reCAP :: Squeeze w/ The English Beat :: 2016.10.15
The historic Capitol Theatre may be known as Grateful Dead headquarters, but the venue also offers a wide variety of delightful eclectic fare. On Saturday, October 15th, we were brought back to the 80's with a sold-out performance by New Wave pioneers: Squeeze.
Since forming in the UK in 1973, Squeeze has undergone a plethora of line-up changes, but the genius songwriting partnership of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook still lead the team on the 2016 tour. Known for their mass of classics, mostly from the early 80’s, the band plays in support of new music dropped with their 2015 album, “Cradle to the Grave.” The band is recognized for their quirky and upbeat songs, but are most renowned for the songwriting prowess of the duo. The penmanship is so legendary that an acclaimed critic dubbed them in the early 80’s as the “the heirs to Lennon and McCartney’s throne.” This is high praise, but before it is easily dismissed, one only need to closely pay attention to the wordsmanship to understand the deserved accolades.
Squeeze is currently enjoying a renaissance. This sold-out show necessitated the addition of another show for Wednesday, October 19th – which also quickly sold-out. The band played a raucous and energetic set that clocked in at nearly 2 hours and balanced a good mix of new material and older fare. Fans had the opportunity to loudly sing in unison to many well-known ditties. The show started in incendiary fashion with the rapid fire delivery of the bands biggest US #20 chart hit, “Hourglass.” The energy buoyed the rest of the show and with no sax on stage it was interesting to hear Tilbrook perform a guitar solo during the riff where the sax solo normally is included.
Although the band is much more popular in the England than the US, Squeeze does possess a bevy of classics that are well known to the casual listener. “East Side Story” and “Argybargy” were there biggest selling albums, but the monster record was the hit compilation, “Singles: 45 and Under.” On this night, they played every single song from that album except “Annie Get Your Gun.” The list of toe-tapping, engaging and entertaining tunes included: “Is This Love?”, “Another Nail in My Heart”, “Tempted”, “Slap and Tickle”, “Goodbye Girl”, “If I Didn’t Love You”, Pulling Muscles (from a shell)”, “Up the Junction”, “Black Coffee in Bed” and “Take Me I’m Yours.”
The highlights of the gig were plentiful. Hearing the lyrics to “Is this Love?” were enticing: “You won't get dressed - you walk about, A teasing glance has pushed me out, the tougher tougher tougher it gets, the more my lips frequent, now that is love.” “Pulling Muscles” was bombastic and sounded just like the original, while inviting fans alike to dance and swing in unison to the fiery chorus. The opus story of a struggling couple were outlined in stellar fashion during “Up the Junction”: “This morning at four fifty, I took her rather nifty, down to an incubator, where thirty minutes later, she gave birth to a daughter, within a year a walker, she looked just like her mother, if there could be another.” It was wonderful to hear Tilbrook sing “Tempted”, originally sung by Paul Carrack, who is no longer with the group. But the highlight was definitely the “Black Coffee in Bed” encore. Perhaps their most known song, the crowd went wild upon hearing the iconic opening notes. It was an intense version, complete with an extended funk jam, including an accordian and sousaphone and a rhythm section led by beautiful bassist Lucy Shore. The “black, black black, black black black” chorus never sounded better.
Once again, the Cap delivered a night of memorable music and a trip back memory lane with some masterful professional musicians. For those who appreciate music composition and exemplary songwriting – it is a special treat.