#896: Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! Ever since I first ventured out to see
Quill on behalf of
ELO Beatles Forever [ELOBF] back in
June 2013, I've witnessed their gradual consolidation and transformation into a septet who totally enchant and entertain theatre audiences wherever they have graced the stage. Therefore, a trip to the county town of Shrewsbury on the night of Thursday 23rd April see this legendary Midlands band in their latest guise perform in front of a healthy attendance at
The Walker Theatre [nestled inside the aptly named
Theatre Severn] was a must being as it had been five months since my last
Quill gig in Ludlow.
Once again, more than able support was given by
Quill's regular Shropshire gig partners
Cooper & Davies [a trio these days with
Graham Clews also on board!] who proceeded to thoroughly entertain their onlookers with another polished set of eight songs comprising
"Raise A Ruckus"; "I Never Said I Was Funny" [Cooper/Davies]; "La La Blues"; "Girl Is On My Mind"; "Rip It Up"; "Everything And More" [Cooper/Davies]; "Tell It To Me"; "Alabama Gals" and
"Wagon Wheel".
Quill entered the stage and opened with that familiar
Fleetwood Mac classic
"The Chain" in what turned out to be a much changed fifteen song set list that really played to the strengths of the band. There were four new songs on show in
"Matador" [suggested in part by former member
Phil Bates],
"A Showman's Life" [recommended by
Bev];
"Falling Slowly" and [rather pleasingly]
"Whiskey Girls" [an
ELO Part II track co-written on tour in Poland by
Phil Bates and
Bev Bevan featured on their 1994 album
"Moment Of Truth"].
The new songs perfectly complimented
Quill compositions
"Say It Ain't So";
"Nine Mile Camp" and
"England" with an emotional, heartfelt rendition of
"Life Is Life" by an inspired
Joy Strachan-Brain bringing a tear to the eye on the eve of the third anniversary of the tragic passing of her husband
Ben Brain, capping another top class performance. That sadness was contrasted by
Joy's pride in announcing that a new
Quill album entitled
"Brush With The Moon" - penned by
Ben and featuring many of their recent live favourites - will be released in
June 2015 via
Cherry Red Records.
Watch this space!
At one stage there were two drum kits, a percussion rig, a bass drum and a hi-hat on view [whilst
Cooper & Davies performed] with the
Quill percussion duo of
Bev Bevan and
Tim Tandler sharing duties later. That alone spoke volumes as
The Move and
ELO co-founder appeared relaxed, content and settled as a full member of
Joy's Celtic rock outfit
, contributing song suggestions and a nice surprise with that classic
ELO Part II track included in the set too.
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| Severn Up: Quill accept the rapturous applause of their Salopian audience ... |
The ease with which
Tony Kelsey's classy guitar licks added to this 'new'
Quill sound was noticeable and his string sparring with the ever-excellent if not energetic violinist and vocalist
Kate McWilliam truly impressed. The vocal clarity of bassist
Matt Davies has always caught my attention since he joined the band and, despite struggling with flu, he delivered another strong contribution as did the often unsung but essential keyboardist cum guitarist cum vocalist
Dave Bailey. In short, this was a triumph of a gig!
Set list [15 songs]:
"The Chain" ~ "Harvest" ~ "Duelling Banjos" ~ "Matador" ~ "A Showman's Life" ~ "Say It Ain't So" ~ "Life Is Life" ~ "Falling Slowly" ~ "Nine Mile Camp" ~ "Jig-A-Jig" ~ "Galway Girl" ~ "Whiskey Girls" ~ "The Celtic Experience" ~ "England" ~ "Whiskey In The Jar"
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| Settled: The septet who are currently Quill ... |
Quill are:
Joy Strachan-Brain [Vocals/percussion];
Dave Bailey [Keyboards/guitar/vocals];
Kate McWilliam [Violin/keyboards/recorder/vocals];
Tim Tandler [Drums];
Tony Kelsey [Guitars/mandolin/vocals];
Matt Davies [Bass/vocals] and
Bev Bevan [Percussion]
Next up for
Quill is a gig at
Tamworth Assembly Rooms [buy tickets via this link] on Saturday 23rd May. Why not check out their
official web site via this link thus:
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