Suzi Quatro

Festival season is drawing to a close – in Scotland, at least – and everyone certainly made the most of a last chance to party at this lively affair.

Handily placed on the redeveloped site of a former mine just a few miles from the former home of T in the Park, Rockore has built its reputation on the back of a string of sell-out events in recent years headed up by the likes of Boomtown Rats and Wet Wet Wet.

Big names playing this time round included glam rock legend Suzi Quatro, Kyle Falconer from The View and a rebooted version of tartan favourites Bay City Rollers.

Electronic dance group QFX – appearing at Rockore for the third year in a row – as well as colourful singalong outfit Massaoke, Blondie soundalikes Dirty Harry, tribute performer Gerry Cinna-Man Experience, covers act The Ultimate Rock Experience and Fife soulsters Instant Credit bulked out an impressive bill.

QFX formed back in 1992 and scored a batch of UK Top 40 singles during their first decade. The call-and-response clubbers' set was nothing if not energetic, with a troupe of dancers busting some nifty moves alongside their MC Paul Giff while DJ Jacob Callaghan did his thing behind.

Boasting some suitably powerful female vocals, QFX's head-spinning offerings included a burst of hardcore euphoria in the shape of Sunscreen classic Love U More, a pulsating take on JX's There's Nothing I Won't Do, and rave favourites Discoland and Freedom.

It was all as if the 90s never went away, but highly enjoyable for all that. No surprise then that N-Trance's Set You Free, a track that's guaranteed to go down well at any rave, was greeted rapturously by the throng in front of the stage.
In total contrast the latest version of the Bay City Rollers were largely a much gentler proposition.

Veteran guitarist Stuart Wood has rebooted the legendary Edinburgh band in recent times following the death of original frontman Les McKeown in 2021.

Vintage hits Summerlove Sensation and Keep On Dancing eased the largely youthful Rollers in, before the first of their covers, Be My Baby, and then Remember (Sha La La La).

Performing close to the childhood home of the Proclaimers, playing Sunshine On Leith was always likely to curry favour, but the four-piece's rendition didn't quite sparkle, even if sections of the crowd lustily sang along to its poetic chorus.

Give A Little Love felt equally pedestrian, before All Of Me Loves All Of You livened things up ahead of a cover of Rollers fans Ramones' Baby I Love You.

Better still was the 70s terrace chant Saturday Night, which reanimated the fans, only for a version of traditional anthem Loch Lomond to bring it down again.

For me, it was a new Rollers song, catchy power-pop nugget Keep On Rolling that suited them best. After that, a burst of the incomparable Dusty Springfield hit I Only Want To Be With You was a joyous bonus.

Fifty years on from its release, Shang-A-Lang remains a toe-tapping, hand-clapping wonder. It was executed competently and set the Rollers up to say Bye Bye Baby as singer Ian Thomson reached for the high notes, leaving the still sprightly Woody grinning like a Cheshire cat.

For his part, Kyle Falconer was in relaxed mood as he took to the stage for his set with his "solo" band.

Sporting a rouge Disneyland Paris sweatshirt, shorts and deck shoes, the 37-year-old View frontman looked as if he'd just been out for a cruise on nearby Loch Ore.

Certainly, opening with the bouncy track Stressball seemed like an immediate act of catharsis, while a typically rambunctious outing for his main band's angular head-shaker Grace suggested an impending rock-out.

That's not how it panned out, however, and the set was all the more interesting for it. Laura and Waiting For The Penny To Drop proved mellow, and poignant, highlights of a largely stripped-down performance.

There was more than a hint of the blues from Falconer and his cohorts, including dance music guru turned bassist Ryzy, with Kyle content to chat away in between songs – even if he was unsure if the Fife audience would be able to understand his thick Tayside brogue.

A shout-out for Bonnie Dundee elicited the response, "We normally play that in the View set but things are a bit sour," and no one took Kyle at anything but his word following some fairly torrid goings-on in that band's camp in recent times.

Pared-back versions of Falconer favourites Tacky Tattoo and Face For The Radio featuring his Manc guitarist on vocals proved a revelation, continuing the low-key, intimate feel – not easy to do in a festival setting.

The fans want bangers, though, and all bases were duly covered as the tight and talented four-piece delivered the ever-young View hits Wasted Little DJs and Same Jeans – job done.

That just left the event's headliner, hard rock trailblazer Suzi Quatro, who arrived with her full band, including a three-piece brass section.

Back in Scotland for the first time in goodness how long, in her studded leather jacket, tartan scarf and glittering jeans the glam legend looked every bit The Wild One she sang about in her opening salvo.

I May Be Too Young took it down a notch as Ms Q softened the onlookers up ahead of a barnstorming set big on guitar solos and, of course, thumping basslines.

A blistering Daytona Demon and Tear Me Apart with its honky-tonk vibe both proved no one rocks quite like Suzi, with lead guitarist Tim Smith proving a real revelation opposite the Detroit-born icon on the delightful duet Stumblin' In.

Quatro had a few things to say about the male menopause as she introduced a lethal 48 Crash, before hitting all and sundry right between the eyes with covers of Rockin' In The Free World and Bad Moon Rising.

And who couldn't have loved the (whisper it) 74-year-old's thrilling blast through She's In Love With You?

Some interest may have briefly waned during a solo bass romp, but with killer finishers in the shape of Can The Can, Devil Gate Drive and If You Can't Give Me Love, any sense of self-indulgence was easy to forgive on the night.

Eschewing corporate control, Rockore is run by volunteers from the Benarty Events Group made up of residents from the ex-mining towns in its corner of Fife.

There's little doubt they've unearthed a gem rather than a lump of coal on their rocking home patch.

* You can see more photos by Steve Gunn from Rockore at www.shotbyagunnphotography.com