Status Quo tribute support Status Quo star

Horsham-based Status Quo tribute band Quo-caine will be providing the support when Status Quo bass player John 'Rhino' Edwards brings his band Rhino's Revenge to The Holbrook Club, Horsham on Saturday, March 31 from 7pm.
Quo-CaineQuo-Caine
Quo-Caine

Quo-caine and Rhino’s Revenge teamed up similarly last year – and are hoping for an even better night for their second collaboration.

Haywards Heath-based James Batchelar, who provides keyboards and backing vocals for Quo-caine, said: “Rhino does quite a bit of Quo stuff, and he has also done two solo albums. He will be doing quite a few songs off his own albums plus some covers. His band is quite heavy rock really.

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“As far as I am aware, Quo are not doing their UK tour later this year, but they are still very much an on-going concern. They still tour, but Rhino can fit this in.

“Our bass player Colin Eccles knows Rhino’s cousin, and he got backstage passes in 2015 when Quo were at Brighton. He mentioned to Rhino our love of Quo and that we would like to put on show. Rhino just said ‘Speak to my manager and let’s see if we can make it happen,’ and that happened last May. It was a really good success – so much so that we are doing it again.”

The two bands will balance the night perfectly: “Obviously, there is the Quo connection. There is an audience there for what Rhino does, and it just seems logical to have us there as a Quo band. It is just decent rock ‘n’ roll stuff.”

Quo-Caine has been going for 14 years now: “I had known two of the guys from playing in bands as a teenager and then we went off and did university, but they were making noises about doing a Quo covers band. They asked me, knowing that I was huge fan… They asked me and I do keyboards, piano, Hammond and backing vocals.

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“We started rehearsals, and we rehearsed for about a year before we were ready to put ourselves out to tender, as it were. We were already quite accomplished musicians, but really Quo isn’t easy at all.”

Quo are lumbered with the “three-chord” reputation, but it’s all considerably more sophisticated than that: “It is about delivering the performance. We have got to deliver it and deliver it hard. We have got to get the two guitars working together, and it is all about keeping it tight and making sure it chugs. It is about getting the tempo right.”

As for the set, it’s also a question of delivering the right mix. As James says, they would probably be lynched if they didn’t do Down Down and Rockin’ All Over The World. There are certain big-hitters that they absolutely have to include in the set.

But equally there are songs for the hard-core Quo fans, not least the band themselves, that they want to include: “It is hard knowing how to cut all the songs down. It is always ‘We love that one. We are not dropping that one. And we love that one too. We are not dropping that one either…”

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Quo-Caine are Robbie Holder: guitars/vocals; Andy Hosegood: guitars; James Batchelar: keyboards/vocals; Colin Eccles: basses; and Carl Sigward: drums/percussion

The Holbrook Club, North Heath Lane, Horsham, RH12 5PJ, Saturday, March 31 from 7pm. Tickets £15 available direct from the reception or by calling 01403 751150

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