Squeeze – 4 December 2010 – live at Plymouth Pavilions

14 Responses to "Squeeze – 4 December 2010 – live at Plymouth Pavilions"

Philip Hayward says:

5 December 2010 at 10:40 am

Went to the Pavillions last night. What can I say apart from cheers for a great night. The cold cup of coffee is that i have realised it is 28 years since I first saw you at the Hitchin Regal. Thanks for coming to the wild South West, and also the Lightning Seeds were truly great. Thanks guys for another bit of magic i can put in my pocket forever.

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packetofthree says:

5 December 2010 at 3:06 pm

Well it was a great night at Plymouth Pavilions despite the arrangement of a seated venue. Plymouth Pavilions holds 4000 people but probably not with seats. As this is my ‘home’ gig (only 45 minutes away by car) I was with friends and family and had the excitement of my kid’s first Squeeze gig. I was also not taking photos, not going to the soundcheck and not drinking alcohol because of ‘designated driver’ status. That felt strange.

The Lightning Seeds were excellent as usual, with a mixture of calmness, wit and humility, Ian Broudie is becoming a favourite. It’s time to get ‘Jollification’ and ‘Pure’ out again for a listen as well as the 12″ singles by his excellent band Care – ‘Flaming Sword’, ‘My Boyish Days’ and ‘Whatever Possessed You’ were brilliant at the time. I must see whether they still are today. The crowd were deeply respectful and utterly silent between Ian Broudie’s numbers.- and only a few were in the bar.

Squeeze stormed the stage with an up-tempo ‘Black Coffee In Bed’ and rocked through the now familiar setlist. All looked deeply relaxed and Glenn was frequently reduced to giggles and chuckling by Steve Nieve’s keyboard frolicks. These reached fever pitch during the band introductions during ‘Tempted’ when the theme from the UK soap opera Eastenders got an airing – brought to a thundering end by Simon’s ‘duff-duff’s’. You had to be there.

Is it me or does every song this tour have a thrilling Tilbrook solo in it? There seem to be more than on previous live dates and that’s great by me.

After a three-song encore it was time for the Aftershow which took on the atmosphere of a schoolmaster’s study rather than a party as people lined the walls and nobody talked. Luckily I’ll talk to anyone and have no difficulty helping myself to free drink, so this wasn’t an issue for me. I had a Yakult drinking yogurt and my friend Dave had a can of Coke and a Curly-Wurly. That’s rock ‘n’ roll. Don’t tell us we don’t know how to party hard.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries it was off into the night for a thoroughly unpleasant encounter with the Toys R Us multi-story car park and home into the night to the sounds of the Argy Bargy reissue live album. Nice.

My son thinks Squeeze should win the best live act award. I think he should win a great son award. A wonderful evening.

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Hannahx says:

5 December 2010 at 8:10 pm

Must have been a brilliant night, hope you guys enjoyed it! Can’t believe my two shows have gone :( Is there any tickets left for any of the remaining shows? Sounds like your son knows what he’s talking about David! How old is he?

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1. packetofthree says:
  
  5 December 2010 at 11:44 pm
  
  My son’s 16 and really knows his music – but in completely different style from Squeeze. It’s good that they’re able to reach out to new audiences.
  
  I’m sure there must be some tickets left somewhere for the London gigs (or some late returns) – and plenty of hotels / friends willing to have you for the night. Go for it! There are some tickets from fans who can’t make it at the squeezeofficial Facebook page…
  
  http://www.ents24.com/web/artist/94618/Squeeze.html
  
  Reply
  1. Hannahx says:
    
    6 December 2010 at 7:00 pm
    
    Yeah, I have to say I think good music taste runs in families, I grew up listening to Squeeze, Blondie etc!
    Thanks for the tip, I’ll check the page now for any tickets, those two shows were just not enough!
    
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    1. Snipturn says:
      
      7 December 2010 at 12:00 pm
      
      Hannahx, I may well have have 2 tix available for the Sat nite and one for the Sun if your interested?
      
      Cheers
      Snip
      
      Reply
      1. Hannahx says:
        
        8 December 2010 at 5:52 pm
        
        Cheers for the offer, but can’t make it now, have a Christmas party thing to go to on the Friday. Such a shame, hope you enjoy them though!
        (btw, fabulous video for model from the Liverpool show, put it on my iPod yesterday!)
        
        Reply
        
        Snipturn says:
        
        8 December 2010 at 9:55 pm
        
        ahh ok, no problem. Enjoy your party and glad you like the video enough to put it on your iPod – even I have not managed that yet – LOL
        Snip
        
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Andy Orr says:

5 December 2010 at 8:24 pm

Sorry to put a damper on things but I was underwhelmed at the Pavillions last night. I saw Squeeze 3 times in the late 80s and early 90s. They were electric.
Last night I felt the re-workings of the old stuff didn’t click. Some of the polite applause was cringe worthy. I wasn’t familiar with the new stuff but obviously nor were the majority of the audience judging by the reaction.
Sorry to pile more on negative stuff but I felt the band slept walked through the set. It was painting by numbers. What were some of those mid song solos about? And why did the band intro take up 2 songs worth of time?
I am a fan, don’t get me wrong. But I was expecting better. I like the old stuff, and the way it used to be played. That’s why I forked out hard earned dosh to be there last night. Sorry guys, it didn’t come off.

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1. MonkeyHanger says:
  
  6 December 2010 at 2:37 pm
  
  That’s really confused me…because they only played “old stuff, the way it used to be played” on the two gigs I saw earlier this month..and it would appear to be the same set list? Which “new stuff” weren’t you familiar with, as the “newest” song in the set is from the mid 90’s??
  
  I play in bands, I watch bands, I criticise bands..but I’ve never seen a band “sleep-walk” LESS.
  
  BTW, I also read (and write for) several music/gig related websites and yours is the first remotely negative “review” of the whole tour.
  
  Utter Bollocks.
  MH
  
  Reply
2. packetofthree says:
  
  6 December 2010 at 4:33 pm
  
  It’s a real shame the show wasn’t for you Andy – I’m pleased you went and doubly pleased you felt free to tell us how it was for you. I adore the spontaneity of the solos, the humour of the introductions, the musicianship of the instrumental breaks and I’m delighted they played some lesser known material (it wasn’t ‘new stuff’ but some of their earliest material – Model from 1978, The Knack from 1979, Someone Else’s Heart from 1981, Hope Fell Down from 1984) – each to their own! I hope you’ll see the next tour with real new material and a CD to promote and let us know how you felt!
  
  Thanks for your views!
  
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  1. Adrian says:
    
    7 December 2010 at 10:48 am
    
    Living in Ireland, I haven’t made it to any of the shows so can’t comment on Andy’s views. What I can say is how much I appreciate all views on this site. Yes, this a fan site run by a fan for the fans. But that doesn’t mean that we must be reverential about everything the band get up to. If someone didn’t enjoy a gig, let’s talk about it. If they release some new music and it’s not up to scratch (heaven forbid!), let’s discuss that too. But we mustn’t feel we can’t express our personal opinions for fear of being scolded by our fan peers. That said, in the spirit of an open forum, we should also welcome those whose opinions differ from any negative ones! Ok, I’ll stop now.
    
    Reply
Philip Hayward says:

6 December 2010 at 3:57 pm

I have always admired any band who re jig their music for any live audience. I feel if they just wade through it like the same old same old they have not moved forward and they are selling their audience like hamburgers. The all seating at Pavillions did not help participation. That is a problem with the venue and not the two cracking bands I saw on Saturday. Maybe some members of the audience were confronted with an inconvenient truth. The band have moved on but they have not.

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1. Andy Orr says:
  
  7 December 2010 at 3:24 pm
  
  Pity about the “utter bollocks” comment from MH. Good old fashioned objective journalism! I too have played in bands (whatever difference that makes) and I also watch bands, everything from Squeeze to KoL etc. My opinion is as valid as the next persons.
  I saw Glen play on his solo tour about 4 years ago. Just him, his guitar and a couple of hundred people in an old cinema in Monmouth. It was fantastic. If I can judge that as amazing I can equally judge the gig on Saturday as disappointing, which it was – for me.
  I’m still a fan though. The songs I know and love are well crafted, intelligent, witty and some full of pathos. I would happlily relive the time I saw them in ’92 in Newport. They were superb. The Pavillions gig was nowhere near that standard. If you’d seen them then you would agree.
  I understand the Pavillions all seat arrangement doesn’t lend itself to a buzzing experience but then the band has to work harder to engage and I don’t feel they did.
  How can GT and CD not have noticed to difference between some of the gigs they played in the early 90s and Saturday? Perhaps they did.
  I may not be a music journalist of the calibre of MH but I can argue a point and nothing MH says will change my mind, certainly not calling my opinion utter bollocks.
  Howver, I remain a fan and I still enjoy listening to Squeeze songs and playing the odd one on my guitar to friends at get togethers.
  
  Reply

Squeeze – 4 December 2010 – live at Plymouth Pavilions

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