Gig Review: Glenn Tilbrook @ The Birdwell Venue, Barnsley

Having already seen Squeeze in concert last October, and solo Chris Difford at the Edinburgh Festival the year before that, I was resigned to not being able to enjoy a solo Glenn Tilbrook gig in person due to the fact that he doesn't seem to do many solo gigs these days (understandable, with Squeeze an ongoing concern) and on those rare occasions he does, they tend to be around the south of England.

Promo Poster (c) Birdwell Venue

However, back in February, it was announced that ahead of supporting Darryl Hall on his latest tour, in May Glenn would be playing two solo gigs (in Barnsley and Chester) in preparation. Having heard of those places but no idea where exactly in England they were, I brought up Google Maps and discovered they were only a few hours on the train. Barnsley was the easiest to get to, so I bought tickets for me and a mate, and then discovered the venue wasn't actually in Barnsley itself but a 15-minute car, or 30-minute bus, journey. I decided I'd worry about it nearer the time.

I met up with my mate in Leeds and we got a train to Barnsley. Finding the hotel was a bit of a farce - we could see the name of it emblazoned on the side of a very tall building, but actually finding the entrance was a huge, time-consuming faff. Eventually, we found it and checked in to our rooms, grabbed a bite to eat, before it was time to head to the Birdwell Venue.

I'm not a taxi user, normally. If I can't walk somewhere, I'll take the bus. The only time I've ever used Uber was when I was in Melbourne a few years ago and my friend ordered them to take us hither and thther around the city. But since my gig buddy was using a stick due to a hip problem, walking to the venue was a definite no-no. We could have taken the bus but it would mean traipsing back to the bus station (which is in the same building as the train station) to find a bus that would take us as close to the venue as possible. So, the taxi was the better option. I won't bore you with the details but, suffice to say, I'm still not keen on Ubers. I didn't have an issue with the drivers, it was more the system/process itself.

We got to the venue just before doors were due to open at 7pm. There were already some people sitting outside enjoying a glass of various liquids under the evening sun. We queued up, part of the conversation was agreeing with the attractiveness of Dave Gregory from XTC (I also think the rest of the band were/are cute, too), as we waited to get our tickets scanned and papery bands secured around our wrists.

I did consider wearing one of my Squeeze t-shirts to the gig but instead I wore my XTC Oranges and Lemons one instead. I like seeing what other artists gig-goers like, though I only saw two guys wearing band t-shirts, both of Squeeze, and another wearing an Aimee Mann 1994 tour t-shirt.

Prior to the gig, I'd contacted the venue to let them know my friend would require a seat. The venue were very prompt and helpful in that respect. There was seating along the sides of the venue, anyway, so we sat down and waited.

The gig was billed as starting at 7:30pm, but at 8pm we were still waiting. More and more people were coming into the hall - the demographic was mixed; as people in our early forties, we weren’t the youngest there, but we were far from the oldest. There was a small bar at the far end of the room which was kept in brisk business all evening.

Glenn’s son, Leon, was there as the support act and he arrived on stage around 8:15pm. He was very amiable, chatty and played his music well on acoustic guitar. He did have his phone strapped to the head of his guitar and I wondered if he was filming himself (the screen was facing the audience). At one point, he was so enthusiastic in his playing that the phone became detached from the guitar and clattered onto the stage. He played maybe half a dozen of his songs, including one he had written about losing a close family member. Annoyingly, it was during this song that the noise of the audience chattering away seemed to get a lot louder. One of my pet hates is people chatting in normal volume during a gig (I mean, if you need to chat, do it as quietly as you can). He ended his set with a cover of Help! by The Beatles with a dose of audience participation. If you’re curious about Tilbrook Jr’s music, you can check it out on Bandcamp.

Glenn Tilbrook, Birdwell Venue, May 2025

It was around 9pm that Glenn arrived on stage in a suit and carrying a black electric guitar. By that time, I was sitting on the ledge above the seating, as I couldn’t see a damn thing. I actually started a bit of a trend as a few other women then decided to do the same and clambered up onto the ledge so we could see the stage. Any time I wanted to take a picture, I had to stand on the seating and raise my phone aloft and hope it would take a decent picture.

I can’t remember the full setlist, but he launched into The Day I Get Home from Squeeze’s underrated 1991 studio album, Play. Over the course of the next 80 minutes, he played a mix of Squeeze songs, generally the ones the band usually play on tour, and a smattering of his solo tunes, including the sublime By The Light of the Cash Machine, a song co-written with Canadian singer-songwriter, Ron Sexsmith. Incidentally, that song can be found in my Glenn Tilbrook Toppermost list. One song I was surprised that he included in his set was the cover of the Cornell Hurd Band’s Genitalia of a Fool, which can be found on Glenn’s 2004 album, Transatlantic Ping Pong. It’s a naughty song but funny and the audience certainly appreciated the humour. At one point, he seemed to have a brain fart and forgot how to play a solo… while in the middle of playing the solo! I think it might have been Another Nail In My Heart, but he quickly regrouped and continued on, ever the professional.

In between songs, he would natter to the audience. Quite self-consciously it seems as he referred to himself several times, almost apologetically, as “Rambling Glenn Tilbrook”. He talked of the band being on an ‘80s-themed cruise ship and hating it, and also being appreciative of audiences, no matter how small (he mentioned an audience of six that he played to in Australia years ago was one of the best gigs he’d ever done).

Leon then returned to the stage to accompany his dad for the last few songs, which were Hourglass and Take Me I’m Yours. You could see the joy they both had in playing on stage together, and it made me kind of wish I’d grown up in a musical family (while my parents enjoyed listening to music, neither of them played any instruments).

It was a great gig. Obviously, being able to see better would have been great but that’s just a minor grumble. At least I can say I’ve seen solo Glenn Tilbrook now, but hopefully next time he’ll consider playing south-east Scotland which would save me a fortune in travel and accommodation costs! Another minor grumble is the lack of songs from his last album, Happy Ending. There’s a couple of tracks that would have been wonderful to hear live, including this one: