Squeeze - G-Live, Guildford - 17th October 2017

I'd seen Glenn Tilbrook in the tiny West End Centre in Aldershot and greatly enjoyed the evening, where he'd chatted and taken requests from the audience!

I'm not an avowed Squeeze fan and I ummmed and ahhed for a while before buying a ticket to see him and Difford reunited as Squeeze at G-Live in Guildford.

I arrived a bit later than usual, so only caught the final half of the last song by support act, Nine Below Zero. The audience gave them a rousing ovation, though, so I guess most people had enjoyed them.

About 8:50, after the usual roadie/soundcheck shenanigans, the lights dimmed and Squeeze appeared on stage.

Their opener, "Please Be Upstanding" sounded like a song written to start a gig with, but was catchy and cheerful and soon got the audience on their side.

The next track, the classic "Pulling Mussels", had everyone singing along, although I have to say at times I found the large displays behind the stage distracted me from the actual performance on stage.

Some of the audience seemed to recognize all the songs, but I'll admit I only know their early stuff, so some passed me by.

The classics, though, were performed with enthusiasm and energy, and Tilbrook's voice still sounds good to me, although at times, down near the front and centre of the stage, the sound balance meant I couldn't make out all the words of the songs I didn't know (Someone's posted up some videos on Youtube from the balcony and it appears the sound was pretty good there!)

"Hourglass", "Cool For Cats" (with Chris Difford on vocals for a change), "Take Me I'm Yours" (A great performance with the drummers standing and playing marching drums (See the photo above), "Tempted", "Goodbye Girl", "Up the Junction" and "Labelled with Love" were all fantastic to my ears and reminded me of how clever lyrically Squeeze were/are.

They ended with a 3 song encore, finishing on "Is That Love" and, finally, a 15 minute rendition of "Black Coffee in Bed", that included a name check for all the band.

Well worth seeing and a quality performance by all, especially noteworthy, I thought, was the keyboard player.

All that said, I think I enjoyed the evening with Glenn Tilbrook more!

Set list:

Please Be Upstanding
Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
Patchouli
Hourglass
A&E
Rough Ride
Annie Get Your Gun
Innocence In Paradise
Cradle to the Grave
Nirvana
Cool for Cats
Another Nail in My Heart
Departure Lounge
Albatross
Take Me I'm Yours
Tempted
Wicked and Cruel
Goodbye Girl
Up the Junction
Labelled With Love(with Mark Feltham)
Slap and Tickle(with Dennis Greaves)

Encore:
Open
Is That Love
Black Coffee in Bed(with Dennis Greaves)