The Quireboys hit Europe with Vintage and Hughes & Kettner

British classic rockers The Quireboys are embarking on a major UK and European tour to promote their new album, Beautiful Curse.

The band kicked off the tour early this month with dates around the UK, and will continue on to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Spain over the next eight weeks.

Feedback on Beautiful Curse has been extremely positive thus far, and the band, which features the twin guitar talents of Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin alongside the irrepressible Spike on vocals, feel that this album is their best work since 1990’s legendary A Bit Of What You Fancy.

“We were going to start this album last year, but our deal fell through, then we changed management,” says Guy. “We had more than enough songs for the album, and had to leave a few off, which was a shame. Album tracks like Mother Mary have been a part of the live set for a while now, and are already crowd favourites!”

The Quireboys are already avid users of Vintage ICON and ReIssued guitars, with Paul owning a V100MRPGM Lemon Drop, a VSA535 semi-acoustic and a V52MRBS ICON. Guy, meanwhile, uses a V62MRAB ICON. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” Paul said. “Vintage guitars are amazing. I play and own various guitars that are three or four times the price, but I really can’t tell the difference.” Guy is equally enthusiastic, saying: “Great sound, great look, great price! The V62 gives me everything I need in a rock 'n’ roll guitar, and is perfectly suited to life on the road… and I love the 'Vintage’ finish!”

For this tour, Paul and Guy are using Hughes & Kettner amps – specifically, the brand new GrandMeister 36 heads and TubeMeister GM36C combos. The GrandMesiter provides three channels of pure valve tone, with switchable power staging from zero through 1/ 5/18 and 36 watts, built-in reverb and H&K’s industry standard Red Box DI output for easy front of house control.

Also joining the band’s four core members – Paul, Guy, Spike and long-time keys man Keith Weir – on this run of dates is bassist Nick Mailing, whose onstage gear is based around his stunning Italia Imola four-string.

Tickets for the remaining shows are available from all the usual outlets, so head over to www.quireboys.com to see when the band are playing near you!