be stretched.

The band gave an answer, of sorts, last night by adding a new twist to the formula with a return to the music's spiritual home - the pub. The veteran rockers launched a 10-date tour at an east London local in front of an audience of only 200. They hammered out the familiar dinosaur rock hits Rockin' All Over the World and Caroline in a dark and sweaty backroom. Once described as the band style forgot, the ageing rockers stuck to their suburban rock image at the Ruskin Arms gig in Manor Park. Guitarist Rick Parfitt's mop of blond hair looked as bouffant as ever, while singer Francis Rossi wore his trademark white grandad shirt, earring, pony tail and receding hairline. Rossi joked to the crowd, who paid GBP 10 for a ticket: "Trust me to be under a spotlight with my hair, or lack of it." The small venue was picked from among 10,000 wanting to host the famous headbangers as part of a promotion for their new album. It may not have been Wembley, but the band employed all their usual tricks they turned down the sound to let the audience finish lines, swung their guitars in tandem and stomped around the makeshift stage. Parfitt, 50, admitted the tour was not inspired by any love of small East End pubs. "It is a publicity stunt to launch our new album but at least we can be guaranteed to fill the venue," he said. "With the new album our music has gone full circle and so have we. We are starting all over again, rolling all over again." However, their fans did not seem to mind. They have heard all the jokes about dodgy haircuts and denim waistcoats and said they were privileged to be so close to the band. Computer operator Cherie Rolph, 33, said she was so desperate to see her heroes, she bought a forged ticket. "It probably is old fashioned, but they still put on a great night out," she said. "I love Rick's blond hair and all the songs." School cook Ruth Watts, 48, said she grew up with the band and used to play their music to get her two daughters to sleep. "I live over the road and this is my local pub. To have them performing here is brilliant," she said. "This is what their music is all about, I just hope they enjoyed it." The pub's manageress Teresa Marshall, 35, said she was nearly in tears when the band arrived in a limousine. "We haven't seen anything like this for a long time," she said. As the band shuffled off stage clutching pints of lager, enthusiastic young fans wiped away the sweat and showed no signs of tiring of their three-chord heroes.

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.