Difford & Tilbrook – 9 July 2014 – live at The Phoenix, Exeter

Here’s the first of the audio from the evening:

The Beautiful Game

Take Me I’m Yours

Halfway (I Fear):

Ray

[[Melody Motel]]

Difford & Tilbrook - 9 July 2014 - live at Exeter Phoenix

Difford & Tilbrook – 9 July 2014 – live at The Phoenix, Exeter

Here’s the setlist, including Depression and Halfway (Which I’ve always known as Halfway (I Fear))

5 Responses to "Difford & Tilbrook – 9 July 2014 – live at The Phoenix, Exeter"

jim says:

14 July 2014 at 2:51 pm

The Phoenix, Exeter, on a warm mid-summer evening, and I feel so lucky to be here to see one of the greatest song-writing teams this country has ever produced, running through a selection from their back catalogue – including a couple of songs so old they were never released – as well as newer Squeeze material ear-marked for the new album due to be recorded next year – though as Glenn freely admits to us, he’s been saying that for a few years now. They begin with their first hit, Take Me I’m Yours, a song they must have played hundreds and hundreds of times over the years, yet they inexplicably fluff it halfway through, cocking up after Glenn’s typically fluid and mesmerising guitar solo. They collapse in laughter before picking it up again and they finish it with a cheerful good humour that runs through the entire performance and demonstrates the great warmth and affection they have for the material, for their fans and for each other.
It’s a joy to hear these songs played and sung so well by the men who wrote them and who clearly have a great love and respect for each other. These songs – both the Squeeze songs and the solo stuff – mean so much to the audience which is comprised largely (though not exclusively) of Difford and Tilbrook contemporaries – old gits like myself basically. We love their honesty and humour, the fact that they’re written in down to earth, everyday language (our language) and that they’re nearly all about us – we’ve all been out on the windy common (that night I ain’t forgotten), been tempted by the fruit of another or been posing down the pub (and looking slightly rough) and Chris and Glenn take us back to those places in our lives again tonight. Glenn’s voice retains it’s beauty, lifting even the saddest songs like Depression (an early song, the demo for which can be heard on Glenn’s The Past Has Been Bottled) and Cold Shoulder with an optimism and warmth that touches the soul. Chris is cajoled by Glenn into to taking the lead vocal on one of his most personal lyrics, Electric Trains, and does an excellent job. They do a lovely version of King George Street which as Chris complains, has about a million chords. Glenn insists he’s simplified it by cutting two of them…
Each take a solo slot too, first Chris, who delights us with stories of his youth (which also means our youth to a lot of us) and then Glenn. Glenn’s enthusiasm for his craft and for Chris’s song-writing shines through when he can’t restrain himself and has to join Chris for his third solo song, singing back-up on Cowboys are my Weakness. Glenn’s solo spot comprises three songs from his wonderful Happy Ending album. He invites us to sing along with Ice-cream at the top of our voices and we’re transported back to the good old days when his great-grandfather was a music hall entertainer (or so Glenn says…).
We insist they return for an encore of course and they oblige with a blistering version of Melody Motel before finishing with Black Coffee in Bed (both Chris and Glenn amused at our poor rendering of the backing vocals) and lastly Another Nail in My Heart and it’s all too quickly all over.
The show is billed as a warm-up for their At Odds Couple Tour in November, but it seems to me they’ll have a job on their hands trying to improve on perfection.

Reply
1. Maria Anne Rickaby says:
  
  15 July 2014 at 12:02 pm
  
  Awesome write up x
  
  Reply
Jimbo Jim says:

27 October 2016 at 8:20 pm

Hey David – just tried downloading the audio for this gig and it takes me to a page that says the mp3 doesn’t exist? Any chance of fixing this? And any more of this great show would be much appreciated!

Reply
1. packetofthree says:
  
  4 November 2016 at 11:50 am
  
  Sorted for you now Jimbo Jim – the audio player doesn’t like spaces in mp3 filenames so I put dashes in there instead and it now works a treat – enjoy!
  
  Reply
  1. Jimbo Jim says:
    
    4 November 2016 at 7:53 pm
    
    Thanks for that David – wonderful stuff.
    
    Reply

Difford & Tilbrook – 9 July 2014 – live at The Phoenix, Exeter

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