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Review: Squeeze, Bristol Beacon – ‘Bending time to 1974 and everywhere in between’
“Sometimes music bends time, it has that power,” said Badly Drawn Boy before playing his final song of the night, Once Around the Block.
Damon Gough’s son, Oscar, was in the audience at Bristol Beacon to watch his dad on support act duties for Squeeze.
Gough, in his trademark beanie and playing on his own on guitar, harmonica and piano was at his deadpan and self-deprecating best.
Towards the end of his 40-minute set, he began playing the opening chords to Silent Sigh on the piano and then stopped. “No, I’m not feeling that one.”
But then a swift change of heart and he played on, imploring the crowd to clap during the end section “as it gets really boring”. The clapping ensued. The song ended with a round of applause. “That made that actually quite bearable for me,” Gough said.
It may be 25 years since Badly Drawn Boy’s Mercury Prize winning The Hour of Bewilderbeast was recorded, but Squeeze are midway through a 50th anniversary tour – with Simon Hanson’s drum kit featuring a circular ’50’ motif that looked like it could have been upcycled from a speed limit sign.
There was no rush to get to the hits here, however, with fans who had paid extra invited to a VIP soundcheck and Q&A earlier in the afternoon.
The show proper kicked off with Black Coffee in Bed and saw original Squeeze members Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford – who formed this band as teenagers in south London – among eight musicians on stage, a sharp contrast to a solitary Gough.
Nashville-based singer-songwriter Danica Dora is the newest member of the band and was on backing vocal duties as were most of the crowd at the Beacon when Up the Junction was played early in their set.
The classics were mixed in with newer songs including One Beautiful Summer which Tilbrook wrote earlier this year after reading a newspaper article about a couple falling in love and getting married at a nursing home.
“This might be a good time to get out of your seat,” said Difford before the first chords of Pulling Mussels (From the Shell) from 1980.
Goodbye Girl saw the crowd back on their feet and featured an accordion solo by Stephen Large, with Tilbrook on solo duties initially for Tempted before the rest of his band and most of the Bristol Beacon then joined him as part of what was a celebratory evening.
Music did bend time at Bristol Beacon on Wednesday evening as we were transported back to 1974 and everywhere in between.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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