Quo rock Brum again and again

Britain's best loved rockers Status Quo have announced their annual Christmas concert at the LG Arena at Birmingham NEC, just a couple of months after bringing their Pictures tour to the venue.

Their 31-date winter tour will call at the LG Arena on Saturday December 5, 2009. Tickets are on sale now and cost £32.50 plus booking and transaction fees.

Last year, Status Quo were crowned as Britain's hardest-working band in the Arena Venues category by the Performing Right Society, with 35 performances in 2008 to well over 300,000 fans.

Their latest greatest hits compilation, Pictures: 40 Years Of Hits, sold over quarter of a million copies in the UK alone last year and has been certified Gold.

The Pictures album became the band's 37th chart album and also their 29th to reach the Top 20 - and that statistic puts them ahead of The Beatles. Quo now stand in the silver medal position on the all-time table - with only the Rolling Stones ahead of them.

Francis Rossi, who last year told the Express & Star that the LG Arena was Quo's favourite British venue, commented: "Playing to our fans is still and has always been the most important thing for the band. Nothing beats playing live and this is as relevant today as it always has been."

Click here to see our review and photo gallery from Status Quo at the LG Arena in 2008

Click here to see our interview with Status Quo's Francis Rossi