Live at the Marquee: Status Quo prove they are still able to rock on Leeside

How has Status Quo remained such a band of happy campers for so long? Since their formation in 1962, has there ever been a photo of them frowning? 

Anyone who went along to the Marquee last night will now know why that is. They don't do frowning. They're just plain infectiously joyful. Those of us who went along more in curiosity than in anticipation weren't long converting.

You might be someone who can stay in your seat when Rocking All Over The World, Whatever You Want, There's Something About You Baby I Like, What You're Proposing or even Caroline when they come on the radio, but when any of those songs are pumped into your heels at a show, it's like you've been deluding yourself by relaxing into an ejector seat.

And when Down Down comes on, resistance is way beyond futile. My God, they rock. It's no surprise so many people cite the Quo as the greatest show they've ever seen.

To be honest (mea culpa), it's easy to think of them as a joke. Their three-chord trick is the butt of many a joke.

Like: "Quo have two types of song, the fast one and Living On An Island."

Or, when Rick Parfitt was sidelined last year after heart surgery, the joke was that he was actually out with repetitive strain injury from playing the same three chord shapes for the past 50 years.

Who comes up with these jokes? Eh, mostly Quo themselves, to be fair. They're quite the jokers.

"We're all on drugs tonight, legal ones, because when one band member gets a bug we all get it," said Rossi. "We've no idea where we are."

Parfitt (the blond one) and Francis Rossi (the ex-ponytailed one) are the two enduring original members, but there is still a great sense of camaraderie about the entire crew; after all, some of the 'new' ones are, somewhat like Ballincollig 'blow-ins', only with the band 20 years.

They're constantly laughing, but they're no joke. They're one serious rock band, and masters of converting doubters into believers.

They slayed the Marquee. Slayed the place. Not only do we like them, I think it's fair to say that we like them, we like them, we la la like them.