Live Review

Squeeze – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

• 20th Jan 2011

With support from nineties stars The Lightning Seeds, swanky background graphics and a full house this looks like one snazzy little affair. Squeeze were privileged enough to play on a frosty night in late November, in front of a sold out Liverpool Philharmonic. There were plenty of quirky gimmicks on show, ensuring that their on-off career (spanning thirty-six years) remained as potent as ever. Although originally intended as a vehicle to regain ownership of their own songs, Squeeze’s latest album ‘Spot the Difference’ is more or less a greatest hits compilation. In all honesty this tour provided a trip down memory lane for die hard fans, as well as the cream of the crop for newcomers.

The Lightning Seeds were already playing as I arrived, and I assumed I had caught the beginning of their set just on time. It became apparent, as they left after just a few songs, that I had walked in on the end of their set. There were a couple of Lightning Seeds fans standing up from their seats whooping and dancing badly, but as one woman commented in the toilets, Ian Broudie looked almost annoyed at their behaviour. Suffice to say, if that was their stagnant finale then I dread to think about the kind of atmosphere preceding it. They’re in their hometown, surely they could let their hair down??

Broudie also thought it necessary to praise his fledgling guitarists, despite the fact that both played the exact same chords as their front man, so in a way he was just boasting about imitations of himself. One guitarist did play a ‘solo’, unfortunately picking his nose would have offered a more skilful performance. At least he tried. The Lightning Seeds must be one of those bands that will always be better on record than reality, even their closer ‘Pure’ wasn’t as punchy as its recording. The three giant strawberries beamed onto the screen behind them were exciting though; it would be unfair to exclude such attractive fruity graphics from this review.

Now, let’s get back to the real musicians. Backed mostly by Glen Tilbrook’s own band The Fluffers (and what a wise choice that was) Squeeze put on an imaginative show. There were only a couple of so-so songs that went off on a misplaced jazzy tangent. Excluding those the rest of the show boasted a strong set with well-placed improvisation that felt entirely natural. There was stripped down percussion, amusing cartoon versions of the band on the screen behind them and an unexpected bizarre dance routine. ‘Ageing gracefully’ is definitely not on Squeeze’s agenda.

Both Tilbrook and Chris Difford showcased spot-on vocals, the latter with a voice so low it could’ve been coming out of his shoes. Their drummer, Simon Hanson, is also worth taking notice of. He makes a truly great addition to the group and his dynamic, upbeat approach to the drums is very refreshing. Opener ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ got the audience involved in a back and forth sing-a-long; to me it’s a bit of a drab drawn out number but at least it can make people happy. Sounding like it was from another planet, the attention grabbing Bond-esque ‘Take Me I’m Yours’ followed and would’ve better suited being first. Squeeze soared smoothly through ‘Tempted’, a set staple with a lot of clout, as well as encore ‘Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)’ which made a fine finale.

Next time around I’ll be expecting Squeeze to bring more strange ideas to the table. Maybe they could even throw in extra dance routines?