Just across the Belgian border in France, there’s a little place called Leffrinckoucke where rock concerts are organized from time to time. Place to be is ‘Salle de La Poudrière’, a nice concert hall that can hold about 1.000 fans, and which hosted already UFO & Barclay James Harvest. This time a triple bill of all-UK bands playing classic rock was programmed.

Although billed as second band John Coghlan’s Quo was the first up. Since 1982 the original drummer and co-founder of Status Quo has split with the legendary band and is trying hard to build up a career on his own. But none of his efforts had much success. So by the end of the nineties he started with his own band, John Coghlan’s Quo, performing all the hits and favorites from the Coghlan years. With guitarist Paul Carr who could easily pass for Rick Parfitt’s brother and an Alan Lancaster look-a-like on bass, Coghlan found some musicians with perfect authenticity in the physical part. But with out of tune guitars and mediocre vocals the band lacked in musical sense. However the many fans didn’t seem to mind and enjoyed the old Quo classics including some long unheard material. As a drummer John Coghlan is still fit enough to do the job and that’s keeping the spirit of ‘old’ Quo alive. But to me this was nothing more than an average tribute band.

Next up were The Quireboys who with ‘Halfpenny Dancer’ recently released a new album full of acoustic songs and rearranged classics. Their sound harks back to the seventies, heyday of The Faces and Mott The Hoople, and they have remained true to their roots ever since. The bands line-up has changed over the years, but the two remaining original members Spike and Guy Griffin still remain steadfast in their belief that the world needs a healthy dose of good time rock 'n' roll music. “7 O’clock” not only was there biggest hit, it was also the time they kicked-off their show (Coghlan’s Quo already started at 5pm!). “This is the time we usually get up” responded Spike. But it didn’t seem to bother him and the Rod Stewart ‘voice-a-like’ gave an energetic performance crossing the stage from left to right. Playing a mixed set of old and new songs, The Quireboys delivered an outstanding set. Minor letdown was the mediocre sound (again) and the short set (only a small hour). But after all these years, they’re still very much alive and kicking.

Years of experience in the British rock scene were gathered in the next band. With Micky Moody & Neil Murray (both ex-Whitesnake), Chris Ousey (Heartland), Harry James (Thunder, Magnum), Laurie Wisefield (Ex Home, Wishbone Ash) and Michael Bramwell (We Will Rock You) this was an interesting line-up, to say the least. Simply named ‘Monsters of British Rock’ the band-name raised some expectations. The first two gigs in England were both cancelled so this was their debut. As expected they chose for a set list with mainly Whitesnake songs hitting it off with “Come On”. This time the sound was good, allthough it took me some time to get used to the blues-rock style these Whitesnake-classics were played in. Chris Ousey is a wonderful singer but lacks soul in his voice and true front man-capabilities. But every note was spot on, something David Coverdale isn’t capable of these days. While bass player Neil Murray kept a low profile in the back, constructing a tight rhythm section together with Harry James, it was Micky Moody who socked all the attention to him with his slide guitar playing style. His solos brought back memories from the ‘Live … In The Heart Of The city’ album and proved how underrated he is as a guitar player. Together with Laurie Wisefield this was classic twin-guitar based rock as it should be played. Personally I was thrilled to hear long forgotten Whitesnake songs such as “Ain’t Gonna Cry No More”, “Don’t Break My Heart Again” and “Take Me With You” in their original version. However, the adding of “Only Time Will Tell” (Heartland) and “On The Radio” (Thunder) on the set list was a little odd and didn’t fit. But overall this was a great, nostalgic gig for me that fully met my expectations.