Already three songs into the set, Tilbrook found time to namecheck the band including, of course, Chris Difford and bassist John Bentley, as well as current drummer, Simon Hanson and keyboardist Steve Nieve, perhaps best known as a member of Elvis Costello and the Attractions, another great name of New Wave. The Current line up now clarified, Tilbrook pointed out that "Paul Carrack used to sing this song", before giving his smooth rendition of "Loving You Tonight". With the tempo slowed, Tillbrook informed the audience that "the next song was about drinking too much", and moved onto the melancholy and blue "When The Hangover Strikes" from 1982's "Sweets from a Stranger" album. With the tone darkened "It's So Dirty" followed, sounding growlier and rockier than many would remember it, its subject matter benefiting from the added harshness.

Returning to Squeeze's lighter side, the looped bossa nova rhythm of "Goodbye Girl" signalled the beginning of the middle section of the gig. The heartfelt song with minimal instrumentation showed Glenn Tilbrook's vocals sounding as strong as ever. Steve Nieve also took the chance to shine, adding a playful Melodica accompaniment and ramping up the amount of organ on "If It's Love" which followed. The iconic hit "Up The Junction" came next, pleasing every demographic present in the crowd, telling its story, so evocative of the era of British culture that created it, yet timeless in its emotive narrative. The reaction to "Up The Junction" was typical of the rest of the gig, filling the intimate venue with enough excited mass appreciation to fill a stadium. That said, hearing their material performed in a venue like the 100 Club emphasised the new wave roots of  Squeeze, a rare opportunity with the audience numbers Squeeze can pull worldwide. Less Known tracks, "The Knack" and "Model" gave Steve Nieve further opportunity to improvise to the crowd's delight. Then came the well-known sorrowful lament of "Labeled with Love", demonstrating the tuneful, storytelling vocal ability that Glen Tillbrook has used so effectively throughout the bands history.

A breakneck speed "Is that love" raised the tempo before their biggest American commercial hit "Hourglass", adapted well for the current line-up and setting, was made to sit nicely among the band’s earlier, and sometimes darker, work. Tilbrook again took Paul Carrack's vocal part in "Tempted", another of the band's big commercial successes, before throwing over the lead vocal duties to Chris Difford, for "Cool For Cats" which sounded as though it could have been recorded live in 1979, retaining as much urgency and pace now as it held then.

The band thanked the audience and made their way off stage quickly, but despite having played 16 songs, some of their biggest hits were absent, a tribute to the quality and quantity of their work, so an encore was inevitable, with the band quickly returning with the hard synth-heavy intro to "Slap and Tickle", another of the bands harder, darker Difford-driven tracks. Hits from 1980 album "Argy Bargy" then came in to focus, to draw the encore to a close. "Another Nail (For My Heart)" was first up, as tightly executed as the Costello-produced recorded version. An appropriated riff from Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" meandered nicely into the album's other big hitter, "Pulling Mussels (From A Shell)", giving Tilbrook and Difford chance to show off their joint vocals one more time. Veteran fans and youthful new-wave revivalists alike, danced as the 96 minute set drew to a close.

The retrospective nature of the set, as well as being a sure fire crowd pleaser, illustrated how varied Squeeze's back catalogue is. This is, no doubt, partly due to Squeeze having adapted well, to line up changes and the changing face of music in the UK, USA and elsewhere over the last 30 years. Cherry picking from their eras, as "Spot The Difference" does, also acts as a reminder how different yet complimentary the vocal styles of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook are. The varied palette this creates, along with the solidity of their songs, be it the new wave grit of "Slap and Tickle" or the tasteful hook of "Hourglass", helps to explain the broad cross section of fans that Squeeze still attract on both sides of the Atlantic. The comparisons made, of Tilbrook and Difford, to Lennon and McCartney 30 years ago now seem more apt than ever, with almost every song played, through the one and a half hour set, inhabiting its own place and space in world popular culture, much like the Beatles' songs before them. Something very few bands can boast.

With their music filling the missing link between the quintessentially british guitar pop of artists, such as The Kinks and The Beatles, and, the then current, new wave / punk scene, Squeeze could do no wrong, winning critical acclaim and loyal fans. Squeeze even started to get noticed in America. A change of line-up would come in 1980 when Paul Carrack (Roxy Music, Ace and Mike + The Mechanics) replaced Jools Holland, going on to lend his unmistakeable vocals to the smash hit "Tempted".

By 1984 Squeeze had disbanded, Tilbrook and Difford, however, continued to work together, and the following record they made together has become the 'lost' Squeeze album for many fans. It transpired that Squeeze could not lay dormant for long, as reforming the next year for "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti", including Jools Holland (who would eventually leave to pursue his solo career in 1989), Lavis and Keith Wilkinson, Squeeze's longest serving bass player.

Over the next 12 years Difford and Tilbrook remained the only constant element as Squeeze continued to receive critical acclaim, release albums and tour, with the likes of "Hourglass" becoming their biggest ever hit in the USA.

Despite an official Squeeze break-up in 1999, Difford and Tilbrook continued to make music and gig with the same enthusiasm and abandon that they brought to Squeeze's first EP, either with their own solo projects or with each other. Chris Difford has released two solo albums to date, with a third "Chris, That And The Other" set to be the first release from the innovative online label Saturday Morning Music Club later this year. Glenn Tilbrook, meanwhile, has released three solo albums, with 2009's "Pandemonium Ensues" heralding the debut of his other band The Fluffers and saw him recording with Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. Tilbrook has also been an active member of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, which sees him join fellow musicians such as founder Mike Peters (The Alarm), going on treks and climbing some of the globe's greatest landmarks in order to raise money to help treat cancer sufferers throughout the world.

As befits one of the UK's much-loved acts, there is no end of Squeeze fans currently wearing their influences firmly on their sleeve, whether it be Mark Ronson, Kasabian, Supergrass, Lily Allen, The Feeling or Razorlight. With their fingerprints keenly felt throughout the fabric of popular music, it is only right that these songs, with their evergreen and popular sound, continue to be played and enjoyed live. And so since 2007, a newly reformed Squeeze have been slowly finding time to play a series of gigs and festival dates, preferring to reaffirm their abilities as a band rather than follow some of their peers who have come out in a blaze of publicity, only to be met with disappointment. The new Squeeze line-up, is completed by Squeeze veteran John Bentley and Tilbrook's Fluffers cohorts Simon Hanson and Stephen Large, and has become an instant favourite on the festival circuit since reforming with appearances at V, Oxegen, T in the Park and Latitude.

Squeeze's contribution to music has been noted in 2010 with the site of their first gig being awarded a prestigious PRS For Music Heritage Plaque, which has so far commemorated the debuts of Blur and Dire Straits. It joins an ever-increasing list of Squeeze accolades alongside their recent Ivor Novello for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Chris Difford's lyrics and Glenn Tilbrook's music have survived everything over the years, from the ever-changing musical landscape to their own internal reshuffles and acrimonious breakups - but Squeeze are here to stay, still going strong and still loving every moment.

2010 also saw Squeeze release "Spot The Difference" with the bands current line-up re-recording some of the bands best loved songs, and embark on a headline tour of the UK.

...Argy Bargy (1980), emerged as their crowning achievement. Now reissued along with some of the band's later efforts, it remains a masterpiece of kitchen sink pop, possibly second only to the follow up, East Side Story. Chris Difford, and Glenn Tilbrook, the band's Lennon and McCartney had already proven themselves adept at gritty, witty tableaus like Up The Junction or Slap And Tickle. Added to this was their technical sheen. There's Tilbrook's underrated ability to pull tasty (and apt) solos out of the hat like a younger George Harrison - the solo at 1.46 on Pulling Mussels (From The Shell) is one of the best - and also one of the best drummers in the business in Gilson Lavis. All this briefly made Squeeze world-beaters. Yet it was Tilbrook's angelic tones, undercut by Difford's bass growl that really defined the band's sound. It's used in marvellous ways here on If I Didn't Love You, a song which encaspulates the double-edged pleasures of sexual advances ("if I didn't love you I'd hate you"). The pair's lyrics were by now able to sum up a universe in a couplet. It was their cheeky tendency to use phrases that eschewed poetry but remained English through and through that made them stand out from the crowd. Time and again the subjects amaze with, if not their mundanity, then their refusal to depict anything beyond their own back yards...

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