“Is this an episode of RocKwiz?” he asked when posed the question “what was the first concert you ever went to?”

Gary’s answer was Status Quo, Festival Hall, 1978.

So for good measure, we asked him what the first album he ever bought with his own money was.

Status Quo’s Hello.

Gary has been a fan of the band since he was 14, when Down Down was a number one hit and not a supermarket jingle.

That was in 1975, and the owner of Bendigo business Laser Electrical has been hooked on the English rock band ever since.

This week Gary was preparing to fly to the UK for his 15th Quo concert, and to meet the band for the third time.

He laughed that it would be the trip that ticked a few items off his bucket list. Namely, seeing the original four band members reunite and rock out Wembley Arena in London. 

Gary said the original members had not played live together since the 1980s.

“That’s why we’re going to England. We’ll be at three of their seven reunion gigs.”

While in the UK Gary and his wife Lola will also catch Quo concerts in Glasgow and London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

It’s a second-time-lucky trip for Gary, who flew into London in 2005 with a mate, gig tickets in hand, only to find the Status Quo shows they’d travelled to see cancelled on arrival.

The next year the two mates caught up with their idols at an Australian concert, where they organised meet and greet privileges. “We said who we were and they knew of the two Australians who flew to England and missed the gigs,” Gary said.

Among Gary’s collection of Status Quo memorabilia is a record cover, signed by the band.  “I don’t think I’ll take anything to sign this time. I think I’ll just savour the moment,” he said.

But that won’t be the last of it. Gary also has tickets to see the band in Melbourne and Adelaide for its Aussie tour in April.