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For this Geordie-in-exile, a chance to visit my old stomping ground and hear songs from the forthcoming Quireboys album was too tempting to miss.
The sleepy town of Hexham lies in the heart of the Tyne Valley, and for the last 350-odd years Tuesdays have been market days. In the good old days Tuesday nights were just as lively with the bars filled with farmers and their sons, however this Tuesday the streets were deserted and bars close to empty, I started to wonder if I’d got my dates wrong as entering the Queen’s Hall it was eerily quiet. My fears were soon eased and gradually the bars of the Queen Hall started to fill and by the time the show was due to start there wasn’t an empty seat, the good people of Northumberland had turned out in force to welcome home one of their own.
It’s fitting that the new album, ‘Wardour Street’, named after the location where the band were created, is launched in the area that shaped founding member, and vocalist Spike Gray. He may have needed to head to London to find fame and fortune but he never pretended to be from anywhere else than the North East.
A Windsor Davies roar is used to introduce the boys, the boys to entertain you and given the average age of the crowd, only a select few would need to be told about the classic BBC sitcom from the 70s and 80s It Aint Half Hot, Mum. It’s a fitting start to what is more than a normal gig. This is a homecoming. This is rock and roll.
‘Jeeze Louise’ kicks off the night, the first single from the new album, and it’s met like an old favourite. Luke Morley is notable by his absence (which is a shame as his Thunder-bandmate Harry James is behind the drumkit tonight), Spike informs us that Luke and the hairy biker Si King have gone to Wrexham by mistake, the reality is that unfortunately, covid has not finished buggering about with the music business. With the change in personnel – Pete Shoulder who played with Luke Morley in The Union steps into his former bandmates’ shoes – the gig was changed from full band acoustic to full electric with the addition of violinist Cerys Jones, who would appear to have come straight from school.
Another new track ‘Raining Whiskey’ (the studio version features Spike performing alongside Frankie Miller) is up next and the much-missed Quireboys co-founder Guy Bailey gets his first mention. As Terry Pratchett said, nobody is truly gone until the ripples they created have disappeared and Spike ensures that nobody forgets how important Mr. Bailey was to the Quireboys story or how important he was to Spike; his eyes glance towards the stars several times throughout the evening and Guy is mentioned frequently with both joy and sadness.
After ‘Whipping Boy’, we get more new material in the shape of soon-to-be-fan-favourites ‘No Honour Amongst Thieves’, ‘You and I’, and ‘Myrtle Beach’, which apparently is just like Whitley Bay, but with beautiful women. In the heightened sensitivity of 2024 comments like these could cause a raised eyebrow but not when they are delivered by Tyneside’s silver-tongued cavalier with a twinkle in his eye.
‘So Far So Good’, ‘Roses and Rings’, and ‘Last Time’ lead into Mr. Gray senior’s favourite song ‘King of New York’, Spike’s school days weren’t happy, partly due to dodgy shoes and hair. Still, his Dad made his school days more tolerable by picking him up at lunchtime and taking him to the Fox (pub) for a pint….they don’t make ’em like that anymore.
The interval is longer than anticipated because the second half can’t continue until Spikes’s Mum, whose birthday it is, makes her way from the bar to her seat….she is in no hurry. While we wait, we hear that English folk singer/songwriter Alex Glasgow was an early mentor to young Spike, teaching him Geordie folk songs. Family connections to coal mining make the rendition of the Glasgow-penned ‘Close the Coalhouse Door’ very personal and leads to a rare political comment from the usual chirpy frontman.
Once Mrs. Gray has taken her seat, a solo Spike plays her favourite song, Ralph McTell’s ‘Streets of London’ which could sit comfortably amongst any of the Quireboy classics. The second half is heavy with classics from the debut ‘A Little Bit of What You Fancy’ and the belting new single ‘I Think I Got It Wrong Again’. There is a short pause to pull the winning tickets for a charity that supports veterans, afternoon tea with Spike, and something less savoury with Mr. Mogg (is there a more iconic rock and roll bassist than Nigel Mogg? The only one similar would be Duff McKagan) are added to the prizes.
Apparently, when Spike was playing a pub quiz machine with friends, the question came up “What was the Quireboys 1st single?” Thinking this was in the bag they stood back to let the maestro take the shot who confidently identified their second single…’There She Goes Again’. Obviously, it’s now ‘7 O’Clock’ but the party is already well underway. Only one song could finish such a special evening, and that is of course ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’. The roaring version aired tonight is just as magical as it was when it first landed back in 1990.
A fantastic night of music where the new gems aired slotted in seamlessly alongside the legacy-defining classics – ‘Wardour Street’ sounds like it will be something special – but also a night where the memories of absent loved ones were celebrated.
‘Wardour Street’ is available October 25th via Cadiz Music, pre-order HERE
Follow Spike online, HERE
Review and all images – Callum Scott
Thank you to Guy Bellamy of Great Music Stories, and Adrian Purser
