Minehead Rocks!

Status Quo Fan Club Convention, Butlins, October 2017 FTMO

The denim army returns to where it all began.

Quo’s second fan convention took on a bittersweet feel following the previous year’s loss of Rick Parfitt – especially so given that the rhythm guitarist/ singer met Quo for the first time at Minehead Butlins in 1967.

At more than five hours long, this double-DVD souvenir of the weekend won’t be for everybody, but for a particular type of fan, its contents will resonate. The finale of John Coghlan’s Quo being joined by Alan Lancaster, Bob Young and Rick Parfitt Junior is worth its weight in gold.

Something besides Parfitt was missing, and it’s fascinating to learn that one absentee – hello Mr Francis Rossi – is still considering contributing to the handful of tracks recorded by PLC (Parfitt, Lancaster, Coghlan) before Rick passed, thus signing off the Frantic Four era for good. It’s the least he could do.