Squeeze founders Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook are in a jubilant mood. They are back on tour to celebrate the band’s 50th birthday and for just under two hours at Bristol Beacon, there was a party atmosphere as they ripped through a set of back-to-back classics that covered half a century.
Difford and Tilbrook are the only remaining members of the line-up that produced their biggest hits of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Back then, the keyboard player was a young chap called Jools Holland – whatever happen to him?
These days, however, the band performs as a tight and polished eight-piece. The line-up includes the brilliant drummer Simon Hanson and flamboyant keyboard player Stephen Large.
Often namechecked alongside the likes of Lennon and McCartney or Morrissey and Marr as the greatest English pop songwriters, Difford and Tilbrook have a seemingly bottomless treasure trove of classic songs. And they are still working harder than ever – they are currently working an album of new material and another revisiting unreleased songs they wrote in 1974 when they formed the band.
At the Beacon, they squeezed 23 songs into the set but they looked like they could have performed way past the curfew if they had been allowed.
As well as the down-to-earth lyrics of working class life, it has always been the distinctive mix of their vocals that makes Squeeze stand out. Difford has a deep, flatter voice compared to Tilbrook’s higher, smoother vocals but it works and their voices sound as good as they did in their late 70s heyday.
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Although a seated gig, the audience were soon playing jack-in-the-box as they got to their feet for the big hits and sat back down for the newer or slower songs. Everybody got up for Up The Junction, Pulling Mussels (From The Shell), Slap & Tickle and Cool For Cats.
And a fair few were dancing to Tempted, Labelled With Love and Hourglass. That’s not to say Another Nail in My Heart and Annie Get Your Gun weren’t also deserving of a standing ovation.
There was no encore, instead an extended version of Take Me I’m Yours that included impressive solos from each band member as the house lights were turned on full blast.
On the way out, one man in the stalls turned to his wife and said ‘I forgot just how many great songs they have’. After 50 years, Squeeze certainly have one of the most perfect back catalogues and this slick anniversary show was a fitting reminder.
The evening started with a short but sweet set from support act Badly Drawn Boy, an artist who could easily fill venues this size on his own. Damon Gough dusted off the best songs from his 25-year career including Once Around The Block, Silent Sigh and The Shining.
Interspersed with his characteristically deadpan and self-deprecating quips, a tearful Gough admitted that he was feeling emotional because his Bristol-based son was in the crowd with his mates. I’m sure there will be more tears when Badly Drawn Boy returns to Bristol next March for a headline show at 02 Academy to perform his Mercury Prize-winning album The Hour of Bewilderbeast.
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