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| Photograph courtesy of Sir Jeff Cooper |
Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! The long awaited theatrical bow of
Quill was, indeed, well worth the wait as the
Joy Strachan-Brain fronted Midlands based Celtic rock outfit thrilled a packed audience at
The Garrick, Lichfield on Wednesday night [9th October].
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| Impressive support: Ben Cowcill and Amy Sharp |
The evening commenced with the twin debuts of
Ben Cowcill and:
Amy Sharp, who each delivered their own stunning four song set - the highlights [for me] being
Ben's versions of
"Come Together" and
"Mrs. Robinson" as well as
Amy's renditions of
"I Feel The Earth Move" and
"Skyfall" before they combined for their fantastic encore.
This was my third
Quill gig and having seen the band in
acoustic mode and
full electric mode previously, this was the most impressive of their performances to date as they captivated those in attendance and went about owning the stage upon their arrival on the provincial scene.
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| Quill in full effect! |
With a set list of superb interpretations interspersed with their own compositions, the evening was not only entertaining, it was also moving and truly energetic from the opening chords of "Tumbling Years" all the way through to their exhilarating encore "Whiskey In The Jar". The inspired, soaring vocals of Joy Strachan-Brain and the guitar work of Paul Sargent was again of particular note but the cohesiveness of the band meant that they were all worthy of the extended applause.
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| Acoustic Quill |
The memory and presence of the much-missed
Ben Brain was perfectly conveyed with the show stopping vocal delivery of
Joy Strachan-Brain during the song
"Life Is Life". Not for a long time have so many tears trickled down my face. It was a moment to
never forget for Yours Truly KJS.
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| Quill with special guest Bev Bevan ... |
The set list also included the bands own patriotic
"England" and anthemic
"Say It Ain't So" as well as instrumentals
"Duelling Banjos" and
"Jig-A-Jig".
Quill take on classics including
"The Chain",
"Drops Of Jupiter",
"Stairway To Heaven",
"Hotel California",
"Galway Girl" and
"Take It Easy" was innovative, professional and enthralling. I particularly enjoyed the freedom with which violinist and vocalist
Kate McWilliam traversed the stage in a fashion reminiscent of the antics of one
Mik Kaminski but with added feminine grace! It was nice to see the image of a young
Phil and
Jo Bates [former
Quill members] projected against the stage backdrop during the proceedings.
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| Quill take a bow ... |
Penultimate song
"The Celtic Experience" saw the guest arrival of
The Move and
ELO co-founder
Bev Bevan on stage to add his percussion skills to the proceedings before his announcing that we can look forward to seeing an extended
"Made In Brum" and
The Move tour in 2014 as well as announcing that
Joy had joined
Bev's other musical combo
The Bev Bevan Band too - more to follow on
ELOBF soon! Of note also was that earlier in the evening,
Joy had announced that
Quill were embarking on their own theatre tour during 2014 thus:
Quill are:
Joy Strachan-Brain [Vocals/Percussion] ~
Paul Sargent [Guitar/Vocals] ~
Kate McWilliam [Violin/Vocals] ~
Dave Bailey [Keyboards/Guitar/Vocals] ~
Christian Nokes [Bass Guitar] ~
Tim Tandler [Drums] ~
Bev Bevan [Percussion]
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