Pop fans got their music’s worth Wednesday night, Oct. 16, when Glenn Tilbrook, former Squeeze lead singer and longtime solo artist, capped his 40-date U.S. tour with a final concert at Stage 48 on midtown’s far west side. Backed by Simon Hanson on a ridiculous variety of percussive instruments – from finger bongos to an overturned plastic cooler – Tilbrook played two 40-minute sets that included a goodly number of Squeeze hits (the ever-catchy “Up the Junction”, “Pulling Mussels from a Shell”) often with the audience chiming in on choruses or “ooh oohs.”
Dressed in a grey jacket, jeans and snap-pea green sneakers, Tilbrook never lacked for energy, and, after cracking a bit on high parts early on, found his voice getting stronger by the second set and encores. Particularly winning was “Black Coffee in Bed”, a song perhaps overplayed on the radio but which really bounced in the live format, backed only by Tilbrook plucking what looked like a ukelele but sounded like a bass guitar, and by the resourceful Hanson on bongos. Hanson even had his own highlight: the recent Tilbrook tune “Kevin and Dave”, which put Tilbrook at the drum kit and thrust Hanson at the mic with a toy xylophone.
Technology was not absent from the show, which had Tilbrook employing midi and pre-recorded beats and backing. He even recorded the audience singing a line and then replayed it as part of the overall musical mix on one Zevon-esque rocker. Tilbrook also tipped his cap to former (and sometimes still) musical partner Chris Difford, lauding the latter’s “fantastic lyrics” on “The Truth”.
Opener Joe Michelini’s acoustic set was marked by impassioned vocals (in a limited range) that were admittedly easier to make out (wordwise) than Tilbrook’s, even though they seemed to be using the same microphone. A member of River City Extension as well as a solo artist, Michelini scored best with a pretty ballad about how he “never met a woman so afraid of the world.” Michelini joined Tilbrook and company for a couple of rollickingencores, as well.
