Weller wows in the wind swept north
The current Paul Weller tour has seen him play shows in London and Dublin, Monday night (Nov 20) was the first of two nights at the Newcastle City Hall.
Weller is one of many artists with new or redone best of collections out for Christmas 2006 and, up to a point, this was a retrospective look at his solo career, although very much dominated by his mid nineties hits. Those who turned up wondering if the 'Hit Parade' LP would make up the bulk of the setlist would have left disappointed, I also think they would have been misguided to have thought that in the first place as Jam classics only come out in their numbers for special occasions and Weller's most recent studio album is only a year old.
Newcastle City Hall seems to be a venue that would be more used to less rowdy events such as musicals or classical music concerts. To cater for such events the acoustics need to be of the highest order, a luxury Weller took full advantage of. The seating area is a lot less luxurious however, with legroom similar to that of a crampt lower league football ground.
Early stand out moments included 'Peacock Suit' and 'Out Of The Sinking' as well as the lead single from recent LP 'As Is Now' 'From the Floorboards Up'. Weller's latest album sees him back on top form and much of it is a throwback to the uncompromising rock of his early years. 'Come On/ Let's Go' and 'Blink And You'll Miss It' were newer tracks to go down especially well, however while the less familiar tracks were being played for some the gig may well have begun to drift as this was inevitably going to be a night where a small collection of old favourites lived longest in the memory, both due to Weller being on fire and his audience responding like a dream.
'Wild Wood' saw the first major sing-along moment, 'You Do Something To Me' the second, but the biggest reactions came for the tracks he left for the end.
'Changing Man' appeared near the end of the main section of the gig, with Weller's return to the stage opened with 'Blink and You'll Miss It' and 'Sunflower'.
This left 'Broken Stones' to draw the biggest response so far, but even that couldn't upstage the Jam anthem 'Town Called Malice'. Anyone still sitting before hand certainly weren't anymore: there really couldn't have been any other way to bring the night to it's close. Outside in the cold and rain it became clear what an intense sweatfest Weller had created.
The tour would continue with another night in the North East before a string of dates across the UK. As I write this review the annual cool list is being unvailed by a certain weekly music publication, how anyone can deny Weller his place in the top ten of such a chart is beyond me. Thirty years on from the punk era which saw the birth of the Jam, Paul Weller is still at the very top of his tree.