Glenn Tilbrook – 26 April 2014 – live at St Bartholomew’s Church, Coffinswell, Devon

Persephone from Glenn’s new album Happy Ending

Ray from Glenn’s new album Happy Ending

Slap and Tickle

Labelled With Love

Dennis from Glenn’s new album Happy Ending

Hello There from Glenn’s new album Happy Ending

Still

Ter-wit Ter-woo

One Response to "Glenn Tilbrook – 26 April 2014 – live at St Bartholomew’s Church, Coffinswell, Devon"

jim says:

28 April 2014 at 6:15 pm

One of the best gigs I’ve ever been to – eighty people at a 12th century church in a picturesque little village watching one of the great talents of modern music. My partner Jane and I pop to the loo before it begins and find Glenn in the flower room having tea and home-made cake. He’s his usual affable, approachable self. He says he’s excited to be playing here for the first time. It’s billed as Glenn Tilbrook plus support, but he’s on first, says hello and goes into No Place Like Home which he tells us is from his least favourite Squeeze album, Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti. Then a brief, genial rant about the music industry, which he says he’s very happy to be out of, and it’s on with a gig jam-packed with great songs from his dazzling back catalogue of Squeeze and solo work plus lots from the very groovy new album, Happy Ending. The new songs like Persephone and Ray are filled with his usual mix of good humour, sadness and understanding and show off his amazing vocal range and tone which by turns is tough and sweet. He does a storming acoustic version of Voodoo Child. He informs us it was written by his dad and while it seems somewhat unlikely that Jimi Hendrix and he are blood relatives, the notion that they’re related in spirit seems entirely likely especially when he plays the arse out of it (Glenn is a great guitarist), even using the mic stand at one point to add a bit of cheeky slide. After a half hour break when he encourages us to go for the home-made cake (I took his advice and had the carrot cake – a good decision) he comes back to the front of this quite beautiful little church, cheerfully announces he’s spent the intermission breaking into houses locally (not really he hastens to add) and then does Annie followed by a rousing version of Best of Times. It turns out there is a support act after all when Glenn is joined by his ten year-old son Leon. He ably assists Glenn on Goodbye Girl and Take Me I’m Yours and even gets to perform one of his own songs. It’s a brilliant feel-good (actually feel-bloody-great) gig in a charming setting, put on by the lovely people at the church to help raise funds for its upkeep. Glenn’s RV parked outside reminds us that his unique solution to making a living as a musician is to be like a modern-day troubadour, roaming from place to place and while it’s always baffled me why he isn’t a huge star, I’m secretly so pleased because then we get to enjoy his music and easy-going patter in such intimate settings.

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