I was particularly excited to see Haircut 100, because I really like their new album, Boxing the Compass. It’s funky and melodic, and rivals their earlier work. We got “Raincloud” and “Vanishing Point” and both sounded great.

Not many veteran bands these days can boast three original members, but Haircut 100 has Nick Heyward, voc/gtr, Graham Jones, gtr, and Les Nemes, bass, plus monster drummer, Blair Cunningham, who joined while they were still in their original heyday. The band really sounded great. Augmented by trumpet and sax, their lean, 30-minute set was dancey and fun. “Love Plus One” sounded great live, but “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)” was even better. I would pay to see a full show of these guys.

Next up was Adam Ant, who boasted not one, but TWO drummers. His band was extremely loud, and I really missed the horns on his original albums (why he didn’t ask the Haircut guys to join him is a head-scratcher). Adam himself wasn’t great. His songs are basic punk, but without the fury of his voice, things just came off tuneless. He didn’t bring a lot of energy (at one point, he stood looking at the crowd, standing still for 30 seconds or more). Sure, he had bigger hits, so he played 45 minutes, but he didn’t deserve it.

After a 30-minute intermission, Squeeze came on, and immediately jumped into the hits, rattling off “Pulling Mussels from a Shell,” “Up the Junction,” “Another Nail in My Heart,” and “Is That Love” in rapid succession.

Then, they turned on a pink sign that read “Trixies,” donned purple suits, and proceeded to play their entire new album, from start to finish.

Now, this would’ve been ok, if the material had been good. It was downright mediocre. Tilbrook introduced it as songs written by he and Difford back in 1975. I’ve listened to the record, and it lacks melody, and sounds nothing like the classic Squeeze we know and love. Plus, they kept repeating the line “Trixie,” over and over, for every song, which got annoying. The only good song that stood out was “Hell on Earth.” Everything else was unremarkable.

In 2026, when concerts are outrageously priced, to subject your fans to 40 minutes of your new album, I don’t care how good, is just not cool. We pay – but we expect you to deliver. That’s the deal. Incidentally, I saw Squeeze at Bogart’s back in 1993 when they were touring for a great album, Some Fantastic Evening, and they only played a few songs from it back then…go figure.

Once they got the new stuff out of the way, they dove back into the hits: “Hourglass” was a nice surprise, Glenn Tilbrook still has a fabulous voice. But, even more impressive was his incredible guitar playing. You forget just how nuts some of those solos are (like on “Black Coffee in Bed” or “Is That Love”?). And, none of the songs were tuned down that I could tell.

There were as many as nine members on stage – it was quite a production, and during an extended “Take Me, I’m Yours,” Tilbrook introduced each member, giving them a chance to play something unique. The backup vocalist, Danica Dora, sang a piece of “Coat of Many Colors” as a tribute to Dolly Parton.

Squeeze were good. I just didn’t like being subjected to all that new material, all in a row. Adam Ant wasn’t great. And, Haircut 100 was a pleasant surprise. An entire show of theirs would be good fun. –Tony Peters