Shot! Squeeze live at the Brighton Centre

Back in Brighton to celebrate their 50th, Squeeze played a sold-out show filled with golden oldies that had their senescent audience reliving their younger days

Squeeze are one of those quintessentially English bands that seem to have been around forever, but you can’t remember when they last had a hit record. If you were wondering, in Squeeze’s case, it was Labelled with Love which reached number 4 way back in 1981. And that ditty was off their third album.

When Chris Difford put an ad in a sweetshop window, he was probably not expecting much. And so it proved. However, the single response he got was from a fellow guitarist named Glenn Tilbrook. When the pair met up in a Blackheath pub they immediately hit it off and began writing songs together. The rest, as they say, is history and 50 years — and fifteen albums — later, Squeeze, the band they formed with Jools Holland is still going strong. Holland of course has long since departed, but Difford and Tilbrook have stuck with it, albeit with occasional brief hiatuses along the way.

Whilst the hits may have dried up, Squeeze have been touring pretty regularly albeit with different band line-ups and playing to full houses both here in the UK and in the States. In September they even headlined a gig in New York’s Central Park where they were joined onstage by no less than Boy George.

Their Brighton show was less noteworthy, even though it was a homecoming for Chris Difford who now calls Firle – just a few miles up the East Sussex coast – home. The gig was sold out and the audience – perhaps not surprisingly – were one of the oldest I can recall.

These days Glenn and Chris surround themselves with a large band, one that now features a female backing singer – Nashville vocalist Danica Dora – and two keyboard players. Special mention also goes to drummer Sam Hanson whose vibrant contribution to the sound couldn’t be ignored.

Despite the significance of the occasion, the only nod to it being their fiftieth anniversary was a 50 mph speed limit sign on the bass drum. Apart from that, there was no backdrop to speak of, no video screens and no set dressing aside from some neon strips on the stage risers.

Visually, apart from Difford’s gorgeous violin-shaped Tele-hybrid (hand-made in Nashville by Danny Ferrington) the only thing of note was that all the band were suited and booted in monochrome outfits featuring different sized checks and ginghams, with Tilbrook looking somewhat clown-like in his oversize white check suit. Judging by photos from other shows, this has been their stage uniform for most dates of their US and UK tours.

With that said, the audience weren’t there to critique their sartorial elegance but to enjoy the music and particularly those golden oldies. Musically, you couldn’t fault the band or the sound system and Tilbrook and Difford’s voices were as good as one remembered from the records.

What’s even more noticeable when you see them live is how well their two voices – Tilbrook’s high register and Difford’s nasally bass – combine to produce that distinctive Squeeze sound that some have described as “off octave lead vocals”.

In truth, for a band that’s been around as long as they have, they haven’t notched up quite as many chart-toppers as you’d have thought, and most of those were way back in their nascent days. And whilst the bangers might have been written decades ago, one has to say lyrically and musically they hold up pretty well all these years later.

For me the standouts were the ever infectious Up The Junction, Pulling Mussels From A Shell and Another Nail In My Heart. Another highlight was the country-flavoured Goodbye Girl enhanced by Steven Lodge’s excellent accordion playing. Lodge’s keyboards also drove Slap & Tickle, another of those classic Squeeze storytelling songs.

But it wasn’t just a trip down memory lane. They did play some new tunes from two new albums they’re about to put out. One is of all new material, the other of songs they wrote back in 1974, but never got round to recording.

Personally, I didn’t care for the Pink Floyd-ish Departure Lounge, but I did like one of the two unreleased songs in the 21-song set. One Beautiful Summer is Difford’s time-honoured tale of romance at an old people’s home, with lyrics that I’m sure one or two in the audience could relate to:

“Your teeth fall out, your throat constricts, your knees give up, you’re not so quick and you lose your hair.”

Speaking of which, Tilbrook had to urge the audience to get off their seats and stand up which only made you wonder why they decided to go for an all-seater configuration. A sceptic might say it was to cash in on the VIP phenomena where the most loyal fans pay a hefty premium to sit in the front rows.

Personally, I’d have liked to have seen the band put more effort into the staging. After all, marking one’s 50th deserves something a little more special, something a tad more celebratory.

That being said, they at least didn’t milk the occasion like some of their contemporaries who seem to perpetually embark on last-chance-to-see tours.

And with a couple of new albums to plug, you can expect to see Squeeze treading the boards at least one more time.

Setlist: 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

Behind the shot: These images were taken using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the M Zuiko 1.8 75mm lens and the camera’s built-in digital zoom. As it was a seated audience there was no photo pit, meaning I was only allowed to shoot from the side aisles or from the back of the venue. As a result, I was unable to get the ‘clean’ close-up portraits I typically aim for. But that’s the thing when photographing gigs, each one presents its own unique challenge. Photographed in Brighton on 2 November 2024

About the author: Based in Sussex-by-the-Sea, on England’s south coast, Gary is a creative writer and image-maker. He specialises in creating out of the ordinary portraits of musicians and people with interesting faces, as well as photographing some of the world’s finest flowers and gardens, not forgetting an array of automotive exotica.

On the writing side, he has used his research skills to author deep dives into some noteworthy songs beginning with Bryan Ferry’s ‘These Foolish Things’ ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials, ‘Real Wild Child’ by Ivan and ‘All The Young Dudes’ by Mott the Hoople.

He has also written a biography of Robert Palmer and the stories behind Whitesnake’s blatant Led Zep rip-off, ‘Still Of The Night’, Harry Styles’ anthem to positivity, ‘Treat People With Kindness’ and the little known Queen track ‘Cool Cat.’

Most recently, Gary has penned the fascinating story behind George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’ as well as ‘Believe It Or Not’ a look into the rise of fake news.

All these can be found here on Medium, along with his reviews of gigs and events and chats with musicians including the likes of Royal Blood, Joe Satriani and Wolf Alice.