I apologize for the long delay in posting but things have been a bit busy.

I went to an in-store performance by the lovely and talented Rachel Fuller. My friends Jo and Ash (who are pictured in the Raindance Film Festival photo gallery giving me the cuddle of death and smothering me with love!) worked with Rachel and so I thought I’d go out to support her. Her EP is very enjoyable and I recommend it highly. Well, imagine my surprise when Rachel’s boyfriend turned up to accompany Rachel on guitar! Oh, and did I mention that her boyfriend’s name is Pete Friggin’ Townshend? You may have heard of his ickle band called THE WHO!!!!???? I brought a copy of the GT:OFTR DVD for Rachel and Pete to watch and she was very happy to get it. She suggested I say hi to Pete (oh my god) so I walked over to him to uh… say hi! He was sort of milling around allowing Rachel to get most of the attention, but when Pete is in the room, it’s hard to ignore him! I told him that I gave Rachel a copy of the doc about Glenn and he said, ‘We know the other one!’ (implying Difford) Rather than me asking him how or why he knows Difford, I just smiled like a jerk and then said, ‘Had I known you would be here, I would have brought something Who-y or Pete-y for you to sign.’ He smiled at me and was so unbelievably lovely that I completely lost my mind. I said “Who-y or Pete-y” to one of the best rock guitarists of our lifetime? Those aren’t even words. I wanted to die. I had nothing for him to sign except for my Glennmovie postcard (which I have to hand at all times), so he signed it and he even posed for a picture with me. I thanked him and shook his hand and ran away. I could have easily stopped and talked to him about any number of things but I just was far too unprepared and tongue-tied. I’ll remember the night I met Pete Townshend forever until I die and after meeting me, Pete just… went to dinner! It really struck me how odd it must be to be Pete. Pete seemed more than willing to chat with anyone about anything and yet, all we could get from him is an autograph and a picture and couldn’t really think of much to say or do after that so we all ran away. Very strange… but thrilling. The Grip-n-Grin pic of me being completely gob smacked can be viewed in the photo gallery.

What else is new? Well, you peeps won’t find this very fascinating, but it certainly has changed my life: I got my hair straightened with the new Japanese thermal straightening technique. A lifetime of naturally curly hair finally got to me and after a friend of mine had it done, I became obsessed with turning my frizzy, unruly student-y locks into straight, chic, FUN hair!! So six hours later, I emerged a completely different person. It definitely takes some getting used to, but I’m loving it so far. The only problem is, not many people recognize me, which is weird. Or maybe that might be a good thing! I worked the merch stand at Glenn’s gig in Hoboken, NJ a few weeks ago and one fan said to me, ‘I didn’t recognize you without your perm!’ Well, it’s not a perm, it was naturally curly-past tense! I enjoyed telling everyone about how great the DVD was and why they should buy it because the filmmaker is amazing. The straight supermodel look isn’t permanent - but it lasts about 8 months and then I have to touch it up again. We’ll see if I want to go back to curly but for now, it’s straight all the way maaaaaan.

So I just returned from a quick little jaunt to NYC where I was able to spend a bit of QT with GT. My friend Debbie allowed me to crash on her couch and rather conveniently, her cute little apt. was located two blocks away from the best English Tea Shop this side of the pond: Tea & Sympathy! Sean, the co-owner of said tea shop and Glenn’s tour manager for this brief visit, invited me along to Hoboken, so I hitched a ride with the Fluffers and their leader to New Jersey for the gig. I’ve probably mentioned this in entries past, but in order to see Glenn when he’s touring, I have to actually tag along to the gig since that’s the only time I’ll get to see him! It’s impossible to pin down a time to meet for coffee or lunch or dinner since his schedule is such that there is no schedule! It was lovely to see the Fluffers again. Stephen and Lucy are so sweet and lovely that I could eat both their faces off and Simon, well…. he’s insane. And, he spilled tea all over my lovely suede/fake fur winter coat. I know he didn’t mean to and I was trying to be loving about the whole thing until he said, ‘I lost a lot of tea as well.’ The van did laugh… and I did too… after I got over my sulk.

I’ve never been to Hoboken and from the five minutes it took to drive down the main street where the gig was located, it seemed charming. Frank Sinatra’s birthplace was really cute and was made even more so by the twinkly holiday lights. They ran through sound check, Lucy’s bass wasn’t working so she borrowed the opening band’s bass. But, they sounded fab and I got to hear the new song “Beachland Ballroom”. Being from Ohio, I found it odd to find Glenn singing about Cleveland and the Beachland Ballroom! After they stopped playing, I yelled to Glenn, ‘Did you just sing something about Cleveland??’ and he explained what inspired him to write the song. I would tell you, but I don’t want to spoil it. I went to set up the merch stand while Glenn and the band went to eat after sound check. I wasn’t really hungry since I had scarfed down Tea and Sympathy Welsh Rarebit earlier, so I put my creative display skills to work and organized the merch. I always enjoy working the merch stand at Glenn gigs because I really enjoy talking to people about Glenn’s music and it’s a fun challenge to try and get them to buy something if they’re on the fence. As I sat there writing the prices down on a piece of paper, I had a flashback to when I went on the road with Glenn and Suzanne in 2002 as roadie helper. Good times. I talked to Diane, the bad ass sound chick at Maxwell’s and we talked about what it was like being women in the music business and her path that led her to Maxwell’s was similar to mine, so we got on like a house on fire. I was feeling a bit peckish by then so I went to join everyone in the restaurant. I didn’t want a big meal, so Glenn offered me the remains off his plate. (grilled tuna with a SPICY sauce and mashed potato if you must know.) So, I just hung out, nibbled and talked with Stephen and Glenn about the Beatles LOVE soundtrack. Doors were opening by then, so I darted into the gig to man the merch.

The opening band “Alternate Routes” did an amazing job of warming up the crowd and they were super fun and poppy and I think, the perfect fit for the bill. They’re also really nice guys and you’ll find the pic I took of them with Glenn up on the Photo Gallery. Check out their CD - it’s fab. The last time I saw Glenn and the Fluffers rock was way back in 2004! I loved the “These Boots Are Made For Walking” combined with “Up the Junction”. Glenn’s voice was a bit hoarse and he had to have an emergency honey and lemon delivered to the stage to complete the gig, but even on an off night, Glenn sounds great. I know it really bothers him when he can’t perform 100% to his ability but he definitely gives 100% to try and make up for it. Maxwell’s is a great place to see a gig and it was fun to finally see the club that I had once read on concert T-shirts of my youth. I had a blast watching the gig and for the first time in a very long time, I was reminded of why I love Squeeze in the first place. Sometimes I hear Squeeze and equate it with pain. (The pain of making the film and my overall bitterness about not being able to get the film out to as many people as I would have liked, despite my best efforts!) But, tonight I didn’t think of any of that. I just enjoyed the gig and marveled at the Fluffers and their brilliant musicianship. Stephen Large’s keyboard work astounds me and “Slap and Tickle” was unreal! The gig ended with a Fluffer pyramid of sorts… or daisy chain… or New Wave orgy fully clothed… or something. Glenn was giggling while he was singing, Stephen was laying down legs akimbo while Simon was…. well, I don’t quite know what Simon was doing to Stephen but it made me laugh and Lucy was laughing too. The crowd sort of looked on in amazement and bewilderment and the show ended to a mixture of applause and confusion. (But, in a good way!)… only at a Glenn show!

Business was brisk at the end and I was thrilled to bits to hear from some fans who were really touched by the film. A big shout out to Doris and Jeanine for their kind words about the film. And, speaking of kind words, a reminder to all of you out there who have seen the film and enjoyed it… please post a review on amazon.com or netflix.com and let everyone know how much you dug the DVD. Every little bit of PR helps and is much appreciated! Glenn was in town to do a charity gig in Manhattan for “Malaria No More”. And, the Maxwell’s gig was a bit of a warm up for the band. I was hanging with Sean all day since we were supposed to do some radio stuff with Glenn before the charity gig. The bad news was Glenn had to cancel in order to conserve his voice and the good news was, I got to hang with Sean and Suzanne and the newest Tilbrook Wesley. I’m allergic to children but I must say that Wesley is the jolliest baby I’ve ever seen. Jolly is the perfect word to describe his personality. Very smiley, very wide eyed and he didn’t sense my cold, dead heart for kids when I held him, so he’s now my favorite baby of all time. The last time I talked to Zan was last January when I was in the UK for the whirlwind DVD press tour - we were due to have dinner but so much was going on, the three of us couldn’t make it happen. The last time I saw Zan was even further back to October of 2005 in NY for my Tribeca screening and VH1Classic interview (that VH1Classic never ran. Nice!) So it was good to catch up and hang.

I joined everyone at the gig for a bit of dinner and was slightly dismayed at having to fox up in a dress and painful high heels for the night instead of my usual rock and roll casual wear, but hey, it’s for charity and man was it a ritzy night. The ritziness was great for the charity auction that was held in addition to Glenn’s gig, but the rich folk don’t really know how to rock. Just when Glenn and the Fluffers would kick into gear, they would have to stop the show and do a bit for the auction.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York (does she still have that title?) was an MC of sorts and so she got onstage to talk and introduce the band and it made me laugh very hard when she thanked “Glenn Tilbrook….” (looking down at her notes) “…and the… Flu… ffers.” As the crowd were mingling with Sarah and calling her “Ma’am”, Glenn was yelling for her to join him back onstage to ‘give it some’ to “You’re The One That I Want”. I yelled out “DO IT SARAH!!!” but sadly, she never took Glenn up on his very fun offer. She went onstage intermittently to auction off an autographed guitar by Roger Waters and so I had to snap a few pics of Sarah and Glenn. That’s a pair for the tea towels, isn’t it? Speaking of tea towels, I am not so much an enthusiast now, but from the ages of 12-18, I was completely besotted with Di and Fergie. I set my alarm for 4am for both of their televised weddings and snapped up every mag with their face on the cover. My granny knitted me a koala bear sweater just like Di’s! (I wore it in my school pictures my sophomore year.) My opinions changed somewhat upon my first trip to England in 1987 when I dared to express my appreciation for all things royal and wound up getting an earful from the very anti-royal family in Stepney, who I was staying with. But, I do remember, being 18 (underage for drinking in the US but not the UK) and on Xmas Eve, I was taken to Watford to visit the “world’s most beautiful disco” Paradise Lost. (I think that was the name anyway!) Once Brits found out I was not from around those parts, I was handed Babycham after Babycham and needless to say, I got utterly plastered for the first time in my life. There was a hired coach to take us all home and I remember puking into a plastic Andrew and Fergie bag while laying there wanting to die on the spinning, dizzying, bus ride home. I remember Level 42 coming on the radio in the bus while I was losing my dignity and chucking up Watford’s most beautiful alchohol. Needless to say, I didn’t share this charming story with Fergie. Deepak Chopra, famous new age guru was also there and provided a very moving speech.

The gig went well but I must admit the crowd were a bit low key so Nicky (star of GT:OFTR and Sean’s missus) and I did our best to dance around and sing to get those around us going. It was a very posh night so when I walked across the dance floor to where Nicky was, I put down my handbag and danced around it! Tee hee. By the end of the night, the crowd scattered a bit and the die-hard Glenn fans stayed to boogie for the remainder of the set. I had to take off my heels since my feet were throbbing and I’d have to say that several champagnes later, it was a great night for music and for the charity!

Glenn was absolutely knackered but we managed to have a really nice chat before he went up to bed. He had told me that the UK tour went really well and that attendance was up and he thought it was solely to do with the DVD! In terms of awareness for his music and also for what he’s about and who he is, he said the DVD has done more for him than his two solo albums! Now he had said something similar in January in the UK when we were at SKY TV but it was news to me that attendance was up at his gigs in the UK. He then went on to tell me, “Amy, you… single-handedly…took my career from here (implying down low) to here (implying up high) in the UK. It’s astonishing.” Needless to say, I was THRILLED to hear this. Because sales for the DVD weren’t quite what I had hoped for and because Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and Neil Finn have not been beating a path to my door to work on more music documentaries and because British TV keep rejecting the concept of airing GT:OFTR in spite of my spirited efforts, I don’t wake up everyday thrilled with the progress I’ve made. But, to hear the words out of Glenn’s mouth and to know that it’s not in my head, but there is actual proof from the outside world that the DVD has helped his career - was just fantastic. It’s a smidge bittersweet though, because had Glenn been totally on the ball, he could have released a solo, acoustic soundtrack to the film, he could have toured with the film and done Q&A’s afterwards, done in-store appearances for the DVD, etc…  and had even more of an impact…but hey, hindsight is 20/20. I’d like to give a big thank you to those of you who not only bought the DVD, but actually went out and bought Glenn’s solo CD’s, went to see him on tour or even revisited their Squeeze records after watching it. You guys rock!

I’ll leave you with my favorite gift to give this season: music. I’m a freak for a UK band called The Feeling and I cannot stop listening to my old fave band (and Glenn approved) Minibar. Their new album “Desert after Rain” is available on their website and it’s fantastic. They are truly indie artists and would appreciate your support so please check out their CD. It’s FAB. I also added some other faves to my amazon.com store on the Merch Page (scroll down). There's an additional radio interview from Glenn in Lanarkshire where they talked a bit about the film. (thanks to me stalking the DJ!!) Glenn even says hi to me in the interview because he knew I'd be listening in! There’s plenty to talk about in the New Year for GT:OFTR as the DVD is going to be getting a big push in Australia in April to coincide with Glenn’s touring. So, I’m busy at work with my PR lady Karen Conrad in Oz and we’re working on a way to get me down under to work the press with Glenn. Stay tuned!

Thanks for your support this year glennmovie listers. I cannot believe that 2006 is almost over. It was the year that GT:OFTR finally was released worldwide and it still doesn’t seem real. It was one of the hardest years of my life, but also one of the most rewarding. I want to thank all of you who contacted press people on my behalf, who emailed with ideas for the film, who helped with the film and who wrote to let me know how much they enjoyed my film. (I never get tired of reading those emails!) I’ve been incredibly, amazingly fortunate and I wish all of you a lovely, healthy happy holiday and I know you’re all going to ROCK 2007!!!!

Wif luv,
Amy x