Caught Live [10]: Quill @ Cannock 09/10/15

Atmospheric Quill were again in their element last night ...

#989: Hello ... Hello ... my old friends ... It's great to see you once again! Yours Truly KJS travelled just a few miles last night [Friday 9th October] to attend my tenth Quill gig at the accommodating and friendly Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock. And it was again a rewarding experience. The legendary Midlands based Celtic rock septet have been around for many years in various guises yet every performance from Joy Strachan-Brain's present day incarnation - including an energized Bev Bevan - seems to unveil another facet to their character. And last night the band again demonstrated that with a polished, innovative and highly entertaining show ably supported by the impressive guitarist and vocalist Dave Brown - particularly with his stunning cover of "That's Entertainment". What a voice!

Solo spotlight: Support Dave Brown [L] and Bev 'Bongo' Bevan [R] ...

So what was different about this Quill show? The answer is that the band were tighter than ever, completely in sync with each other on stage and, most importantly, they clearly enjoyed what they were doing - much like a working family unit, all equal and all equally talented. But what caught my eye last night was the enhanced contribution of Tony Kelsey with his wonderful guitar licks and some fantastic interplay with violinist Kate. I also loved the sultry new introduction that has been created for Dave Bailey's popular rendition of "Galway Girl". Every show is different with Quill but one mainstay for me is always the emotion with which Joy delivers "Life Is Life" - a real taster for their next album, which is already promising to be a real treasure, according to several sources.

Matt Davies is quite the consummate bassist [and a fantastic vocalist too] and his delivery of "Falling Slowly" was again of the highest order to prove it. Percussion is the pulse of any band so the seamless drumwork of Tim Tandler and Bev Bevan - working in timely tandem - was again on show, a vital cog in the machinery of Quill. Watching The Move and ELO co-founder playing percussion at such close quarters, you begin to realise that there is much more to his game than the name Bev 'Basher' Bevan ever alluded to! Mention must also be made sound man Alan Caves and company, thanks to their top quality PA set-up on the night! All in all, this was a concert that was a pleasure to attend and another testament to the growing presence of the mighty Quill.

Set list [15 songs]: "The Chain" : "Harvest" : "Duelling Banjos" : "Matador" : "A Showman's Life" : "Say It Ain't So" : "Life Is Life" : "Nine Mile Camp" : "Falling Slowly" : "Jig-A-Jig" : "Galway Girl" : "Whiskey Girls" : "The Celtic Experience" : "England" : "Whiskey In The Jar"

Quill are: Joy Strachan-Brain [Vocals/percussion] ~ Bev Bevan [Drums/Percussion] ~ Kate McWilliam [Violin/keyboards/recorder/vocals] ~ Tony Kelsey [Guitars/vocals] ~ Tim Tandler [Drums/Percussion] ~ Dave Bailey [Keyboards/guitar/vocals] ~ Matt Davies [Bass/vocals]

The next Quill gig will be at Ludlow Assembly Rooms in Shropshire on Saturday 7th November with tickets priced at just £20 each. Find out what Quill are up to by visiting their official web site via this link thus:

Official QUILL web site

ELO Beatles Forever [ELOBF] recommends Quill to those enlightened folks who also like ELO, Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, 'Brum Beat', The Idle Race, The Move, The Beatles and related artistes.

Until next "Time" in the ELO [and related] Universe ... KJS ... 10-Oct-2015