06/28/2024
Yesterday I found and posted a trove of flyers from Splat Gallery.
One in particular begged for more information, so here it is:
Fist fight with Squeeze.
First off Squeeze sucks.
It was a cold Monday in April. We were stoked for the gig because we knew that it would be well attended because of all the hype surrounding this British band. When we got to East Lansing, we were told we had to wait for Squeeze to set up first before we could. They did a full setup and sound check and took their sweet time doing so. They were fully occupying the stage with their equipment, especially the drums and keyboards. The keyboard, in particular, occupied a lot of stage right space and was especially forward in its position. They were done and we waited for them to pull their stuff back a bit so we could setup. We asked, they refused. They were distant and unfriendly and looked down their noses at us. And walked away… We had little or no room to play and we had to have our backline in front of their stuff which left little room to stand and play. We were pi**ed off and decided we had to protest this injustice in some fashion. Fin (lead Guitar) said we should perform sitting down to make a point. I initially resisted this notion as we were hyper kinetic performers, but this oppressive move on their part had to be addressed.
The club (Dooleys) was not supportive at all.
So, we got chairs and sat down! We were all dressed up a treat to perform, I remember Fin was dressed in thermal long johns with boots, I had a bowling shirt and rags tied to me, the rest of the Band was not as sharply dressed, but they did pass muster. We really wanted to Rock! Time to go on: we took our places and…. sat down. We played well and were excited and writhed uncomfortably in the chairs for full effect. Of course, I informed the crowd as to what was going on and had an increasingly clever vitriolic diatribe and anger toward those limey suckers. Spewing this hate seemed appropriately Punk so I continued and escalated. I was moving wildly around on my chair while vocalizing and even fell out of the chair for effect, several times. We finished, I cursed Squeeze on mic, and moved our stuff to the wings. Squeeze played, pretentious and condescending and finished without an encore.
We hung around and drank while they tore down. The club was nearly empty at that time, and we verbally abused those fu***rs while they worked.
When they finally moved the organ, we cheered! That was the breaking point for their drummer, and he came after us spitting mad. Feisty Mike (rthm gtr) grabbed a toolbox and went after him with toolbox high in the air ready to come crashing down to crease Tipton’s skull. Both Bands rushed to separate these guys, but in the process, a brief scuffle ensued. Blows were exchanged before security came down on us all and police were called.
I believe we were victorious; we had the hearts and minds of the audience and it made for a chilly reception for them. The cops sided with the Michigan boys, and they supervised the slimy Brits exit.
It was a memorable evening and endeared us to the Michigan State Uni crowd.
What really burns me about this is, years later, the keyboard player, Jools Holland, was chosen as facilitator and interviewer on the Beatles Anthology Video series….Grrrrr!
