St Mary's Church, Barry - 28/11/2019
I wouldn’t say Chris Difford is a glutton for punishment, but hardly fresh from a gruelling USA/UK tour, he's back on the road with his 'Not only Chris Difford but also Chris Difford' tour described perfectly as 'A bit of sit down with a bit of stand up'.
Apart from being a co-founder of the band Squeeze, Difford is a Grammy nominated and double Ivor Novello Award winning lyricist, lyrics being his real forte and something he's excelled at since a very early age.
Not that he's any slouch when it comes to music and his solo work and collaborations with people such as Boo Hewerdine (The Bible) and Gary Clark (Danny Wilson) are at the very least equal to his Squeeze output, though more personal and seemingly from the heart.
Adding to the accomplishments listed above he's also become a bit of a raconteur, especially since the publication of his 'warts and all' book of his life in music 'Some Fantastic Place' a cracking read and difficult to put down.
Opening the evening with a bit of chat leading to questions from the audience, it was interesting to hear Difford's take on his career, big moments, and what was the inspiration behind some of his well-know songs.
Each song had a story, whether it be trying to get Cliff Richard to cover 'Another Nail In My Heart' and in doing so, some very welcome royalties in the process to how 'Cool For Cats' was inspired by watching Benny Hill on the television and a chance meeting in a London pub.
The evening's opener, 'Electric Trains' gives the audience insight to what he describes as a wonderful childhood of fun and games, and music. Who would have thought that the Sound of Music would be pivotal to his musical upbringing yet this to was added to the list of his sonic inspirations as he sings “From Julie Andrews to Jerry Garcia.”
Aided and abetted by the equally excellent Boo Hewerdine on guitar and backing vocals, who also provided the evening's support, it was a master-class of British song writing at its very best. Acoustic versions of Squeeze classics such as 'Tempted' 'Pulling Mussels From A Shell” and “Labelled With Love” interspersed with solo work like “Cowboys Are My Weakness” (rejected by KD Lang) and the sweetly nostalgic “Lamas Fayre”.
Songs take on a more soulful and charming uniqueness stripped down to just guitar and vocals and Difford's become quite an expert at spinning a good yarn whilst backing it up with songs of real quality.
It's shouldn’t be too long a wait for a return by the hardest working man in pop and certainly not one to be missed.
