Squeeze - Plymouth Review

The great thing about having gig venues close to home, within walking distance even, is that it is possible to check out bands that you otherwise would not choose to go and see live. Travelling to concerts can be expensive if you do not keep an eye out for cheap hotels and transport options - plus the prices of tickets to the shows themselves are only going one way. I am lucky that I am able to travel to so many shows a year, but I am only able to do so due to various lifestyle decisions and being organised when it comes to booking hotel and train tickets. Despite the size of Plymouth as a city, it has never been a hotbed of live music - particularly during my lifetime. I can only imagine just how many gigs I would have got to had I lived in Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, or London for example - because Plymouth gigs are a rarity. The city's large venue, the Pavilions, has never had a particularly great reputation sound-wise. This has definitely improved over the years, but reputations tend to stick - plus it is a strange size which makes it too big for most bands and too small for the really big acts. The bands that it does tend to attract, too, rarely appeal to me. I did not go to the venue at all last year, with my last visit coming back in May 2022 when I saw Gary Numan put on an excellent display at the venue. That show was actually the third in a bit of a row at the time - as I went there twice towards the back end of 2021, too, to see Steve Hackett and Roger Taylor. Before that, though, it had likely been a few years since my last visit - and I do not think that there has been a genuine metal show at the Pavilions since Slayer back in 2015. Those last few shows prove my original point, though. At the time, I would not have travelled to see Hackett, Taylor, or Numan - but as I could walk to all three I took the risk. All three shows turned out to be great for different reasons - but I only took the risk as I did not have to pay for a hotel and train tickets. I can understand why bands do not tend to come down to Plymouth, but I certainly wish that more made the effort. If the city's main venue was better then I think that more would come down - but, as mentioned, the Pavilions has never been held in high regard in the industry. I walked down to the venue for the first time in over two years last night, though, as the British pop rock sensations Squeeze were in town as part of their lengthy 50th anniversary tour. Squeeze, again, are not a band that I would travel to see - but I was certainly up for a walk into town to catch them for the first time. I first started to pay attention to them after seeing Glenn Tilbrook (vocals/guitar) open for King King last year in Exeter - and I have since picked up a few of the band's albums. I am certainly no expert, but I am familiar with most of the band's hits. The ticket was pretty reasonably priced, too, I thought, particularly for a long-standing and well-liked band such as Squeeze - and given that most of the shows on this large tour seem to have sold out the pricing seems to have worked.

As the venue filled up, and it was pretty full by the time Squeeze hit the stage, the crowd were treated to a downbeat set from Manchester-based singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy. I knew nothing at all about him prior to last night, although I was familiar with the name, so I did not really know what to expect. Unfortunately, though, the set ended up being one of my least favourite types of support act in principle: a man with an acoustic guitar. In fairness he played electric guitar and piano at various points during his set, but the overall theme was the same. I tend to struggle with these sorts of artists as I just generally am not a fan of earnest songwriters with something to say - but I found Badly Drawn Boy's set a bit more engaging than it could have been. It helped that his songs were all so short, so that the vibe changed quite regularly, and it also helped that his between song banter was quite funny. That classic self-deprecating Northern humour was on full display throughout his time on stage and it did endear him to me somewhat - even if a lot of his songs were just not really for me. He did receive a pretty warm reception from the crowd, though, and his humour certainly hit home for a lot of people - so I did not find that the set dragged despite it not being my thing. It was nice to put a face to the Badly Drawn Boy name, too. I remember him getting quite a bit of press at one point, although that was quite a while ago now, so perhaps his star has somewhat fallen since then.

Squeeze were very different - with eight musicians on stage making a racket from the off. In the best part of an hour and 45 minutes the band rattled through a 23-song set with ease - which covered a good chunk of their 50 year career. Much of the set focused on their late 1970s/early 1980s classic period - but there were a few later tracks included, too, alongside some brand new material from an upcoming pair of albums. It was very much a greatest hits affair in principle, though, with rollocking anthems like Black Coffee in Bed and Footprints showcasing early on why the band troubled the charts so often in the past. Tilbrook was in fine voice, with his songwriting partner Chris Difford (vocals/guitar) also at his caustic best - whilst backing singer Danica Dora provided plenty of harmonies throughout which helped boost the band's overall vocal power. Tracks like Is That Love bordered on hard rock, but of course it was smoother classics like Up the Junction and In Quintessence which the crowd really lapped up. It was not all hits, though, as rawer new cut One Beautiful Summer proved - plus a fairly early rendition of the atmospheric Departure Lounge from 2017's The Knowledge showed a different side of the band, with lots of spacey playing from Stephen Large (keyboard/accordion/vocals) and a touch of finesse from Melvin Duffy (guitar/mandolin/lap steel/pedal steel/vocals). Whilst both Tilbrook and Difford took time to chat to the crowd, they largely kept it to a minimum and let the music do the talking. A few choice song introductions gave context, but the band have been at it long enough to know to keep the music flowing - with a one-two punch of the AOR-tinged Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) and the smooth Another Nail in My Heart getting the whole crowd on their feet for a brief period. Given that Squeeze's older albums do not always possess a lot of punch, I was surprised how hard they could rock at times. This was likely down the hard-hitting style of Simon Hanson (drums/vocals), but Tilbrook himself can riff away when he wants to - and the band mixed a number of different vibes all night. Squeeze have always been impossible to categorise and the song selection showed this - with the pop hooks of Annie Get Your Gun sitting side by side with 'new' cut Trixie's Hell on Earth, an unreleased early Squeeze effort which has been finished off for one of the upcoming new albums. As the set progressed, though, the surprises became fewer - and it was hit after hit. There was not a lot of audible singing from the crowd during the show, but the old single Tempted certainly prompted some - as did the Madness-esque Cool for Cats which Difford sung in his typical drawling manner. The atmosphere was still good throughout the show, though, and it was clear that everyone in attendance was having a good time. Being a rock and metal fan, though, I am always amused by crowds at shows by bands like Squeeze. They tend to look like they are dressed up to go to the theatre and never really seem to get into the show - but it was nice to a see a few people dancing and having a good time towards the end. It was hard not to with songs like Hourglass and a lengthy show-closing rendition of Take Me I'm Yours, though, the latter of which included various solos as Tilbrook went around and introduced everyone. Dispensing with the encore tradition, Take Me I'm Yours brought the curtain down on 50 years of music nicely - and the band took their bows to huge applause. The setlist was:

Black Coffee in Bed

Footprints

Is That Love

Up the Junction

One Beautiful Summer

Someone Else's Heart

In Quintessence

Departure Lounge

Some Fantastic Place

If I Didn't Love You

Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)

Another Nail in My Heart

Annie Get Your Gun

You Get the Feeling

Trixie's Hell on Earth

Goodbye Girl

Cradle to the Grave

Slap & Tickle

Tempted

Cool for Cats

Labelled with Love

Hourglass

Take Me I'm Yours/After Hours [The Velvet Underground cover]

Given that I am no Squeeze expert, I enjoyed my time with the band in Plymouth last night. I cannot imagine that I will ever be a die-hard fan, but they have a lot of classic tracks for a reason - and I will certainly look to pick up some more of their classic albums in due course. It is always good to see something a bit different, too, and they acted as a bit of a pallet cleanser following a number of hard rock and metal shows which I have taken in of late.