ROCK legends Status Quo will play Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the fourth time in the first signing for the 2024 summer season.
Vocalist and lead guitarist Francis Rossi will lead the Quo army of bassist John ‘Rhino’ Edwards, drummer Leon Cave, keyboard and guitar player Andy Brown and rhythm guitarist Richie Malone on the East Coast on Sunday, June 2, when The Alarm will be their special guests. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday the 13th via scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
More than 100,000 fans attended this summer’s record-breaking run of shows at Great Britain’s largest purpose-built open air concert arena, where Blondie, Rag’n’Bone Man, Sting, Paul Heaton, Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and co), The Cult, Tom Grennan, Pulp, Dermot Kennedy, NDubz, Pete Tong and Olly Murs performed. Hit musical Mamma Mia! had a five-night run too.
Scarborough OAT programmer Julian Murray, of promoters Cuffe and Taylor, says: “This summer’s shows broke our box-office records and we are looking to top that again next year. We are delighted to announce Status Quo as our first headliners for 2024 – with many, many big names to come.
“Quo are bona-fide rock legends, and we can’t wait to welcome them back here for their fourth headline show. We’ve worked with them many times and what we can guarantee – as anyone who has seen them live will testify – is a great night.
“Quo have a jukebox of classic rock and, together with The Alarm, this is going to be a great show on June 2.”
Status Quo, who headlined Scarborough OAT in 2013, 2014 and 2016, have sold more than 118 million records and spent more than 500 weeks on the UK Album Chart since forming in 1967.
They have notched up 57 varieties of Top 40 hit, such as 1974 chart-topper Down Down, Pictures Of Matchstick Men, Paper Plane, Caroline, Rain, Mystery Song, Rockin’ All Over The World, Whatever You Want, What You’re Proposing, Marguerita Time, The Wanderer, In The Army Now, Burning Bridges and The Anniversary Waltz.
The Scarborough show will be among their first in the UK since their Out Out Quoing European Arena Tour in December 2022.
Co-founder Rossi, 74, is on tour this autumn with his one-man show Tunes & Chat, appearing at the Scarborough Spa on Sunday (8/10/203) at 7.30pm. Expect “a selection of well-known hits and some previously not-performed-live-before tunes”, played on acoustic guitar. Box office: 01723 376774 or scarboroughspa.co.uk.