Back to one of my favorite venues to see one of my favorite artists. rtb and I squeezed ourselves into the tight seating at City Winery to watch Glenn Tilbrook as he lit up the room with his infectious smile, charisma, and unbelievable guitar work.

My one complaint is that the food is overpriced. You can’t get out of the club cheaply, although the food is usually good. I loved the clam chowder and liked the Brussels sprouts but rtb was not happy with her chorizo or the sprouts.

Jefferson Grizzard is your typical singer/songwriter and an average opening act. Nothing to get excited about and pleasant enough to listen to while you sip you wine or finish your meal while waiting for the main attraction. Some of his melodies reminded me a little of Rhett Miller but lyrically the songs never moved or thrilled me at all.

Glenn Tilbrook knows how to keep a room happy. Whether he’s playing his solo songs or Squeeze classics, everyone is smiling and singing along. He started with “Ray” and went right into “Take Me I’m Yours” and then not much later in the set called out for requests and played “Untouchable” and “Annie Get Your Gun.” His one cover was the Monkees’ “Pleasant Valley Sunday.”

The news that got the most applause was the announcement that Tilbrook would be coming back to tour in May with Chris Difford.

Good news is that Tilbrook got rid of that horrible beard and is clean-shaven with hair a touch long. Wearing torn jeans and a suit jacket he looked every inch the gentleman rocker.

I can never say enough good things about his guitar playing. I’ve said it before but he blows me away with how good he is and I’m surprised at how much I missed when I listened to the Squeeze records back in the day.

I didn’t write down the set list because I decided to just sit back and enjoy the show. It is here on Setlist.fm.

By Carene Lydia Lopez