Difford and Tilbrook – 02 November 2014 – live at Cambridge Corn Exchange

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Mark says:

16 November 2014 at 2:45 pm

The house lights fade, and after a pause of 10 seconds or so the curtains part to reveal a backdrop of 1970s orange wallpaper, a table set for breakfast, a screen for projectorising and another for changing behind. The foldy up screen is covered in old publicity shots of the band over the years. Front centre is a Wurlitzer piano behind a car radiator grille, whilst centre stage is a double bed with two lifesize lumps in it. The first new (to my ears) song of the night – a rolling piano led rocker that might be called A Beautiful Day- accompanies a slide show illustrating the genesis of Squeeze and at the end, our very own Felix and Oscar, our South East London Morecombe and Wise rise from under the duvet in their pyjamas and get the night started with Take Me I’m Yours.

Chris exits and Glenn continues with Black Coffee In Bed on the piano. Chris re-emerges, fully dressed and handles Slaughtered Gutted and Heartbroken by himself, allowing Glenn to change in to something more appropriate, returning in time to assist with the outro.

The evening flits between two-handed Squeeze songs and their respective solo catalogue, with both on stage, or each solo, sometimes accompanied by the other.

As well as the opener, there were two new (old) songs. Some will have heard Halfway earlier in the year at the pre-warm up shows, and the other newbie was called The Beautiful Game. Something reminded me of Some Fantastic Place but it was written for the Danny Baker project and ain’t bad. I admit I was expecting more new/old material, maybe one or two from Arse about Face, and like some others I have spoken to, perhaps a chronological retrospective, but I suppose that would mean that the end of the show would be mainly solo so……..

Chris and Glenn share lead vocals on Electric Trains, and rather than their usual octaves, Glenn sang harmony. To my ears it doesn’t quite work. I don’t think either sings poorly but it doesn’t sound like Squeeze/D&T.

Those familiar with Chris’ solo shows will know the humorous films played on a screen behind him. Some of the images tonight were familiar, but most new. Highlights for me (and, from the laughter, most of the audience) were Cowboys and Cool for Cats.

Cold Shoulder saw Chris play the riff on a sitar guitar, a pretty powder blue thing with more strings than an EE mobile phone contract. It gave the song a lovely Eastern quality and we now have the new George Harrison to add to the new Lennon and McCartney.

Also in the set was Goodbye Girl (another Neil Simon reference there for you), Some Fantastic Place, Mussels, Slap And Tickle, a stunning Tempted (with the piano), Up The Junction, Is That Love, Annie, Labelled with Love, Points of View and perhaps a dozen others I can’t recall.

Chris’ solo set consist of Wrecked, Fat as a Fiddle and Cowboys are my Weakness, whilst Glenn treats us to Persephone, Chatline Larry (changed from Everybody Sometimes at the Canary Wharf show a few days earlier) and Icecream (party like it’s 1909).

This was my first time at the Corn Exchange and I did feel like a bit of a lemon, sitting on my own, mumbling rather than singing along. Due to a dodgy message online, a lot of folk turned up an hour late, expecting a 9 o’clock start. This caused many an ‘excuse me’ moment as they made their way to the seats. The place did come alive towards the end of the second half, but with work the next day and a longish drive ahead, I left before the encore.

That’s it for me for this tour. I do hope the Baker book provides us with lots of new material soon, and maybe a taster at the Pelton or a full tour or both.

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1. packetofthree says:
  
  18 November 2014 at 9:13 am
  
  Great review Mark. I loved how truly Squeeze the new Danny Baker related song The Beautiful Game is – there’s something so recognisable about there being too many words and too many chords for any other songwriters!
  This tour has been the very first where I’ve heard Glenn attempt to harmonise with Chris and it was a real shock to me! I’m so used to the active apart vocal style that it’ll take a bit of getting used to. I could hear my brain screaming “There’s something wrong! He’s harmonising! This will end badly!!” but it probably sounded great if you were unaware.
  Musically my favourite bits have been Glenn at the small keyboard. Paints of View has been a revelation!
  Thanks for the great review Mark – love it!
  
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Difford and Tilbrook – 02 November 2014 – live at Cambridge Corn Exchange

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