In Coronation Street recently, the appalling Cilla threw away Les Battersby's every possession. As the denimed cabbie strode around Manchester tip in search of his former life, he suddenly found the one thing that mattered to him more than even Cilla in her undies. "It's here!" he cried. "Twelve Gold Bars by Status Quo!"

In real life, of course, Quo are in seemingly permanent residence at pop's dumping ground. Dismissed by callous critics and trendy bands, not even a Radio 1 ban and Francis Rossi's hairweave have stopped them rocking. However, until the glorious day when Quo are rehabilitated in the way Thin Lizzy have been by the Darkness, the band will continue to perform to armies of air-guitar-playing Les Battersbys.

"I'm 43 and I love the Quo!" says Jimmy. He first saw the band in Bingley when they were "voted best rock band in Britain 1976" and has braved jokes about zimmerframes ever since. As the world outside gets ever more complicated, there's something profoundly simple about a band who wear Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts and play songs that go der-der-der-duh and are as heavy as an anvil. For this tour, Quo have dusted off The Oriental, which begins "Her name is Mia and she came from North Korea" - which Jimmy says is quite timely "with the tsunami'n'that".

Even diehard fans appreciate there's something a bit ridiculous about the band's trademark dance, which looks suspiciously like Morris dancing. However, as Quo dust off Whatever You Want and other lost gems from pop's rubbish tip, perhaps there's something in Jimmy's insistence that this music makes a bald man want to shake his hair. "Quo, oh-oh-oh-oh!" cry the Battersbys, as the band go Down Down Down. Again Again Again.

· At Liverpool Philharmonic Hall tonight. Box office: 0151-709 3789.