Hi and welcome to the latest Squire newsletter where we are reflecting on memory and live dates!
Thanks to everyone who came to the 100 Club last week - what a night! The first time we played, back in 1982, I can hardly remember without seeing a photo to remind me,
and that is the key to this newsletter, what do we really remember and how much do we rely on social media as a virtual diary of events? I was struck by the conversation I had with Peter, the photographer who took the official photos, he’d seen Squire in 1979 at the Bridge House! We talked and remembered the characters that showed up there during that early moment of the Mod Revival, and how he’d eventually moved to Japan, and only recently returned. We had lots in common and lots to share! With his, and other photos of the gig, already up on social media, it got me thinking about something odd: these days, the gig exists over and over. Once when we play it, again when I see the posts and comments, and again when Facebook reminds us about it years later.
This week has been particularly strange because the "memories" have been relentless - last week I was reminded about Brooklyn Bowl 2015, this week its about Manchester 2014, Belfast 2010,
London 2023!
All around the same date in November!
The start of the 2019 tour!
Social media has become this external hard drive for Squire's history, constantly shuffling the deck and dealing out random dates from different eras. Where once there were no photos from 1980s gigs - people just were there, in the moment - now everything gets archived, tagged, and served back to you when you've almost forgotten it happened.
Which Raises the Question: Is There a Best Gig?
With 25 years of near-constant playing since 1999 (more than our original seven-year run from '78 to '86 - completely upside down), you'd think there'd be a standout. A peak. The definitive Squire show.
But I don't think it works like that. Memory doesn't organise itself into league tables. Madrid always had that insane energy - the room would go off before we'd played a note. Brooklyn Bowl was memorable for being enormous, and having a bowling alley attached (and Italian fans who'd traveled all the way just for that night, seeing Squire for the first time having been fans for 30 years!). Manchester was an iconic venue, and yet again with Secret Affair, as was the London 229 club! Belfast carries the weight of 1982 and multiple returns. Always such a ‘welcome home’. The 100 Club has its own mythology stretching back 45 years.
Memory Is Geography and Emotion
What I've noticed is that live venues live in my memory as places first - the stage layout, the drive there, the specific geography of the room. Then come the emotional triggers: who traveled from where, the conversations at the merch stand afterwards, the person who says "I saw you in 1979 at the Bridge House" and names friends from that era I'd half-forgotten.
That's the real surprise - not the gigs themselves, but who remembers them. People regularly surface who've been there from the beginning, and finally come up and say something! It's humbling and completely intriguing.
So What's the Thread?
There isn't one era better than another. No hierarchy of lineups. What connects them all is the exchange - the moment after the gig when someone comes up to talk, when the performance stops being about how well we did and becomes about how well the audience did. Madrid stands out because of that reception. Brooklyn Bowl because of the Italian contingent's reaction. Belfast because of the continuity. Manchester because we made a long trip and got a fantastic and grateful welcome.
The thread is continuity itself. Twenty-five years of never missing a year. The Mod revival community that stays loyal across decades. And now, social media turning it all into a permanent present tense, where every November seems to contain every other November we've ever played.
Thanks again to everyone who came to the 100 Club gig, and to everyone who has come to any date! See you at the next one - whichever year Facebook decides to remind me about it.
PS - If you've got photos or memories from any Squire gig over the years, tag us, post them on the Squire Facebook fan page - link here, or send them over. We need all the help we can get to remember so much!