The current touring lineup is Difford, Tilbrook, John Bentley on bass and members of Tilbrook's touring band, The Fluffers - Stephen Large (keyboards) and Simon Hanson (drums). Chris Difford (guitars, lyrics & vocals) and Glenn Tilbrook (guitars, music & vocals) formed Squeeze in London in 1974. By the late 70's, they had achieved international fame riding the crest of the New Wave movement. Squeeze has gone through numerous various incarnations over the years with both founders serving as the foundation that their touring units would be anchored to. The grouping of musicians on this night was a rock solid unit worthy of the Squeeze name tag and they manufactured a memorable night of wall to wall classics for the sold-out Starland crowd.

This much anticipated show had something for Squeeze fans of every era and was a dream for fans of the band's overall career. Admirers of the post punk early Squeeze reveled in the show opener "Take Me I'm Yours" from the band's debut. Five tracks from the band's sophomore firecracker Cool For Cats included the Difford-sung title track, "Goodbye Girl", "Up The Junction", "Slightly Drunk", and the musically expanded "Slap and Tickle".

Songs from the period of most commercial success were presented en masse as well. The breakthrough Argy Bargy was represented in the form of the fan-favorites "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)", "If I Didn't Love You", "Another Nail For My Heart" and "I Think I'm Go Go". The smash East Side Story offered the rockabilly "Messed Around", the ever-present radio hit "Tempted", and the hyper "Piccadilly" that brought us all back to the early '80s for a rowdy round of nostalgia. "Black Coffee in Bed" from Sweets From a Stranger and "Hourglass" from Babylon and On rounded out the music from the band's true commercial peak.

As the story goes though, Squeeze continued making great music well into the 90's even if the venues they played started shrinking. Fans who got off the bandwagon in the 80's missed some of their strongest material ever on albums like Play, Ridiculous which provided "Electric Trains", and Frank which was remembered with "Love Circles" and another Difford sung tune, "Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken". The band's most critically acclaimed record from this period is the masterful Some Fantastic Place and it offerred the memorable title track which features some stellar guitar work in the form of Tilbrook's mid-song signature solo.

Throughout the evening Glenn Tilbrook punctuated many of the songs with solid licks and tasteful riffs reminding those in attendance that he is a great guitar player capably handling lead guitar duties as he has always done. Many fans we spoke with wished he would wield that axe even more to add some extending jamming to the band's radio friendly songs that typically clock in around 3 minutes long.

Chris Difford is the man who wrote the lyrics to all the Squeeze hits!

During the band introductions that took place at the end of "Black Coffee in Bed" Tilbrook and Difford took turns to jokingly remark about their past relationship and feelings about the reunion. At one point Glenn said that this was the best version of Squeeze yet "in his opinion but we all have our opinions" before giving Chris a kiss on the neck to publicly acknowledge their make-up after their much ballyhooed break-up.

The fact is this band was quite good. John Bentley added authenticity - having been in the group at the height of success in the 80's. He provided solid bass lines and supportive backing vocals throughout the show making him an integral part of this reformation. The members from The Fluffers have been performing Squeeze songs for years with Glenn at the helm and they were right at home as support musicians for the "new" Squeeze.

Prior to the show there were some online reports that Glenn was suffering some laryngitis at the Atlantic City show two nights earlier. But, Glenn remained in solid voice - with full control of his range - all the way until the last portion of the final song when it went out a bit during the audience sing along part of "Black Coffee in Bed". This could be why the band is limiting these shows to a solid 90 minutes - a fact that some were lamenting as the only drawback to this current tour. But there are 13 shows in 16 days scheduled and the guys probably need to limit their output to keep the machine in working order. Or, maybe they were just following the age old industry adage of leaving them wanting more.

There may be more Squeeze in the future after all. Glenn announced from the stage in Sayreville that Chris had recently given him some new songs to put music to.

"Right now, we're just feeling our way, and there's no reason to call anything anything. But if we write together and it feels good down the line, then why not?," Tilbrook said in a recent interview - perhaps backing off on the initial proclamation that this was not a long-term Squeeze reunion. He continued, "... the door is very open between us. There's no reason why we could not have solo careers and work together."

"We're having a great time," Glenn said midway through the set. The group did seem to be enjoying performing together and they really clicked in New Jersey. At one point Tilbrook turned to his bandmates as if to encourage them, saying, "That's it, that was good" suggesting that the band was gelling as a performing unit a full week into their fast-paced U.S. excursion to the east and west coast of the country.

Every rock band has their own story and the history of Squeeze is quite unique. On Monday night they got to tell a large portion of their tale, and perhaps they began a new chapter in their book as well. All there is left to say after their stunning 22 song hit-filled concert is, "Cheers then, mates, good show - we hope you'll return to these shores again and again!"

SETLIST:
- Take Me I'm Yours
- Up The Junction
- Footprints
- Piccadilly
- Love Circles
- I Think I'm Go Go
- Another Nail For My Heart
- Electric Trains
- Some Fantastic Place
- Messed Around
- Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken
- Goodbye Girl
- Annie Get Your Gun
- Hourglass
- Slightly Drunk
- If I Didn't Love You
- Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
- Slap and Tickle
- Cool For Cats
- Tempted
- Is That Love
- Black Coffee in Bed

Related Links: For more information on SQUEEZE and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -- SqueezeOfficial.com | SqueezeFan.com | The Squeeze Reader | StarlandBallroom.com

Originally Published: 08/07/2007 on Kweevak.com