Glenn Tilbrook, Newbury

(featuring Glenn Tilbrook)

Venue:

Mention Glenn Tilbrook and most people may immediately think of Squeeze. After all, with his writing partner Chris Difford, Tilbrook was responsible for Top Ten hits all around the world such as “Tempted”, “Hourglass”, “Cool For Cats” and “Up The Junction”. Ever since their first EP in 1977, Squeeze has delighted audiences with their brand of honky-tonk new wave and pithy lyricism, while their stock in the music world has seen the likes of Jools Holland, Paul Carrack and Elvis Costello all contribute to their work.

However, since an acrimonious split in 1998 Squeeze has been on the backburner. Although you might forgive him for resting on his laurels after 13 albums and countless tours all over the world, Tilbrook has continued to write and perform with the same enthusiasm that he brought to Squeeze’s earliest recordings. With his two solo albums, “The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook” and “Transatlantic Ping-Pong”, he proved he’s lost none of the joie-de-vivre that became Squeeze’s trademark. For 2009’s album “Pandemonium Ensues”, he injected some fresh faces by recruiting new band The Fluffers and some prestigious guests in the shape of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. This has been complemented by a conversational live show that is delightfully shambling in its approach – Tilbrook loves blurring the boundary between crowd and performer by performing requests and even taking his audience for walkabouts to set up impromptu gigs!

Although a Squeeze reunion had always looked unlikely, Tilbrook and Difford’s paths slowly began to cross with more frequency, leading to a series of low-key gigs together in 2007. In 2008, super fan Mark Ronson presented them with the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, while Lily Allen called them the Robert De Niro of music when they received the Nordoff-Robbins Icon Award. With the addition of former Squeeze bassist John Bentley, and Fluffers pair Stephen Large and Simon Hanson, this lineup has been winning fans all over again with gigs and festival appearances at the likes of V, Oxegen, T in The Park, Guilfest and Latitude, reminding us all of the outstanding back catalogue that Squeeze possess.

Yet it is away from music that Tilbrook is now making his most important contribution. He is a member of the charity Love Hope Strength, set up by his good friend Mike Peters (The Alarm). Work for this has involved record-breaking treks up the likes of Everest and Kilimanjaro with fellow musicians, raising money to buy equipment to help cancer sufferers across the world.

Clearly, for Glenn Tilbrook playing is about enjoying the moment, and it’s that desire and enthusiasm that sets him apart from so many of his peers. Whether he’s playing to a room of 50 people or to a festival crowd, either with Squeeze or solo, Glenn Tilbrook still gets the buzz from playing and making music that is all too rare among his peers or those he has inspired, and marks him out as a perfomer to be cherished.

Glenn Tilbrook – The Voice of Squeeze

Glenn Tilbrook has more than earned his place at pop’s top table as one of our most cherished singers, guitarists and songwriters, not to mention an in-demand and endlessly endearing live performer. More than 40 years after first answering an ad placed by Chris Difford looking for like-minded souls to form the band that became the much-loved evergreen Squeeze, an ending remains nowhere in sight.

Such is the continuing work ethic of a musician who has never been far from the action since Squeeze made their recording bow with the Packet of Three EP in 1977. Those humble three tracks led to a catalogue of enduring pop classics—Take Me I’m Yours, Cool for Cats, Up the Junction, Another Nail in My Heart, Tempted, Labelled With Love, Black Coffee in Bed, Hourglass (this could indeed go on for a while…)—as well as landmark albums including Argybargy, East Side Story, Some Fantastic Place and Cradle to the Grave.

Following Squeeze’s demise in 1998 (a state of affairs that proved happily temporary), Glenn embarked on a parallel solo career that produced The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook (2001) and Transatlantic Ping-Pong (2004), albums that showcased an ever-maturing melodic and lyrical voice. In 2009 came the fizzing energy of Pandemonium Ensues, recorded with his touring band The Fluffers, while Happy Ending emerged as his most personal solo statement to date—an evocative set of songs about time, people and places, featuring contributions from his sons Leon and Wesley alongside long-time collaborators Simon Hanson and Dennis Greaves.

Over the past decade, Glenn’s creative momentum has only intensified. Alongside continued global touring with Squeeze, and recent work on two new Squeeze albums, he has firmly established himself as a tireless and much-loved solo performer, undertaking extensive headline tours across the UK and the United States. These shows—often built around his celebrated Songbook format—have seen Tilbrook playing theatres, clubs and festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, reimagining Squeeze classics, showcasing solo material and fielding spontaneous audience requests with trademark warmth and virtuosity.

The 2020s in particular have found Glenn criss-crossing America on multiple solo runs, winning over new audiences while deepening his connection with long-time fans, before returning to the UK for equally well-received tours that underline his status as a consummate live artist in his own right. Whether performing alone with an acoustic guitar or fronting a full band, his solo appearances have become a vital and ongoing strand of his musical life, existing in perfect counterpoint to Squeeze’s continued success as a major live draw.

Anyone who has witnessed Glenn on stage can attest to the sheer rightness of his doings. Armed with ready wit, raucous energy and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of grin-inducing great songs, there are few musicians able to connect with an audience so immediately and warmly. Whether fronting Squeeze, headlining festivals, or fielding impromptu requests that might veer from Jimi Hendrix to Tony Orlando & Dawn, Glenn Tilbrook remains—by any measure—one of British pop’s most vital and life-affirming performers.