It’s 1974. Britain is coming out of the chaos of the 3-day week, endless power cuts, rubbish in the streets. In a grubby flat above a makeshift porn studio, two wide-eyed young Londoners, brought together by a 50p advert calling for musicians to join a band that didn’t actually exist, start to write songs together about everyday life – kitchen-sink dramas, teen pregnancies, waking up and looking at the lino. Gradually, they start elevating the prosaic into something else.
Fifty years on, and those slightly older Londoners, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, stride out onto the stage at the Roundhouse. Suited and booted, they look eager to get on with proceedings; there is a lot of music to get through, after all.
It’s fair to say that Squeeze play to a dedicated fan base - but tonight has a slight edge to it. Could it be the fact the show is being filmed, or that it’s the last night of their tour? Whatever the reason, gone are the softer fan-club vibes of past gigs. The tempo is high and the songs come in great thundering waves of sound. Black Coffee In Bed, Footsteps, Is That Love and Up The Junction leave us wondering: “Have they gone too big, too early?”
A handful of old favourites and a clutch of newer songs add to the depth and pacing of the performance, but that harder edge is still there, tempered slightly by Glenn and Chris’ anecdotes, giving context and meaning to their back catalogue.
Gloriously recognisable songs are reworked, reimagined and rearranged. This 50-year anniversary show wasn’t ever going be just a nostalgic run-through, or a simple confirmation of national treasure status.
The minute details in Difford’s lyrics, while seemingly at odds with the grandeur of a sumptuous stage setting, are balanced perfectly by Tilbrook’s underrated soloing. At times his guitar has bite and attack, with angular notes playing off against Difford’s Alan Bennet-flavoured lines.
Allaying our earlier fears (“Have they scored too soon?”), the hits keep on coming. From Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) and Another Nail In My Heart to Slap & Tickle and Tempted… It’s encore material that lasts for over half the show.
Audience participation is at its peak with the new wave knees-up Cool For Cats, magically enticing couples and friends to dance and sing together. Punching the air, pints overflowed to the point where friendly apologies have to be made before returning to chant the chorus with glee.
And that's the great secret about Squeeze - moments of lyrical poetry, clarity and reality set against unique and powerful songwriting. It’s a combination that’s seen that 50p advert in 1974 do very well over the years. Tonight, everyone is more than happy with the return on that singular investment.
Squeeze were gigging in support of Trussell, the anti-poverty charity working to ensure no one in the UK needs a food bank to survive.
