An avid pair of Status Quo followers thought they’d be Rockin’ all around the UK after making a 700-mile spherical journey to see frontman Francis Rossi carry out in a particular one-man-show – solely to be left feeling Down Down after discovering the theatre that they had booked tickets for mendacity in full darkness.
Roy and Pam Roberts made the prolonged trek from their house in Torquay to Barrow in Furness to see the veteran rocker carry out a solo acoustic present on the city’s Forum Theatre as a seventieth birthday deal with for Roy.
But after they arrived they discovered a pitch black venue with solely a ‘closed’ signal pinned to the entrance door.
To their horror the couple found the theatre had been shut down earlier within the 12 months attributable to asbestos being discovered and the present had been moved to the following nearest city of Ulverston.
In panic they rang for a taxi however have been instructed not solely was there a 30-minute wait however the journey – costing £50 – would take an additional half-hour which means they’d miss an enormous portion of the present.
Unsure their tickets would even be legitimate the couple resigned themselves to consoling themselves with a drink of their lodge bar earlier than making their sorry method house the following morning – round £500 out of pocket.
Emails informing ticket holders of the change had been despatched however the couple had opted out of receiving data as a result of Forum being such a great distance from their house and so didn’t obtain one. They additionally missed studying bulletins concerning the present’s change of venue posted on social media.
Retired engineer Roy mentioned: “We are absolutely gutted. The show was a present from my wife after we missed out on getting them for the previous tour. We were on holiday when Francis announced extra dates so we just booked them on the spot. It was only when we looked at a map we realised just how far away Barrow in Furness was.
“I was so excited to see the show and just couldn’t believe it when we found the theatre shut. It was a total disaster.”
Pam, 68, added: “We’ve seen Status Quo a few times and love their music but really wanted to see this more intimate show.
“At least the train journey was absolutely beautiful but for a romantic night away there are probably better places to stay than Barrow in Furness. Ironically we passed through Ulverston on the journey up.”
Francis , 77, instructed the Daily Express he was bemused the couple had chosen to journey to the other finish of the nation to see him after enjoying over 50 solo dates final 12 months.
He mentioned: “This is very unfortunate. I know that warnings went out about the venue change, but this kind of mistake is easily made. Having said that everyone else made it: the venue was banged out!
“At least they got a drink and a night away. Hopefully I will be turning up at all the right venues when my next tour kicks off in April next year – luckily I have a team who make sure I get to the stage in the right building at the right time. I’ll get a message to Roy and invite him along to one of the snappily titled “An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs from the Status Quo Songbook and More…” exhibits.
“I’ll additionally discover out why he was travelling that far anyway, we do exhibits all around the nation, there should have been one nearer than that!”
The Francis Rossi 2025 UK tour kicks off in April – https://www.francisrossi.com/tour
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1974160/status-quo-fans-francis-rossi