Music review: Chris Difford and Norman Lovett: It’s All About Me!Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14)

Time – and, he hints, substance abuse – has done things to Chris Difford’s voice. It’s lower, raspier, with a nasal twang, which gives those old Squeeze tunes a harder edge that is accentuated by his decision to play every tune at an identical, plodding tempo.

Rating: * *

Including Dorie Jackson on the bill is wise, for her clear, cool vocals sweeten the pot brilliantly. More confusing is the decision to include Norman Lovett, whose surreal, pointless anecdotes add little to the sum total of our entertainment.

The show is mostly a diffident band biography from Difford: We released this song (plays it), then we released this song (plays it), then… Though he hints at other, more interesting stories – Why did they finally split up? What does he think about Jools Holland? – they never emerge.

The night is built to appeal to Squeeze fans, and includes renditions of Take Me, I’m Yours, Up the Junction, Another Nail In My Heart, Black Coffee in Bed and Tempted – but they all sound the same, and lack the joyous bounce of old.

Nevertheless, we all left humming “the song that paid for my second divorce”, Cool for Cats. The original version.

Lee Randall

Until 27 August. Today 9pm.