Squeeze – 22 March 2011 – live at the Royal Albert Hall

Tongue Like A Knife

What the Butler Saw

Vicky Verky

Vanity Fair

27 Responses to "Squeeze – 22 March 2011 – live at the Royal Albert Hall"

goodgrr says:

22 March 2011 at 11:53 pm

Here’s a few photos from tonight’s gig https://picasaweb.google.com/roger.goodgroves/SqueezeRoyalAlbertHall#slideshow/5587051276176340930

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Piccadilly says:

23 March 2011 at 12:09 pm

fantastic show last night, thought Snip looked very dapper in hes dicky bow. Cant wait for the Medway show now

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Mark says:

23 March 2011 at 12:38 pm

What a Day, what a show, what a night, what a smelly shirt.
Spent a wonderful morning in and around SE10 with Snip, Nicki, Daphne, Akiko and Kirsten, showing them the PRS Plaque, Peyton Place, Up The Creek, King George Street, Blackheath (inc the site of the original 45rpm and the Concert Halls), then over to Greenwich park for the Observatory, down to The Valley and then the Anchor for lunch. If the day had ended there it would still have been a big green tick in the diary.

But then the show. Every member of our Squeeze family I spoke to had said how excited they were, unable to sleep etc. Snip summed it up by saying that Monday night felt a bit like Christmas Eve.

This is the venue that saw Cream’s farewell concerts, saw Zappa banned, and (allegedly) had the Dylan “Judas” incident. This same hall (allegedly) houses a part of Hitler’s anatomy that should always be found in pairs. And tonight, for one night only, we have one of the best British bands of the past 5 years with one of the best ever.

The Feeling opened proceedings and were excellent. Dan said he had a bit of a cold so kept sipping from a whisky infused beverage, but it didn’t seem to impair his singing, and the band can really rock. I like their CDs and thought of them as a straightforward pop band (and there is nothing wrong with that) but they can make a lot of noise and (don’t take this the wrong way) have several stadium anthems in their brief set. Liz led the Albert Hall to their feet and the band ended with their cover of Video Killed The Radio Star. Some of the new material was first class and I can feel a pre-order coming on.

The came the Philharmonic Five. We’ve all seen Squeeze in different types of venues, different line ups, sometimes 2 keyboards, occasionally 1 guitarist, but this was the first (and probably last) time live with an orchestra. Del Newman conducted with Lucy bowing her Double Bass behind JB (and some plexi-glass). Lord Large was back at the keyboards, Simon installed behind his spotty drums on a rather low riser and the whole led by the songwriters’ songrwriter’s songwriters; Chris and Glenn.

This wasn’t the run through of East Side Story that Chris had alluded too on the radio all those months ago, sadly, but who could argue against the inclusion of Cool For Cats, Take Me I’m Yours, What The Butler Saw, Slap And Tickle, Pulling Mussels etc. The orchestra played on selected tracks and wasn’t over the top. They added hints of colour to Up The Junction and others to sweet effect and the look on Chris and Glenn’s faces as they grinned to each other showed that this was exactly what they imagined, and perhaps a bit of vulnerability that it could have gone wrong.

There will be others with set lists I’m sure but to add to the above, (all of the following with strings) Tongue Like a Knife was sublime, Vanity Fair (with just Glenn (no guitar) and the Orchestra) was heavenly and to end the show, a new arrangement of Some Fantastic Place, given the setting and the reason for the show, would have made Maxine prouder than proud. There were few dry eyes in the house afterwards and one wet seat (Sue).

To friends old and new, thank you for your company and compassion, your laughter and tears (and forgiveness if I miss you out); Mitzi, Nicky, Tina, Snip, Nikki, Davids B & S, Alex, Andy, Neil & Salena, Gill & Tim, Gill, Val, Sue & Gary, Cathy, Akiko, Daphne, Kirsten, Sarah, Charlotte, Andrew, Sue & Andy, Sara, Jarvis & Fiona, the Edinburgh Massive and last but my a long way not least, the brilliant Russ & Liz. xxxx

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1. Liz Harrison says:
  
  23 March 2011 at 11:48 pm
  
  Wonderful review summing up a gig of a lifetime. I don’t have enough superlatives in my vocabularly to sum up what a great night it was – partly owing to the music, partly to the company. And thanks, Mark, for your kind words about Russ & me. xx
  
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2. Val says:
  
  26 March 2011 at 11:06 am
  
  Great review Mark and I am so jealous of the tour as I have never been to those places or seen the elusive PRS Plaque :)
  
  When does the next guided tour start??
  
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Hannahx says:

23 March 2011 at 5:59 pm

Wowweee!!! Such an amazing night, perfect! Glenn and Chris were just so chuffed, I was made up for them! Xxx

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tygre97 says:

23 March 2011 at 6:17 pm

A trully beautiful song. Wish I could have been there …..

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Terri says:

24 March 2011 at 12:23 am

Glenn, an orchestra and Vanity Fair–pretty close to heaven–This was wonderful, thank you so much for posting it!

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Vegan says:

24 March 2011 at 2:06 am

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this video!

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WardieEdinburgh says:

24 March 2011 at 9:11 am

Well WOW!! Just WOW!!!! as some of you might have seen we came down from Edinburgh with our Tshirts on and must say it was truly magical. Managed to get Chris Diffords plectrum at end of gig too. Absolutely fantastic gig and cant wait till next time round. Setlist was great which included a nice performance of Tongue Like A Knife. I really dont know what more to say except WOW!!!!

A shout out to The Feeling who I must say done excellent in warming crowd for main event. Nice rendition of Video Killed The Radio Star in their set proved a hit too.

Thanks to everyone who came and said Hi like Snip, David etc.

Thanks for the ride guys.

Until next time…..

Cheers Again
Wardie

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1. Val says:
  
  26 March 2011 at 11:09 am
  
  Lovely to meet you, perhaps the Anchor Posse can do a return vist when Squueze are your end of the country :)
  
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Adrian says:

24 March 2011 at 9:35 am

Here’s a video of When the Hangover Strikes, which shows off Glenn’s voice to great effect. It’s not mine, (sadly, I didn’t make it in the end) so credit to ‘willumfifty’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj3NUcj4hR0&feature=related

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Sue_Garry says:

24 March 2011 at 9:44 am

Thanks for the brilliant review Mark, you have captured the essence of one fantastic night.Can I just add for anyone not near us on the night that the wet seat was due to a bottle of diet Coke!

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1. Mark says:
  
  24 March 2011 at 12:09 pm
  
  Silly me, forgot to mention the coke!
  
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Squeeze – 22 March 2011 – live at the Royal Albert Hall

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