Not many bands can afford to use up a song of the calibre of Up The Junction two songs in; but then not many bands have built up a back catalogue as rich as Squeeze's.

Hit after hit was reeled off – interspersed with slightly more obscure tracks. Interspersed too with plenty of chat from front-man Glenn Tilbrook, rightly taunting the audience member who rather curiously told the band to "get on with it".

"What do you think we're doing?" Tilbrook responded – and got on with it grandly, delivering a mesmerising set, hot on energy and high on fun.
He got the audience going in a mass sing-along for Black Coffee In Bed and repeatedly whipped himself into near frenzy by the sheer wizardry of his guitar-playing.

I've loved Squeeze for years but never realised until tonight just what a phenomenal guitarist Tilbrook is. Keeping the balance, Chris Difford, writer of some of the best lyrics of the past 30 years, was his usual slightly-elsewhere, diffident self.

The two are a formidable combination, the very heart of the great Squeeze magic – and the Real Ale And Jazz gave them exactly the right platform on which to excel.

I saw Squeeze last November in the very dead Southampton Guildhall; in Chichester they were on fire. And that's hugely to the credit of the festival organisers.

The Real Ale And Jazz – comfortably my favourite Chichester event – is an absolute masterclass in getting things right. The welcome is great; the organisation is faultless; the tent, with its ceiling lights, is Santa's grotto for adults; the beer slips down nicely; the atmosphere is terrific; the sound is superb.

And the bands… 10cc were great on Thursday; Squeeze on Saturday took it to the next level. And yet both are typical of the names the Festival now regularly attracts – names which underline the simple fact: the Real and Jazz Festival is a huge, huge asset to the city.

Phil Hewitt