My Thursday with Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers

It was hard to keep focused yesterday at work, but thankfully, I didn’t have that much going on. You would think that after 20+ years of going to see Squeeze in its many different lineups, that seeing Glenn Tilbrook perform with his Fluffers wouldn’t have that kind of effect on me. But when it comes right down to it, he turns me into a tittering pre-teen every single time.

Glenn played at the House of Blues on the tiny Backyard Stage. What this meant for me was that I could go there right after work, plop down at the bar, and wait for my friends. And this is just what I did. I don’t usually go to bars and hang out by myself, but somehow, pre-show, this never bothers me. Lots of people go to shows early, and I often find the regulars and chat with them.

Katie Perry was the headliner on the main stage, and boy does she have a lot of fans! It seems that parents ignored the “21 and over” warning on the tickets for the most part, because I watched a lot of angry mothers argue with the poor ticket guy, demanding to see the manager. I wonder how many people actually got to see the show after they turned all of those people away? Anyhow, the only think I know about Katie Perry is that she apparently kissed a girl, and she liked it enough to make a hit song about the experience.

So there I sat at the bar, watching the action, trying to pace myself on the vanilla vodka and 7-Up. I listened to the sound check and although the entire band was at the bar too, I left them alone. Experience has taught me not to bother them before the show. My friends finally showed up at about 6:30, and I was already pretty well lit by all accounts. 1-L had managed to get us reservations in the main dining room, where we ate expensive salads and inhaled more vodka drinks. An excellent combination.

Around 7, a blues singer appeared on the stage, and was largely ignored. When the doors opened at 8 there were no teaming masses. There were a few usual suspects – Jackie, Rodney, Tom, and I should have been reassured that nobody would try to take my place in front of the stage, slightly to the right, where Glenn can see me as he sings.

Our friend Bill had gotten us tickets to the Founder Room – a very posh suite of rooms, actually, done up in an Asian theme. Elephants, Budas, and sequins cover everything. It is very comfortable and the drinks are more expensive up there. You can watch the main stage from the Founder Room, but not the stage we were set to see. I was already itching to mingle with the Fluffers, so I ordered my drink and beat it back downstairs.

I ran into Stephen Large (keyboard player extraordinaire) and chatted with him about Facebook, of all things. Then his wife Lucy (bass) joined us for a bit and we reminisced about the last time they were in town, and the wild night of excess we enjoyed at the Green Mill. Ah, it is nice to be remembered! Finally, Simon the drummer came by, and I sent him chasing after the disappointed 13-year old fans of Katie Perry. We talked about Lucy and Stephen’s trip to New Zealand a bit, and then they had to go to the paid meet and greet. But see? Why buy the whole cow when you can get the milk for free?


As the opening band came on (I don’t remember their names, but they were quite good) I spotted Glenn. (at the bar, natch.) I went over and said hello, had a quick hug and he promised to have some time after the show for chatting.

Near the end of the opening band’s set, Glenn and the Fluffers came on and sang … something. Luckily, I recorded this bit, so I’ll be posting what I can as soon as I figure out how to do that.

Terry Hemmert from WXRT is such a love. She’s been on the radio my entire life, and her Breakfast with the Beatles is one of the only radio shows I go out of my way to listen to. (The other being This American Life on NPR). She was as excited as I was to be there, and I believe her when she said she felt honored to introduce the Band. She said some nice words, which I also attempted to record, and then the first 45-minute set began:

Cash Machine
Through the Net
She Makes me
Slap & Tickle
Interest & Love
Product
Best of Times

Then Glenn announced that the next song would require a bit of help from the audience, since the vocals on the album were done by Johnny Depp, but Johnny wasn’t in attendance this evening. A couple of people volunteered themselves – albeit weakly – so some of my friends started pushing at me to join him on stage. So I did. My job was to say , “Too close to the sun,” whenever Glenn nodded his head. Easy enough job. This was my second duet with Glenn, actually. I got to play the part of Elvis Costello during “From a Whisper to a Scream” 10 years ago or so.

Anyway, being on stage with him is just tremendous. I kept forgetting to watch his head, because he was standing right next to me, doing that THING he does with the guitar, his fingers flying furiously over the frets. I can only speak in hyperbole when I talk about Glenn on the guitar. When the song was over, I got a thank you, a big hug, and a round of applause from the audience. Nobody took pictures, and that’s too bad.

So then the concert continued with
Black Sheep
Untouchable
And Tempted
And then Glenn announced intermission.

This gave me time to get another unneeded drink. I was feeling no pain, having a great time, and before I knew it, the Band was back on the stage. Set two consisted of:
Hostage
Is that Love
Still (my favorite song from the new album)
Relentless Pursuit
Beachland Ballroom
One for the Road
Parallel World
Up the Junction

During this set, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Stephen. He does things to a keyboard Mozart would never have dreamed of. I tried to get some shots of him, but he moves so quickly, pictures of him are just a blur.



The encore was Take Me I’m Yours. The opening band joined them on stage for this. They made such a big sound, and wow, was it fun! As it often does, Take Me I’m Yours morphed into Funkytown, and then Loving You. Stephen lays under the keyboards for this number, legs in the air, simulating being loved.

Then the show was over. 1-L, Bill, and Kelly made a quick exit, and Jackie and I headed for the merchandise table where we were greeted right away by the Fluffers. I had them all sign my CD – something I don’t do very often. I had a nice chat with Lucy before Glenn came over. I actually had a very nice sit-down chat with him. He told me about how he quit smoking through hypnosis (one visit, worked right away) and we talked about how difficult it is for him to remember names and places. (He claims to forget his wife’s name on occasion.) We talked about the on-line community he’s built, the Glenn List (Yahoo Group) and how unbelievably tired he was. That was my cue to leave.



In the meantime, Jackie was feeding the rest of the band some fancy self-made confections. I went over to say my goodbyes. There was mention of me going to see them in Cleveland tonight, but that was just the Vodka talking. I’d love to go visit my friend Paula in Cleveland, but since I have a guest staying with me, this isn’t really in the cards.

I took a cab home. It turns out that my cab driver was from Albania, and he talked at length about how Albanian is the first language on the planet, and how they taught the Greeks everything they know. Oddly, my Albanian cab driver spoke with a very pronounced Greek accent. When I mentioned it to him, he corrected me: “Greeks speak with an Albanian accent.” Ok, I stand corrected.

Somehow, I got him to stop talking long enough to get out of the cab and tiptoe inside. I have no recollection of cooking and eating an egg, but the signs are everywhere.