In the last week or so it’s as if we’ve entered some sort of a parallel dimension, which sees us transported back to 1973 with Slade, Sweet and tonight, Suzi Quatro, back in the region for shows.
The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Suzi Quatro, celebrated 50 years since her first Number One, “Can The Can” in style with a nigh on two hour show spread across two sets crammed full of hits, album tracks and a couple of covers from her rich catalogue of fifteen albums from her very first to her current Face To Face release.
It was rather apt to open the show with her 1974 hit “The Wild One” before striking fast with “I May Be Too Young” and the gang-vocal heavy “Daytona Demon” to get things off to a rocking start before mellowing out with “Stumblin’ In” with guitarist Tim Smith taking the part of Smokie’s Chris Norman in the duet.
Backed with a smoking 8-piece band including a horn section and Motown-esq backing singers, Quatro delivered a master-class in old school hard-edged Rock ‘n’ Roll entertainment with plenty of interaction with the fans and her band. You could see the enjoyment and sense of fun pouring off the stage which fed into an appreciative and enthusiastic crowd.
Newer song “Devil In Me”, co-written with her son, featured a biting riff while the rampant drums of “I Sold My Soul Today” shook the foundations as the Rock ‘n’ Roll romp of “Slow Down” upped the tempo before the dreamy 60s flavoured “Can I Be Your Girl” brought the first half to a wistful end with Quatro alone behind a piano.
Returning for part two in her trademark leather jump suit, Quatro looked every inch the Leather Rebel as she tore into “Motor City Riders” in tribute to her home town of Detroit.
It wasn’t all about nostalgia though. Quatro certainly can’t be accused of living off her past with no fewer than four albums released in the last six years including her latest Face To Face, a duet album with KT Tunstall from which “Shine A Light” and “Overload” were two of the many highlights across the evening.
Of course the biggest cheer was saved for her Number One smash, “Can The Can” followed by a Hard Rocking, “Devil Gate Drive”. No wonder the crowd were up on their feet with hands raised in the air dancing like 50 years had never passed.
Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Rock ‘n’ Roller” could have been written for Quatro as she belted out the rampant Honky Tonk fired Rock ‘n’ Roll classic with her bass guitar strung way down low.
A cover of “Eldorado” by The Eagles saw Quatro alone on stage bathed in a single white light to provide a melancholic end to an evening of rollicking, Rock ‘n’ Roll debauchery.
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