Crewe’s Limelight has grown an enormous extension since my last visit. On this particular evening the new bar area – known tantalisingly as ‘The Garden Terrace’ - is playing host to a karaoke night. An exploratory jaunt into adjoining rooms, that promises dazzling vistas of the car park bathed in street-light, is cut prematurely short by the sounds of a premeditated murder being committed by a girl upon Madonna’s ‘La Isla Bonita’. Not wishing to be identified as witnesses to the ensuing crime we quickly run away and seek solace in the main venue for tonight’s gig, packed to the brim with 40-somethings and nary a teenager in site.
Support comes from – can you believe it? – yet another pair of Cumbrian ex-carpenters, this time going by the moniker ANDY AND WAYNE. Wayne looks like a hairier Keith Chegwin and Andy doesn’t. Coincidentally they have a song called ‘Nearly Killed Keith’ which isn’t their story of a failed ‘hit’ on the man formerly known as Mr. Maggie Philbin but is their account of a near-fatal building-site incident that involved Andy, the mother of all nail-guns and a bloke named Keith. Most of Andy and Wayne’s songs revolve around their former lives as jobbing woodworkers: there’s the one about driving into a signpost for Coventry and the one about their less than salubrious digs in East London, not forgetting the ditty about running out of money for booze. Both Andy and Keith wise-crack incessantly between numbers to the extent that I eventually start wondering if I’ve wandered into auditions for ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet: The Musical’.
It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since I last saw GLENN TILBROOK live on stage. Then he was one-fifth of Squeeze playing in a mud-bath that was the inaugural concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl on a bill that included Tom Robinson, The Specials and The Police. Tonight his set is stuffed with a rafter of classics from the Difford/Tilbrook song-book as well as material from his recent solo album, 'Transatlantic Ping-Pong'. He’s backed by his new band, THE FLUFFERS – a name which he admits imposing upon them and one to which they’ll have to become accustomed under what he terms his “benign dictatorship”.
This is a rip-roaring gig from start to finish and I’m grateful that it’s more than just the safe bet of an aging rocker leading us on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Glenn appears genuinely galvanised by having a new band under his tutelage and they more than ably support his rejuvenation by delivering rousing versions of ‘Pulling Mussels From A Shell’, ‘Is That Love’, ‘Tempted’ and ‘Another Nail In My Heart’ that sound fresh and relevant alongside new cuts such as ‘Neptune’ ‘Hostage’ and the single ‘Untouchable’ which suffer only from a lack of well-worn familiarity. In these intimate surroundings I’m able to take stock of how good a guitar player Glenn is, sharing as he does the song-driven technique mastered by George Harrison: no excess or embellishment, just unusual hooks and idiosyncratic riffs that give the songs added dimension and melodic potency. He’s also an articulate, witty and engaging front-man unable to temper his infectious enthusiasm for playing live and for the talents of his young and versatile band.
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After a break Glenn returns for a short but memorable solo set starting with a great version of ‘Piccadilly’ before launching into a crowd-pleasing unplugged busking session that involves him weaving his way through the punters like a pied-piper, demanding (and getting) full vocal participation from one and all on ‘Goodbye Girl’ and ‘Black Coffee In Bed’. The musical highlight though is the encore of ‘Take Me I’m Yours’ and a full-on ‘Slap and Tickle’ with suitably manic playing from the Adrian Brody look-alike Stephen Large on keyboard. Honourable mentions must also be made for Lucy Shaw (“she’s a corker with her own stalker” to quote Glenn) on determined bass and the seemingly effortless tub-thumping of Simon Hanson.
Glenn Tilbrook and The Fluffers is one fantastically entertaining night out, a chance to revisit the songs of a great pop group but more importantly an opportunity to catch old and new talent on fire and in form.
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