It took over 20 years, 2 hours and 2 encores to finally hear “Town Called Malice” live and it was well worth the wait. For a 50 year old legend, Paul Weller went about entertaining the sell-out crowd, the majority of which must have been lovers of warm beer and cucumber sandwiches, with the gusto and abandon of a guy half his age.You could feel that the crowd missed the “old geezer”, some people I spoke to saw him in London last year and commented on the fact that this show was much better, he seemed to really connect with those that stood before him. I am still a little unsure about the semi toned mullet he was sporting but then again, I don’t really think he could care as much about what I thought, after all the night was about the music not retro hairstyles.
Musically, I lost contact with Weller when the Jam disbanded in the early Eighties and I wasn’t a huge Style Council fan, although I have always loved Weller’s work, kind of a contradiction in there somewhere. So, it was to great surprise I heard that he was touring Oz and would be playing in a venue like the Enmore Theatre. Luckily I work with a British expat and she was all over the upcoming tour and managed to purchase tickets.
As expected, the set list spanned Weller’s career ( from The Jam , Style Council right through his various solo projects ) there were many songs that were new to me but not to the hard core Weller fans, who knew each one almost verbatim. There is no doubting his talent but seeing him live really brings it to the fore, from acoustic sets, to the riff driven axe man, to the suave, cigarette toking piano man, there was something for everyone. I kind of lost count of the number of cigarettes he went through, maybe the roadie who was always at the ready with a lit cigarette, waiting in the midst of a dark corner, would have a better idea.
The highlight of the evening for me was the acoustic version of “That’s Entertainment”, its one of those live moments you will always treasure, like Steve Kilbey’s solo of “Under The Milky Way” and Interpol’s “Say Hello To The Angels” it’s a moment in time that will never be lost, many thanks to the “Mod Father” for bringing back over 20 years of music and memories
