Squeeze – 9 August 1996 – live at Coach House, San Juan Capistrano

One Response to "Squeeze – 9 August 1996 – live at Coach House, San Juan Capistrano"

packetofthree says:

24 November 2014 at 11:12 am

Chris Difford’s Tour Diary:

August 5 – August 9
Car Crazy

Monday is a day off for a much needed rest.

Los Angeles’ House Of Blues is a new club to us and, once inside, I have to admire the way the club has been painted. The general feel of the place is very bohemian. The show is accepted with much applause and smiling faces, but on stage our ears are let down by the monitors, a common feature of some of these shows.

Once Blue open up for us and I’m in heaven as I listen to their set. Check them out and see what you think.

During the day we eat loads of sushi for British TV; a breakfast show has come over to film us here in Hollywood. Ah the stress of it all.

After the show we meet Seal and he holds court while we creep around the dressing room. He’s a lovely, lovely man with simple smiles and a genuine love for our music.

Aimee Mann and Michael Penn also show up to cheer us on. It’s good to see them both–it’s been awhile.

Then Erik and I drive to San Francisco for the next show at the Fillmore. This turns out to be the best show of the tour so far: the singalong is loud and together, the faces are charming and it’s altogether a very wonderful night in the foggy city. More sushi in Japan town and some sleep, then back in Erik’s car for the nine hour ride to San Diego.

Poor Erik has to put up with me in the close confines of his lovely black Volvo, and I admire his tolerance. He may never drive that far again in his entire life. On both of these drives we beat the band to the gig as their planes are delayed both days by fog and mechanical problems. The show tonight is crap, the radio station who seem to control the evening get it all wrong, and poor Once Blue don’t even get to play their show.

The sound was so bad on stage; Glenn and I are in a foul mood. Nights like these have to happen for nights like San Francisco to be the way they are. But Taylor Guitars show up during the day and Glenn and I are treated to some new toys, so a brief ray of sunshine glows on an otherwise dark day.

On the other hand I get this note from a net friend….

Hello Chris:
I would just like to thank you for the absolutely brilliant show last at 4th and B in San Diego. It was wonderful to see you and Glenn in a small venue — I have to say it was the best Squeeze show I’ve seen yet (my first Squeeze show dates back to the Sweets From A Stranger tour). I think the crowd was pretty good and really appreciated the show, as well. I hope you thought so — it certainly seemed you and Glenn and Nick had a good time. The big question is — What did you do with the bra? I saw that grin on your face…

Well, now that I’ve seen up close how you play the songs, I must get back to practicing.

I hope to see you back in these parts soon. Best of luck, and keep plugging away. Perhaps one day,somewhere, a record company will appreciate your brilliance and treat you accordingly. In the meantime, keep playing. It’s a joy to listen to you and Glenn.

So there you go, what can I say.
San Juan Capistrano is another night of slightly duff monitors and one bloke in the crowd who keeps calling out for Jools and songs from way back when, lost days when I could stay up all night and feel great about myself the next day.

Tiredness creeps over the camp and I can almost feel the weight of the minds as they idle between going home and playing the show. No sushi today but I do get to find out what LA traffic can be like as Erik and I go bonkers stop-starting our way down the highway.

The web site has made a huge difference as everywhere we go the more we hear people talk about the site and how great it is. That’s fab news, thank you.

I will be moving my web address this week as AOL is not the right place to collect and respond to mail, at least for me. I will keep you all posted on that when I get home.

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