Francis Rossi - An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs From the Status Quo Songbook & More… Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone Tuesday 3rd June 2025
Reviewed by Laura DQ • 10 June 2025
Francis Rossi has only been on stage for about 15 minutes, but he reckons he’s already over-running. This is nothing new for a man who loves to talk, and is now some way into his third tour of this style. Though the focus has shifted a little from stories to songs this time around, that doesn’t stop Rossi chatting about everything from the perils of an ageing prostate, to smoking weed with Noel Redding and cutting off his ponytail. He’s a natural raconteur, giving the illusion that he’s in conversation with you, perhaps in your living room, as he laments the lack of water on stage or coughs while spraying echinacea onto his throat.
In contrast, the man occupying the second chair on stage is quiet and unassuming, barely uttering a word until he poses questions to Rossi from the audience in the second half. But perhaps that’s why talented producer and engineer Andy Brook is the perfect foil, though I suspect his lovely harmony vocals and guitar playing might also have something to do with it. There’s a pleasing sense of friendship between the two men; a warmth in the exchange of glances that allow them to communicate without speaking and the easy laughter that punctuates their interactions.
As with all of Francis Rossi’s recent ‘solo’ tours, this is a relaxed and seated affair, with Quo songs stripped back to basics and generally faring very well in this format. From ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ via ‘In My Chair’, ‘Gerundula’ and ‘Claudie’, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable cross-section of a 60 year career that suggests the Quo catalogue might be more diverse than the naysayers would have you believe.
Rossi jokes that unlike many of his contemporaries, he doesn’t have to worry about losing his voice because he never really had one to begin with. I suspect that most of this audience would disagree, and might argue that Rossi is actually quite underrated as a singer. His distinctive voice is as good as it ever was, carrying ‘Wild Side of Life’ and ‘Don’t Waste My Time’ with ease.
As ‘Burning Bridges’ starts, I feel sure that Rossi is wrong in his assumption that none of us really know the words to the chorus and will be forced to make up our own gibberish. But once we get past ‘on and off and on again’, I realise he’s totally right! It’s these moments of humour that make Rossi so endearing; an ability to laugh (and sometimes snort!) at himself is irresistible.
Rossi promises some deeper cuts in the second half and delivers several, a refreshing shakeup from the setlist staples that are pretty much guaranteed. As someone who discovered Quo somewhere around ‘In Search of the Fourth Chord’, it’s lovely to hear the gentle ‘Tongue Tied’, a song that Rossi says he thought would resonate more with Quo fans than it ultimately did. ‘Someone Show Me Home’ and ‘20 Wild Horses’ also appease the die-hards, before the set gets into very familiar territory, ‘Roll Over Lay Down’, ‘Rockin’ All Over the World’, ‘In the Army Now’ and ‘Down Down’ proving themselves as indispensable crowd pleasers.
The evening concludes where a Quo set normally begins, ‘Caroline’ encouraging us to our feet whilst Rossi also stalks the stage, coaxing our best Marc Bolan impressions from us as we sing along to the riff (if you know, you know!). It’s probably about half an hour after the published finished time but we ain’t complaining - it’s a joy to see Francis keeping the music of Status Quo alive.
The tour continues in September of this year, don’t miss it.