Squeeze brought all the hits to Central Park with Boy George (review, setlist, video)

Squeeze are one of those bands, for me at least, I forget just how many classic singles they have and how many songs I know, despite considering myself a slightly more than casual fan. The depth of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook‘s amazing catalog of songs, and their ability to still deliver a knockout show some 50 years into their partnership, was on display Tuesday night in Central Park, the NYC stop on their tour with Boy George, for what was a wonderful night of timeless pop music.

Squeeze opened their SummerStage show with “Take Me I’m Yours,” the band’s 1978 debut single, and the hits basically didn’t stop till 10 PM curfew. Early in the night they played “Hourglass,” their 1987 single which went to #15 in the US, and the circular “Up the Junction” one of a few Squeeze classics which ignores typical pop song rules and is all the more memorable for it. They crowd sang along through much of the night, but no louder than on “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” and “Tempted,” which Tilbrook sang with as much passion as Paul Carrack had on the original.

My favorite moments were from Cool for Cats, including “Up the Junction,” the disco-y, Giorgio Morroder-inspired “Slap & Tickle,” and the wonderful title track. They also played a couple songs from an upcoming pair of records they’ll be releasing soon — one all new songs, the other featuring reworked from Difford & Tilbrook’s pre-Squeeze days as songwriters — which also sounded great.

Difford and Tilbrook’s unique chemistry, songwriting and harmony style is at the heart of Squeeze, all which remained at full energy levels on Tuesday night. I had forgotten what a fantastic guitarist Tilbrook is, too, and he was spitting fire the whole night. But it was on “Slap & Tickle,” parrying with the songs arpeggiated synths, that Tilbrook really shredded. The whole band was fantastic, including guitarist/pedal steel player Melvin Duffy, and percussionist Steve Smith who played alongside drummer Simon Hanson.

Squeeze closed out the night of Difford/Tilbrook originals with an extended, Northern Soul’d up version of “Black Coffee in Bed” that also worked in a few other Squeeze tunes. What a great show.

Boy George opened the show and he also brought the hits, though most of them were not his own. For those expecting a night of Culture Club classics were met with just a couple while instead he offered his renditions of Tubeway Army’s “Are Friends Electric,” and the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” that morphed into Lou Reed’s “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.” He also handed the microphone over to backing vocalist Vangelis Polydorou to sing “Kylie T-Shirt.”

George also sang his hit theme to The Crying Game, and did play a few Culture Club songs: “Church of the Poison Mind” (mashed up with Wham!’s “I’m Your Man”), “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?,” and “Karma Chameleon” which had the whole place singing along. For his last song, he chose not one of the many other Culture Club hits (“Time” is my favorite but would’ve settled for “I’ll Tumble For Ya”) but an epic-length cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” complete with band member intros and solos, which was actually pretty good. The whole set was like a Vegas revue and also fun.

What he lacked in giving the people what they want — was that Stones cover a message to us? — Boy George made up for with jokes and anecdotes. ““Last night I saw PJ Harvey and she was fierce! Didn’t say a thing. I could never get away with that,” George joked early in the set. He also told stories about how he didn’t think “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” would be a hit, and that time Mick Jagger got turned away at London’s infamous Blitz Club where Boy George worked as the coat check person.

Boy George also came out for the last song of the night with Squeeze for another cover, T-Rex’s “Get it On,” though I took that as my queue to beat the crowd out of the gates. A very fun, nostalgic evening of evergreen songs.

Check out Squeeze’s SummerStage setlist and a few fan-shot videos from the night, below.

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SETLIST: Squeeze @ SummerStage in Central Park 9/17/2024
Take Me I’m Yours
Hourglass
Up the Junction
One Beautiful Summer
Someone Else’s Heart
If I Didn’t Love You
Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
Another Nail in My Heart
You Get the Feeling
Trixie’s Hell on Earth
Goodbye Girl
Slap & Tickle
Is That Love
Tempted
Cool for Cats
Black Coffee in Bed
Get It On (with Boy George)