Glenn Tilbrook - Happy Trails (2013)

I don't get to hear as much live music as I'd like, but last night I caught Glenn Tilbrook in Houston on his Happy Trails tour. The venue, Dosey Doe's Big Barn, is a relocated and repurposed tobacco barn from Kentucky, but the acoustics were great.  Attendance? I'd guess about 200.  Sadly, this show wasn't a sell out.  Glenn, along with drummer Simon Hanson and multi-instrumentalist Chris McNally played any number of instruments, including guitars, ukeleles, various percussion, synth, and harmonium, plus a Kala U-Bass bass ukelele with polyurethane strings with surprisingly incredible tone.  In addition, several iPads were used for sampling, sound effects, and sound effects. Not exactly acoustic, but not full blown, either.

For this tour, Tilbrook is recording every performance and making copies of the show available immediately on CD.  They were for sale ($20) at the merchandise table alongside the musicians who were available for autographs (below), photographs, and general meet-and-greet.  It's a great idea, is much appreciated, and becoming increasingly common in the industry.  The only downside is that there's no overdubbing to clean up the messy bits and there's occasionally some long gaps between tracks.  But this is what I heard, warts and all.  Overall, a very enjoyable evening - my only (very minor) complaint comes from sitting next to Joe Know-It-All, but he shut up once the music started.

Tracks:  My favorites were the old Squeeze tunes, naturally.  It was a great show and I enjoyed the solo stuff, but let's be honest, I went to hear the Squeeze stuff.  Before going, I told somebody, "As long as he sings a few Squeeze songs, it will be worth the $25 ticket."  I got my money's worth.  And yeah, I'll probably go buy a couple of Glenn's solo CDs.

The highlight for me was Tempted, followed closely by Take Me I'm Yours and Someone Else's Bell.  In addition to the Squeeze material, I also enjoyed Parallel World and the Stevie Wonder cover.  I'll be skipping anything not sung by Glenn, though.  It's a nice show of support and I'm sure the band appreciates it, but I didn't come to hear the drummer sing.

The first CD opens with 6 songs from the opening act, a solo spot from Joe Michelini, leader of the indie band River City Extension.

The remainder of the first CD is the first set from Glenn:

• Parallel World (from The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook, 2001)
• Best Of Times (from Pandemonium Ensues, 2009)
• Everybody Sometimes (new song from upcoming release, Happy Ending)
• Dennis (new song in memory of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson)
• Hostage (from The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook)
• Annie Get Your Gun (from Singles: 45's and Under, 1982) 
• You See Me (from The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook)
• Beachland Ballroom  (from Pandemonium Ensues, 2009)
• One For The Road (instrumental from Transatlantic Ping Pong, 2004)
• Still (from Pandemonium Ensues, 2009)
• Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) (from Argybargy, 1980)

Following a brief intermission, the second disc picks up the remainder of the show:

• Someone Else's Bell (from East Side Story, 1981)
• Black Coffee In Bed (from Sweets From A Stranger, 1982)
• Hourglass (from Babylon And On, 1987)
• Hello There (co-written and sung by Chris McNally)
• Persephone (unreleased)
• Ray (unreleased)
• Until You Come Back To Me (Stevie Wonder cover)
• Some Fantastic Place (from Some Fantastic Place, 1993)
• Up The Junction (from Cool For Cats, 1979)
• Kevin And Dave (co-written and sung by Simon Hanson)
• Rupert (unreleased)
• Chat Line Larry (from The Co-Operative, 2011)

Encore:

• Tempted (from East Side Story)
• Take Me I'm Yours (from U.K. Squeeze, 1978)
• Goodbye Girl (from Cool For Cats)

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  I sometimes write that particular CDs are souvenirs of certain concerts I've attended.  In this case, that's never been more true.

I admit that I complained about Haircut 100 issuing a live CD with nothing more than a soundboard recording.  While this CD may seem similar, it is very different in my mind because I wasn't at the Haircut 100 concert (although I would have loved to have been there).