Washington Post critic says Glenn Tilbrook RAWKS

David Segal, pop music critic for the Washington Post, also fondly remembers a Glenn Tilbrook show as the greatest Live Show Moment --- one which, although it may be pre-planned, captures the spontaneous spirit of rock and roll.

But the greatest Moment was a solo show by Glenn Tillbrook, the former lead singer of the now-defunct British band Squeeze. Just him and an acoustic guitar. Near the end of the evening, at the tiny Iota Club in Arlington, he posed a question. How many people would like me to play the next several songs in the parking lot? It was nearly unanimous. We trundled out the door, maybe 50 people, led by Tillbrook, who took his place on a ramp in the rear of the club and played -- unamplified -- the Squeeze classics "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" and "Goodbye Girl" while people danced under the moonlight. It was my kind of ecstasy. Then the cops came and shut it down, after complaints by neighbors, which made it even better.

To be in that parking lot was to feel like you were in on something that was sublime but fleeting. It's hard to explain, but I can sum it up with the highest praise in the history of high praise: You just had to be there.

So, the man can't spell Tilbrook (that's one L, Mr. Segal), but if he counts a Glenn Tilbrook show as one of the best he's ever been to, he's all right by me. Segal will be chatting online at the Washington Post at 1 p.m. Monday (Eastern time zone) at washingtonpost.com/liveonline.

David Segal also wrote one of my favorite episodes of the radio show This American Life about Curly Oxide, a Hasidic Jew who for a brief moment became a glam punk star.