Glenn and Chris work on new albums

On Glenn's Myspace, he announces a new Fluffers tour and album in the works. He also mentions Chris' new album scheduled for April, "The Last Temptation of Chris" (good title).

Squeeze in a Roundup

Not a round up of Squeeze (sorry, this week has been busy preparing for next week's trip to the Bay Area to see Squeeze), but Squeeze got included in the San Jose-area's Metro includes them in a round-up:

Squeeze: BACK IN the '70s, an English band called Squeeze eked out a little niche somewhere between the New Wave pop rock of Elvis Costello and the British synth-pop of the Human League, but ironically scored their biggest with the comparatively earthy and soulful "Tempted." Founding members Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook put the show back on the road, employing the help of longtime bassist John Bentley and other members of Tilbrook's touring band. (Mike Connor) Squeeze performs on Tuesday (Aug. 14) at 7:30pm at Mountain Winery, 14831 Pierce Riad, Saratoga. Tickets are $55–$85. (408.998.TIXS)

Is it just the former-academic-publishing-company-worker in me that finds it funny that the marriage of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, country singers also mentioned in that round-up, means that they are the McGraw-Hills?

Duelling Set Lists

In a comment, Rich of Massachusetts posted a different set list at the Boston show:

Now that I think about it, I'm certain "Cool for Cats" came after "Slap and Tickle." So here's the true setlist:

1. Take Me I'm Yours
2. Slightly Drunk
3. Piccadilly
4. Hourglass
5. Up the Junction
6. I Think I'm Go Go
7. Third Rail
8. Electric Trains
9. Some Fantastic Place
10. Melody Motel
11. Messed Around
12. Walk Away
13. Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken
14. Annie Get Your Gun
15. Another Nail in My Heart
16. Goodbye Girl
17. If I Didn't Love You
18. Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
19. Slap and Tickle
20. Cool for Cats

Encore

21. Tempted
22. Is That Love
23. Black Coffee in Bed

I don't know which of the Boston set lists is accurate. Can anyone else who went to the Boston show confirm?

New Jersey Praise

The paper that Tony Soprano takes liked the show at the Nokia Theatre, and promote the show that will in Atlantic City tonight. (Or maybe it's just the paper's blog? I can't tell from this.)

Not sure if the reviewer interviewed Glenn or not, or if Glenn said this as part of his stage patter:

"We haven't played any new songs tonight, because, well, there aren't any," said Tilbrook, no doubt a bit sensitive since he declared in 2004 that a tour without new songs is the "kiss of death."

He said that? Maybe I'm just getting old, but I don't remember that!
Anyway, the Star-Ledger continues:

But along with pitch-perfect renditions of such staples as "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" and "Hourglass," the band pulled out the more obscure "I Think I'm Go Go," roared through the power-pop of "Trust Me to Open My Mouth" and added a break to the new-wave drollery of "Cool for Cats" that was almost funky.

Daily Squeeze

So... there's a preview in the New York Daily News, where Difford gets in one or two quotes, but they are quintessential Difford, of course.

Newsday interview

Newsday is a daily paper in New York, and this excellent interview has the best little summary of the life of Squeeze:

Mates in a band can be friends or they can be successful, and sometimes they can be both. Sometimes, they can't. For example, they can be Squeeze.

This is actually a really well-written little advance write-up of the New York shows, with some hearfelt words from Tilbrook, who declines to rule out a real reunion (at least, songwriter-wise). Check the article out.

First review in!

The Boston Herald gave them a thumbs up:

On occasion the band strayed from its Beatles template with mixed results. Some arty, spacey patches lost the crowd, but Tilbrook’s tight rockabilly and blues guitar licks brought them back mid-set. But mostly Squeeze stuck to its tried but not tired formula of indefatigable hooks, wowing the crowd with the great “Annie Get Your Gun” and another perfect pop tune, “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell).”

Squeeze in more Squeeze in Baltimore

The Baltimore City Paper points out that it's a Squeezey week in Maryland, with a show at Pier Six on Aug. 8 and a showing of One for the Road at Gardel's on Aug. 2, complete with a talk by director Amy Pickard and a costume party. Is someone going to show up as Glenn with the long-flowing locks?

Raves over Guilfest

I'm more than a week late on this (sorry!) but the reviewer for something called In The News raved over Squeeze's headline appearance at Guilfest.

A shout out to our reader who was looking for set lists --- this probably isn't a set list but the reviewer listed many of the songs played that night, possibly in order!

(And I'm quoting from the middle here, because I try to avoid printing entire articles. The reviewer also has some nice words to say about Messed Around and Up The Junction, and not so nice words about Cool For Cats.)

This was Squeeze's party and everyone was invited to revel in the emotional one-two delivered by Some Fantastic Place and Goodbye Girl; the anthemic Mussels In A Shell and the electronica meets honkytonk of Slap And Tickle; a knockabout version of Slightly Drunk swung into the euphoric Tempted which was met with a roar of approval from the crowd.

Ents24.com also has a slightly muted rave, compared to the above review, but ultimately proclaims the return as triumphant.

If this is what the U.S. has to look forward to, I'm now officially excited! (As if I hadn't been before.)

American thoughts....

Chris Difford spoke with the Associated Press about the upcoming American tour. Read his thoughts on the failed VH1 reality show, giving away solo CDs, and the "boxing ring of silence."

I wonder if the Essential CDs and DVDs will be available for purchase at the shows? I think it would make a lot of sense, but since when did everything in Squeeze history have to make a lot of sense?

Also, I forgot to list their first American show! Not that it matters, because it's sold out (and according to an anonymous commenter (hi!) it sold out in two hours). They start their tour in the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, NH. That is going to be one busy two weeks. Wow.

Difford & Tilbrook live in Kent!

And here they are!...

Photo: Martin Rordam

No, yours truly hasn't been at the wine, but thanks to an eagle-eyed member of the Glenn_list, I am thrilled to report that Messrs. Difford and Tilbrook played live at the 'Return To The Summer Of Love Festival' last Saturday!

The dashing duo were unbilled, but gave everyone a thrill as they took to the stage and played Take Me I'm Yours, Pulling Mussels (From The Shell), Is That Love?, Tempted, Labelled With Love, Cool For Cats and Up The Junction.

I hope you can feel the excitement as I type! (As there is indeed more!)

Check out this rather lovely post on 'That Truncheon Thing', and there might be another surprise there waiting for you :0)



Thanks to Helen (from the groovy Glenn_list) for discovering this gem of news, for Martin R for the brilliant photographs and Frank from That Truncheon Thing blog.

Oops. Missed one.

Correction: there are 12 cities in 14 days. They are also playing the Wolf Trap Filene Theatre in Vienna, Virginia, which didn't come up through Ticketmaster. Shouldn't have missed that one, because at $25 to $42 a pop, it's among the best priced shows on the tour.

And for all my whining about the ticket prices earlier (and I wasn't whining, I was just surprised), I'm actually glad that Chris and Glenn can ask for adult prices at this stage in their careers.

Squeeze Do America

Because it would just take more effort for me to search if we've posted a thorough listing of Squeeze's U.S. dates that it would for me to just post it, here ya go. Eleven dates in two weeks. Whoa. Not a lot of time for groupies, but it occurred to me that it's a perfect amount of time for an enterprising person to put together a... concert video/album? 11 shows, 11 tracks? Come on, please? (You can tell that my coffee is just starting to kick in....)

Tue, 07/31/07
08:00 PM Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis, MA
Wed, 08/01/07
07:30 PM Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA
Thu, 08/02/07
08:00 PM Nokia Theatre Times Square, New York, NY
Fri, 08/03/07
08:00 PM Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
Mon, 08/06/07
07:00 PM Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
Tue, 08/07/07
08:00 PM North Fork Theatre at Westbury, Westbury, NY
Wed, 08/08/07
06:00 PM Pier Six Concert Pavilion, Baltimore, MD
Sat, 08/11/07
07:30 PM Viejas Casino Concerts in the Park, Alpine, CA
Sun, 08/12/07
07:30 PM Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
Mon, 08/13/07
07:30 PM Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Tue, 08/14/07
07:30 PM Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA

Tour dates, as always, come from Ticketmaster (and no, I don't get paid for linking to them).

Updated Dates

I'm catching up with news, and it looks like the U.S. tour is filling out-- nicely for us on the coasts, but maybe not so nicely for those of you in the interior states:

Squeeze U.S. dates:

July 31 - Cape Code Melody Tent - Hyannis, MA
August 1 - Bank of America Pavilion - Boston, MA
August 3 - Beacon Theatre / New York, NY
August 4 - Borgata Music Box / Atlantic City, NJ
August 6 - Starlight Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ
August 7 - North Fork Theatre at Westbury - Westbury, NY
August 8 - Pier Six Concert Pavilion - Baltimore, MD
August 9 - Wolf Trap Filene Center - Vienna, VA
August 11 - Concerts in the Park - Alpine, CA
August 12 - The Grove of Anaheim - Anaheim, CA
August 13 - Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
August 14 - The Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA

Wow. Looks like I got tickets for the last show, and at a winery to boot. That ought to be fun. I wonder if this gives Glenn any time to train to tackle Mt. Everest by October (or at least the trail leading up to base camp?).

The press release goes on to say that 1) Essential Squeeze is due out only in the UK at the moment, and 2) that The Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight (who?), and Lily Allen all cite Squeeze as influences. Has the Squeeze Reader ever mentioned the rest of the band? For the record: John Bentley on bass, Stephen 'Lord' Large on keyboards and Simon Hanson on drums.

L.A. Date Added

And the California dates keep a-comin.

The Greek Theatre, according to Ticketmaster. Here's the info:

Mon, 08/13/07 07:30 PM Squeeze Greek Theatre Los Angeles, CA
on sale: Sat, 04/21/07 10:00 AM

And if that picture on the Greek Theatre Web site is to be believed, that's one nice venue!

No Cal Squeeze!

They are coming to The Mountain Winery in beautiful Saratoga (not quite spitting distance of where I spent much of my childhood in NOrthern CALifornia, actually). But, if they're shipping all the way to the 408, then other West Coast dates must surely be in store! At least one can hope.

The SJ Mercury News also has a mention.... Tickets are kind of spendy --- up to $85 each (plus parking). I hope they drop by the Fillmore or.... maybe even a venue up in Washington?!

Glenn's Down Under!

Like Men At Work once sang (well, sort of) ...

Glenn's in a land down under!

As you know, the Australian leg of Glenn's tour kicks off on March 30th!

He talks to The Age about reconnecting with people, being a one man spontaneous pop jukebox and gives the brilliant Squeezed tribute band a namecheck :0)

You can read all about it by clicking the wonderfully crafted link here.

One line jumps out at you:

"But fans know that Cool For Cats, their cockney novelty hit of '79..."

Have we ever seen Glenn & Chris in the same room *and* at the same time as Chas N'Dave?!!!

I think questions need to be asked! ;0)

"... is but one jewel in a cornucopia of brilliantly crafted English songs often mentioned in the same breath as the Beatles, the Kinks and Elvis Costello and the Attractions."

A nice save for those folks at The Age!

Here's some links for those hungry for Tilbrook Tidbits:
Glenn's Official Site
Glenn's MySpace
One For The Road (One man, Two guitars and an RV!)
Babylonandon- The Unofficial Glenn Tilbrook Site

Essential cover art, and phone numbers for venues and DVD news

Here's your peek at the cover art, thanks to Squeeze's online publicity folks. (Wow, I wrote, Squeeze as if it were an existing entity. Haven't done that in years.) Also courtesy them, is the following press release, with phone numbers of venues and a remindr that tickets go on sale Friday.

Key points from the press release: 1) Release date is April 30, so mark your calendars. 2) There will be an Essential Squeeze DVD release of their videos, which includes a full-length 1982 concert (since this originates from the UK, I'm guessing that the DVD will be in PAL format and not the US format) 3) Diff also has an album scheduled to come out in 2007.

** The Quintessential Tour starts November 27th, 2007 **

Tickets on sale Friday 16th March @ 9am


Legendary songwriters Squeeze are set to reunite this year for a series of very special live dates on The Quintessential Tour, their first live shows this century. Eight years since their last tour and almost 30 years on from the release of their eponymous debut album, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook's live return will see them perform a host of their classic pop gems including Cool For Cats, Take Me I'm Yours, Hourglass, Black Coffee In Bed, Slap & Tickle, Pulling Mussels (From The Shell), Up The Junction and many more.


The tour follows the upcoming album release of Essential Squeeze (Universal Music TV) on April 30th, the definitive hits collection (with two previously unreleased tracks) showcasing the very best of the bands 25 years contribution to the fine art of the pop single. Also released on the same day is the Essential Squeeze DVD, containing all their best pop promo videos (never before available on DVD), plus a full length live concert from 1982.


Since Squeeze originally disbanded, Difford has continued recording and is currently completing his second solo album provisionally titled Another Day Above Ground. The album will be released in the UK in the Summer 2007. On the live front, he is touring the USA for the first time in ten years with his acoustic trio during February and March. Difford will be undertaking a UK tour with his full electric band in May/June 2007 with a London date at The Jazz Cafe, Camden on 3 June 2007.

Tilbrook has been extensively touring the UK, America, Australia and Japan over the last 7 years. 2001 saw the release of his first solo album, The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook, 2004 the release of his 2nd critically acclaimed solo album Transatlantic Ping Pong. In 2006 came the release of a feature length documentary Glenn Tilbrook: One For The Road about life as a touring musician on the road in the US. Glenn is currently working with his band, The Fluffers, on his 3rd solo album due for release later this year.

Squeeze are as relevant today as they ever were with the likes of The View, The Feeling, Razorlight, Fountains of Wayne, Ron Sexsmith and Kasabian citing them as a major influence. Formed in South London in 1974, the band enjoyed revered success releasing acclaimed albums including Argybargy, Sweets From A Stranger, Frank and Ridiculous. They headlined Madison Square Gardens in New York in 1982 and toured relentlessly to rapturous crowds.

SQUEEZE - UK Concert Date

Tue 27 November SOUTHAMPTON GUILDHALL 023 8063 2601

Thu 29 November GLASGOW CARLING ACADEMY 0870 169 0100

Fri 30 November NEWCASTLE CITY HALL 0191 263 5000

Sat 1 December WOLVERHAMPTON CIVIC HALL 0870 320 7000

Mon 3 December BRISTOL COLSTON HALL 0117 922 3686

Tue 4 December LONDON HAMMERSMITH APOLLO 0870 606 3400

Fri 7 December MANCHESTER APOLLO 0161 832 1111

Sat 8 December LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC 0151 709 3789

£32.50 Regional. £35.00 for Hammersmith Apollo.

24hr CC Hotline: 0871 2200 260 / 0871 230 6230

Buy online: www.gigsandtours.com

Essential Weblinks

www.glenntilbrook.com

www.chrisdifford.com

www.packetofthree.com

Quickie Quixotic Update -- plus, US Tour?

From Quixotic:

The UK shows go on sale on Friday the 16th March to the general public, but you can buy your tickets from 9.00am on Thursday 15th March using the link below. This link is exclusive to the faithful Glenn/Chris/Squeeze lists as a way of saying thank you for all the continued support. Please note it will not work until the time and date above. Don't forget to get the best seats in the house!

[Edit]Link removed, because I posted it before I finished reading the message. My instincts rail against this edit, but I don't want to spoil it for everyone. It's not WMDs; they're freakin' Squeeze tickets.[Edit Ends]

A US Tour is being put together now, dates will be posted as soon as they are all confirmed.

Edited: You want that link? Go sign up for the Quixotic mailing list from Glenn's site (which is how I got it), or log into Yahoo Groups and sign up for Squeezefan, Glenn List, or DiffWorld and look through the recent posts.

Mini Squeeze Mini Reunion?

Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook together for two weeks in November and December. Just enough time for Americans (and others) to get on a plane and go. What a fantastic feeling at least for a while. There are dates in Southampton, Glasgow, Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Bristol, the Hammersmith Apollo (in London), Manchester, and Liverpool. Tickets go on sale next week, sayeth Tilbrook.

My computer's done screwed up and I can't use Blogger properly to post the poster, so check out the following poster from Glenn's site. Hope to post it soon....