Nashville Skyline ByAnne McCue

BY ANNE MCCUE

SQUEEZING OUT FREQUENCIES

Squeeze at The Ryman Auditorium

So, is this what concerts sound like? I don’t remember it this way. Certainly, it’s been two years since I’ve heard loud music so perhaps my ears have forgotten how to digest it…? Or is the sound guy struggling here? Perhaps the band is playing too loud because the frequencies are ping ponging from one surface to another - after all, it is their first concert since the tour got cancelled when the plague hit. But imagine every sound as a laser light bouncing and rebounding like a spirograph pattern on steroids, abrading our ears with pin pricks up on 11. I hear the drums alright, more like a punk drum sound, I think. I see the bass player, but I don’t hear the bass. As someone said, ‘It’s very bassy but I can’t hear the bass.’ At least the wash of arbitrary bass frequencies is being counteracted by an equally random weave of treble but the higher frequencies actually hurt more. Distress sets in at the third song when I realise that this is what it’s going to sound like. I start to feel a little panic coming on because I am in the middle of the row. The way this place is set out is that they have church pews - a lot closer to each other than I remember - so getting in and out is a real palaver. We aren’t far from the stage right speaker so I’m getting the full throttle of this unfortunate sound bath - bath being too nice a word. But if I don’t get out of this row now, I feel I might die. So - ‘Sorry, I just have to get out, it’s too loud’ - I point to my ears, and I’m just going up the back to listen and I’m hoping that it’s just because we are too close to the speaker, that’s why I can’t hear Glenn Tilbrook’s words. I see him singing and hear his tone - beautiful as ever, but you see, I can’t understand the lyrics and lyrics after all, are half the song, and his songs are great, not just good and I want to hear the nuances of those chordal, harmonic and melodic changes which distinguish his work from most others. I can tell he’s singing like hell, putting everything into it. I just can’t HEAR it, not specifically. And the band looks cute too. They are wearing really lovely outfits. There is a keyboard player wearing a red checkered suit. Delightful attire. How do I know there is a keyboard player? Because I can see him. I can’t hear him, not specifically, but he is playing some lovely lines, I am sure of it and he looks like he’s having a great time, which is definitely cheering me up on a certain level. Tilbrook himself is wearing a jade green silk suit - really classy and he has his hair in a little pom pom atop his head. I like that. He just seems like a nice guy who can write brilliant songs. And Chris Difford looks a picture in his gorgeous grey tweed suit with red trimmings. He’s having a delightful time, he really is - mostly playing rhythm guitar. The band looks great and I know they are playing all the right notes, I just can’t tell you specifically because what I’m hearing is The Great Wall Of Sound but not the pleasant kind of wall of sound that makes sense and all melds together. It’s more like a cataclysmic wall that has just been exploded and all the pieces are flying every which way at random. I mean, it’s not so bad that I can’t

tell what song they are playing, but as I said, I can’t hear the lyrics and neither can I hear the individual instruments, per se. For instance, there is a pedal steel player. Nice touch, I think, for those orchestral sections which I’m sure are taking place and hopefully they can hear all that on the stage. So, I got out of my row, finally, which felt like a win. I needed a win right then. Sometimes it’s hard in those situations to make the right decisions and I’m thinking of all the times when I stayed instead of making a move and it was the wrong decision. But this is no time to become morbid. I decided to walk all over The Ryman to find the sweet spot. Not downstairs, no. The most likely place where this will sound good is next to the sound man upstairs. Was I wrong? Yes, the music was simply too loud for the venue. The Ryman doesn’t work like that. The Ryman is a church. A church resounds and reverberates without amplification. The Ryman doesn’t need LOUD. The Ryman needs finesse, subtlety. And Squeeze is not a punk band. I’d put them in a category more akin to Crowded House than The Sex Pistols. Is this what concerts sound like? Maybe at one am at the Trade Union Club in ’82, maybe this is what concerts sound like. Surely not (UK) Squeeze in 2021? I finally find the place where the concert sounds best - out in the foyer. There’s an interesting fellow out there in a hat and black-framed glasses. I say, do you think the sound is a little off and he says, ‘Yes, it’s too loud. It sounds best out here.’ I have to agree. These songs! F*ckin’ killer. I LOVE this band. UK Squeeze are back and they are terrific! Seriously! This was their first concert. The band was great, the sound, not so much - but I’m sure they’ll get that sorted. Some of the best pop songs ever! They are on the road. squeezeofficial.com