The Scarborough Open Air Theatre opened up the summer season programme with two of popular music's survivors, namely The Alarm and rock veterans Status Quo.

If you need to look for a true fighter, there cannot be anyone more worthy of the title than The Alarm’s Mike Peters. The singer/songwriter has suffered from several bouts of cancer over the years, but thankfully he has always come out on top.

Opening up the inaugural show at the Yorkshire Coast venue as a one-man band, The Alarm frontman took to the stage just weeks after revealing to fans that he is now receiving treatment for lymphoma.

Thanking the NHS and the fans, he fittingly dedicated the band’s classic Beautiful to the crowd, telling them, "Scarborough, you look beautiful tonight.”

Concluding with Sixty Eight Guns, the poignancy of the opening lyric “And now they are trying to take my life away” took on a new meaning as Peters' fighting spirit was summed up by the three words adorned on his hat: 'love, hope, and strength'. We wish him well.

Almost forty years to the day, Status Quo were appearing just down the road in Bridlington at what was supposed to be the 'End of the Road Tour.' As far as the Quo is concerned, there appears to be no end in sight. Of the original members of the band, only Francis Rossi and Andy Bown remain, bolstered in 2024 by bassist John 'Rhino' Edwards, drummer Leon Cave, and rhythm guitarist Richie Malone.

Playing a greatest hits set that ran from opening number Caroline to concluding with Burning Bridges, the band had that instantly recognisable sound that few artists have. Their twelve-bar blues rock 'n' roll brand continued with Rocking All Over the World, the song that memorably opened up the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985.

The eight thousand strong audience, ranging in age from eight to eighty, replicated Rossi and the rest of the band's energy and enthusiasm. This is the Quo's long-lasting appeal.

When the majority of artists on the charts in 2024 sound manufactured and disposable, Status Quo will remain invariable and irreplaceable. Long may they continue to travel down that road.