Status Quo fans enjoy band's 'final show'

Status Quo fans travelled from far and wide to watch what could have been the band's final show.

The British rockers headlined a Live in Somerset event at Vivary Park in Taunton on Friday.

Lead singer Francis Rossi previously said in an interview with the Daily Mirror he expected this tour would be their last - and the Taunton concert was the last of the tour.

There was no grand farewell onstage by the band, but fan Alfonso Cacciatore, 61, who has seen them live more than 300 times , said the end of Status Quo tours would "leave a hole".

Thousands of fans travelled to Taunton for the open-air concert on Friday

"We meet people over the years, you make friendships," said Mr Cacciatore, who had travelled to Taunton from Kettering.

He added: "It's really personal. We're all meeting afterwards and some of the band will be there as well."

"Deep down" he thought it would be the band's last concert. "But I hope not," he added, saying he still "always gets butterflies" at the shows.

Originally formed in 1962 as The Paladins, the band trialled various names before they became Status Quo.

If Friday was their last show it would be perhaps fitting as long-time band members Rossi and Rick Parfitt first met in Somerset - at Butlins in Minehead.

The Taunton show was part of a series of concerts in Vivary Park over the bank holiday weekend, with Busted, JLS and Ministry of Sounds Classical also performing.

The Vivary Park show was the final date on the band' current tour

Michelle, 62, and Peter Moore, 65, from Cardiff told the BBC they met at a Status Quo concert in Cardiff in 1977.

"And we've been to about 60 concerts since," said Mrs Moore, who has Francis Rossi's autograph tattooed on her arm.

Asked whether they believed they were at the band's last gig, she answered: "We think so."

Another fan, Herbert Adelbauer, 37, travelled from Vienna on Friday morning for his 61st Quo gig and said he would be flying back at 06:00 BST on Saturday.

"Probably this is the last Quo gig and if it is, that's it," he said.

"And if they come back in two years' time, then it will just be the most craziest concert."

Michelle and Peter Moore are going to see Rossi's solo show in April 2025.

"We love the music and there's a great fan crowd too," said Lis Mindested and Susanne Hammer, who had come from Denmark for what they believed was the band's final show.

"I'm not thinking about it. We'll be sad tomorrow," said Ms Mindested ahead of the show.

Lis Mindested and Susanne Hammer were trying not to think about it being their favourite band's last show

Ahead of the concert, long-time fan Richard Elford said he saw the band, then called The Spectres, at Butlins in Minehead in 1965, one of their earliest gigs.

"I sort of stuck with them ever since," he said.

"Once they go into that rhythm and everyone gets dancing, it's just phenomenal," he added.

Rossi was made aware of Mr Elford attending and said in message to the long-time fan: "Wow, sounds like you have been to almost as many Quo shows as I have!

"It has been a wonderful part of the band's story that many of the fans have been with us all the way. "

The band formed in 1962 and went through a few names before sticking with Status Quo