9:05am Thursday 15th July 2010
By Barrie Hudson
WHEN Francis Rossi OBE and his Status Quo colleagues play Westonbirt Arboretum on Saturday, it will be 25 years to the weekend since another outdoor gig – Live Aid.
If you ask somebody to name the first act to play the Wembley leg of Live Aid, the chances are they’ll say: “Status Quo.”
And they’ll be wrong, because it was the Band of the Coldstream Guards – Quo came next, and famously played Rockin’ All Over the World, an early iconic moment in a day of iconic moments.
Reminded of the random coincidence in dates between that gig and Westonbirt, a chuckling Francis Rossi hums the Twilight Zone theme.
“I always say I thought Wembley was fate,” he said. “The people there were so full of expectation.
“We were all doing something for the Third World at last.”
The 61-year-old, who with bandmate Rock Parfitt also sang on the Band Aid single, still feels the passion of those times. He thinks the country should have gone further than simply asking ordinary people to give generously.
“At the time I was trying to say to people, why don’t the oil companies stop advertising their petrol, then take the money and give it to the Third World?
“It’s an oil company – they shouldn’t be advertising!”
Quo have played Westonbirt before. “It was probably about 10 or 12 years ago,” Francis said.
“A guy said to me that we play in some funny places, but I said ‘I don’t know what you mean’. Europe has been doing this for years.
“I think it’s great – people come along with their picnics.
“We like to play the forests each year so we are pleased to announce Westonbirt is part of our plans for the summer, especially as we had a great time performing to a capacity crowd the last time we were here.”
Tickets for the Westonbirt gig cost £33, and the box office can be reached on 01842 814612 and via www.forestry.gov.uk/music
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