Out of Deptford

A few thoughts after seeing Squeeze with my two brothers at the Kentish Town Forum on Friday night:

1) I first saw them in early 1978. I was on my gap year, working as a stagehand for the production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palace Theatre.

2) I saw them at their 'final concert' when they split up for the first time in 1982.

3) What would I have thought, if I had been told in 1978, that I would see them again in 2010 when I was fifty-one years old? And that the Rolling Stones would be about to go on tour again?  And that Elton John was married to a man?

4) My brother Karl and I played a game before Squeeze came on. We went for a walk in the auditorium. The winner would be the first to spot anybody in the audience who was definitely under the age of thirty. Neither of us won.

5) The most recent song they played was recorded in 1993.

6) A brand is a valuable thing. A few years ago my brothers and I went to see Glenn Tilbrook performing solo in a local venue. I'd guess it seated a hundred people and was less than half full. He played superbly for three hours so that I missed the train home and was happy to do so. When he and Chris Difford call themselves Squeeze again and play the same songs, they can sell out a tour.

7) Back in the seventies, nobody had any idea that careers were going to last this long. One of the many problems for young musicians starting out is that all the old ones are still around and almost all of them are on tour.

8) It was a fantastic evening. I was hoarse the next morning from singing along. 

9) I'm so old I remember when the Forum was the ABC Kentish Town Road. When I saw Ice Station Zebra there, someone set fire to a seat.