I don't know if this is intended as a long term thing, or if he's just filling in until the end of the year, but Steve Nieve is Squeeze's new keyboardist. (He also worked with them in the early '90s, but I don't think he was ever billed as an "official" member.)
Hey thanks for that, I wondered why the Squeeze ticket prices were 35 quid for Bournemouth, initially I thought 15 to 20 should of been more than enough, so an extra 15 for the man !
The last time I saw Squeeze was when Chris Holland was on keyboards and I thought he was simply playing to formula. Definitely a weak link after the years of Jools and Paul Carrack. Steve should add another dimension.
Whilst £35 is a bit steep, you do get the Lightning Seeds supporting.
Not sure if I'm going to go yet.
My peak of seeing Squeeze was at the Amersham Arms pub doing a secret warm up gig when Pete messed up the intro for Wicked and Cruel, and then Glenn getting the drumsticks and playing it for him.
Steve's Journal is headache inducing tiny print , so I'll paste it here as it appears -
Steve Nieve
Fri. 12th Nov. ‘10
Greenwich is this week’s pit-stop, just round the corner from Peyton Place. Long time friends Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook and John Bentley, and new acquaintance Simon Hanson have welcomed me into their world, one that is familiar to me, even if I have been an ex pat for some time now. In an industrial complex just off a roundabout by the o2 center we have been blasting out the famous Squeeze hits together for less than a week, and these are some complex tunes. But these lads are constantly searching a new angle, so there are several small but essential details to spice up this UK Spot the Difference tour.
I arrived fresh from the brilliantly stress free Eurostar, a car waiting whisked me to 45 RPM’s giant rehearsal complex, I took the elevator down to the basement studio, clank, it got stuck six inches above ground, the doors wouldn’t open. I used the emergency phone, which put me through to a nice gentleman, but no he wasn’t on site, indeed he was somewhere up north. He told me to stay calm, one of his engineers would be with me in around 25 minutes, but traffic around Camden Lock was pretty bad. Through the little port hole in the huge metal door I could see a corridor and make out a cacophony of different bands all rehearsing at the same time. Marc ALmond is in the house. And Madonna is around rehearsing a new dance routine, in the largest of the studios, and somewhere in amongst it all I could make out my friends practising the cadence to “When the Hangover Strikes”. Charles Ives would have loved it here. Luckily I had my french cell phone with me, and called through to Mr Difford’s. A little more stressed when I discovered there was only one network bar, thank you Orange. We had a sort of alien conversation, Chris sounded like someone underwater.
Night before I had been to “Buried” Rodrigo Cortés, which is a fine claustrophobia experience too. Recommend it. For a few minutes the different faces of Squeeze appeared to me one after the other through the grubby little port hole, my only link with the outside world. It was starting to get hot in my little coffin. We all tried to budge the door, but to no avail. It was Mr Bentley who stayed with me till the engineer arrived with the magic key. Glenn, Chris, John, Simon and I will embark at the end of this week, kicking off in Southend. Before then I have a ton of music to cram in my memory banks, a fitting at the tailor, (Pogson and Davis of Davies Street, Mayfair), and to get to grips with the theremin on my IPad. Last night John and I went to see Mike Leigh’s “Another Year” at the Picture House. Recommend it too. There are some lovely Cafe’s in this neck of the woods, one I’d like to mention is ‘Buenos Aires’ in Royal Street. A super breakfast spot if you are in Greenwich. Opens at eight.
I was at the show in Southend last night and thought Steve did add a bit to Squeeze. I haven't seen them for years and can't remember who was playing keyboards it was probably Jools. Squeeze name checked Steve a bit and he got a bigger build up in the introductions of the band than John Bentley(he's tiny) and Simon Hanson. and as big a reception as most of the band,mainly from two women standing next to me.
I met him briefly after the show he was looking for his sister.
Does anyone know if Steve has stopped drinking, he was drinking water. I met him 30 odd years ago and he was wasted.
Needless to say Squeeze were great it was lovely to see them in a small back room of a pub
The line-up for the Teenage Cancer Trust's eleventh, annual music and comedy gigs at the Royal Albert Hall has been confirmed with the special live performances taking place between March 21st and March 27th. The brainchild of Teenage Cancer Trust Patron and The Who frontman Roger Daltrey CBE, the shows, which aid the charity that helps young people fight cancer, have featured some of the world's biggest bands and artists with 2011 being no exception!
Tuesday March 22nd 2011 - The second night will see Squeeze performing. Squeeze have undertaken four major sold out tours of the US and UK and have become firm festival favourites, with hits like 'Up The Junction', 'Tempted' and 'Cool For Cats'. Long-time friends and collaborators, The Feeling, will be special guests on the night, alongside a few other surprise appearances. The new Squeeze line-up, features Squeeze veteran John Bentley, Tilbrook’s Fluffers cohort Simon Hanson and Steve Nieve the long-time pianist and organist for Elvis Costello.
Kind of related, Glen or Chris from Squeeze ( can't remember which) said in a 'paper interview that he saw a youTube clip of the Squeeze line-up doing a dance (!!) as part of their recent shows. He was horrified to see that they looked like 'dancing minicab drivers'.