Note:
Glenn's second solo album, Transatlantic Ping Pong, came out
in 2004, and he has been touring ever since!
For more info on the CD, see my solo albums page.
This page was written a few years ago, when Glenn toured solo. More recently, he has mostly been playing with his extremely talented band, The Fluffers.
Glenn's
solo career
officially started when Squeeze split up in 1999. Following the breakup
of the band, he has toured almost constantly. He plays mostly solo
and acoustic, usually in small concert halls. In 2001 he released
a solo album called The Incomplete Glenn
Tilbrook, which features a full band.
Glenn's
energy and enthusiasm while performing live are truly a sight to behold,
and his shows are just plain fun. His voice is in top form these days, and he
gets more chance to show off his considerable guitar skills now that
he doesn't need to meld with a band. His anecdotes between songs are
a riot. Audience requests are always welcome, although not always
honoured. (You should try anyway!) He
plays a mixture of Squeeze songs, his own solo tunes, and a few well-chosen
covers.
No doubt
one of the reasons why Glenn's shows are so entertaining is that he
has a surprising amount of practice doing them. In fact, he first
started doing gigs by himself in the early 90s, nearly a decade before
the band broke up! At that point he had played large venues for most
of his life, and was feeling somewhat limited in his interaction with
the audience. He was attracted to the idea of playing in a more intimate
setting,
so he decided to do some short acoustic pub tours when he wasn't busy
with the band. Billing himself as a "Pub Entertainer", he
set out on the road alone.
In 1994
he chronicled his adventures in a tour
diary, which was originally published in the British newspaper
The Independent, and is now archived at Squeezefan.com (highly
recommended!). In it he explains:
"I just
play in very small places, playing acoustic guitar and doing a lot
of covers because that's something that I found I really enjoy doing.
It's something I lost the knack of doing for a long time is actually
picking up and learning other people's songs."
During
the pub tours, he didn't just rely on his music to entertain, but
included great stories and banter between songs, and kept the audience
on its toes with unexpected twists in the show. He invited audience
members to come up on stage and sing with him, and he did tons of
requests, whether they were Squeeze songs or not. Many longtime Squeeze
fans were thrilled to have the opportunity to perform favorite songs
with him on stage. Unsurprisingly, the pub tours were a huge success,
and by the time Squeeze split up, he had inadvertently laid the groundwork
for a successful solo career!
"I sweat so much
that if pushed I could probably refine enough salt to supply several
Third World countries." -GT Tour Diary (photo by Aidan Pedreschi)
To
this day Glenn never uses a set list, preferring to play whatever
song comes to mind in the moment. He often abandons the stage, too,
at some point in the show and continues his performance somewhere
less conventional. You may find him singing to you while perched on
a windowsill, standing on a pool table, or even strolling through
the crowd. Sometimes he even leaves the venue completely, taking the
audience with him on a "walkabout" (still singing and strumming as
he goes), perhaps navigating through a disco or a coffee house before
finally ending up back on the stage.
In
Colchester (UK) Glenn once took the audience out to the parking lot
and performed several songs from the roof of his car. For added effect,
he even asked for a volunteer to drive the car around the parking
lot while he played! But he quickly changed his mind, deciding "it
might be dangerous." This gig was camcordered, and a clip of Glenn
singing from the top of his car can be downloaded from the Audio
& Video section of this site.
After
the show, Glenn tends to hang around for a few drinks during which
time those with the right mixture of courage and luck might approach
him to exchange a few words, obtain an autograph, drool on his shoes,
etc. Some of the descriptions of fans' meetings with him (or failed
ploys to meet him) are hilarious. One member of the Squeezefan mailing
list wrote:
"The
thoughts had been previously racing through my mind 'what can I say?'
and as I sat getting myself all worked up I decided to sit back gracefully
and let others do the questioning. Instead, I willed the corner of
his coat to fall in my good husband's pint, but this was not to be.
Very nice Parka with furry trimmed hood he was wearing for
those interested."
You can read lots of entertaining and enthusiastic reviews of Glenn's
solo gigs written by fans at Squeezefan.com.
Squeezefan is now an archived site and is no longer accepting reviews,
but these older ones will help give you an idea of what to expect
at a gig. If you'd like to read more about the gigs, I suggest you
join the Glenn
List or the Squeezefan
mailing list, where there are gig reports posted for almost every
show during tours.
Better yet, go see him yourself! For current tour dates, visit the
tour
dates section at the Quixotic
Records site. Have fun!
