KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
Saturday 29th November, 2025

Review and photos – Rob Wilkins

Heading back from a few days rest and recuperation in Cheshire, we realised that as we passed thought the West Midlands we had an opportunity to catch an evening of awesome music at one of my favourite venues. A few emails later and we were queuing in the cold drizzle outside the iconic building ready for an evening of Rock and Roll.

Kicking things off was Irish “Rocker-poet” Matty James Cassidy. Standing on stage alone with a guitar and a stomp box is never the easiest way to warm up a cold crowd but Matty gave it a bloody good go with his rabble rousing, bluesy punk vibes. The songs are more stories, each telling a tale that draws you in and takes you on a journey with titles such as new release “Tell It To The Ghosts” and “How The Beautiful Fall”. In true one-man band style, he stamps out a rhythm with his foot, whilst delivering a melody with a harmonica and some classy guitar work, making a very big sound for a solo musician. Hard work with a cold room and a still growing crowd but a manly attempt!

In total contrast, Soho Dukes exploded onto the stage from all angles and refused to rest for a moment!

I didn’t know what to expect, but as a warm-up for the Quireboys, they were absolutely perfect. Fronted by cane-wielding snappy dresser Johnny Barracuda, backed by ADHD poster boy bassist Bomber, guitarists Col “The Duke” Foster and Si Leach, keyboard player Swerve, and drummer Age Blackwell, the legend that they were formed from a 19th-century drinking club delightfully illustrates the fun and humour of their set.

Actually forming in London and the South East in 2017 they are clearly doing something right as their latest album “Night Hawks, Acrobats and Everything Under the Moon” features an absolute belter with special guests Spike and Dave “Bucket” Caldwell. I haven’t smiled so much in a long time and even danced a little as their set progressed with Barracuda performing with both a frying pan and a baseball bat, Bomber high kicking, gurning and having the time of his life and the rest not missing a beat with songs such as “Should Know Better” and the Ian Dury-esque “Suited and Booted”.

Of course, highlight of the set was Spike joining the guys on stage for “A Stone’s Throw”, which is a genuinely special piece of music any band would be proud of. By the end of the ”Sunday Magazines” I was a convert. Definitely a band I want to see again just for the sheer joy they spread from the stage! Yes, they should all be in prison and no, there is nothing I would want to do about it!

Talking of bands having the time of their life on stage…

The “Ain’t Half Hot Mum” theme music coincides with the house lights dropping and Spike and his VERY merry band of troubadours take to the stage (well, most of them do, apparently one Nigel Mogg was still in the toilet as the others took their cue!) After the legal issues and sackings, Spike has surrounded himself with something of a super group, and whilst it is hard to clearly see the fun Harry James is having behind his kit, Luke Morley is clearly having the time of his life! Add in Nigel Mogg’s bass ( a man who was born to be a rocker. You can’t imagine him being anything else) and Willie Dowling with questionable fashion sense but glorious keys, and this IS Rock and Roll!

This tour is celebrating 35 years of “A Bit Of What You Fancy” and that album features massively with ten of the 17 songs in the set. First, though we get the newer “Jeeze Louise” and ”Can’t Park Here” and the joy on stage is palpable with a hilarious moment where Morley and Mogg head over to join Dowling at the side of the stage, Spike feels left out and so squeezes onto Dowling’s stool at the keys.

We are swiftly into ABOWYF with “Misled” and then one of my sing-along songs,”Sweet Mary Ann” (luckily, I am in the crowd by that point). “Raining Whiskey” and “You and I” lead into crowd favourite “Hey You” and most of the audience (tonight including guest rock royalty in the shape of “King Krusher” Joule) are singing and dancing without a care in the world. “Whippin’ Boy” and “I Think I Got It Wrong Again” keep up the pace before a red stool dressed with roses is brought to the front as Spike talks about his sadness around the loss of Guy Bailey. A black hat appearing to be placed reverently on the stool prompts Spike to emote that he didn’t know they were going to do that, and showing genuine emotion as he accuses them of trying to make him cry before a wonderfully delivered “King Of New York”.

Both Morley and Dowling get opportunities to show their skills, Morley with some effortless soloing and Dowling tearing off honky tonk piano licks that define the Quireboys’ sound for me. The party really was just getting started, though.

The last four songs consisted of “There She Goes Again” and “7 O’clock” as the climax of the main set, and then a raucous “Sex Party” (Spike saying he had told Guy he wouldn’t play it again. But f*** it) and finally (and again dedicated to Guy) “I Don’t Love You Anymore”. The lights came up, and nobody really wanted to leave. For just a few hours, all life’s troubles didn’t matter, and a group of musicians, having a great time playing definitive Rock and Roll, made that happen.

They are the Quireboys
They ARE Rock and Roll

Quireboys

77 photos