Last Night: Paul Weller at the Moore
Debbie Ableson
So there's been some chatter around Seattle today that Paul Weller's set last night was decidedly less than spectacular. According to this review, he was down right bad, and there's folks out there that are saying he was drunk out of his mind as well. I wasn't at the show, but another one of our music critics, Michael Mahoney, offers his words on Weller's set after the jump.
It was a long time coming, and it was worth the wait.
Paul Weller's prolific output over a career that stretches back more than three decades has earned him critical acclaim and commercial success, and made him one of the most influential figures in modern music. Last night, he set foot on a Seattle stage for the first time in more than 16 years, kicking off a brief U.S. tour and thrilling a raucous — if not quite sellout — crowd at the Moore Theatre with a two-hour, 25-song set that reached back to 1979 and a pair of classic songs from his first band, the Jam, but focused on his newest release (and ninth solo album), 22 Dreams.
His most recent show here was on March 20, 1993, at the late, occasionally lamented Under the Rail in Belltown. Since then, Weller has released seven solo albums of original material — all of which went top-5 in the UK, with three reaching No. 1 — revitalizing his career and reputation and earning the sobriquet "The Modfather" for his undeniable influence on an entire generation of music in England, collectively known as Britpop.
Weller, who turns 51 next month, is no longer the angry young man whose ability to meld classic pop song structure and punk's raw energy with politically and socially conscious lyrics jolted England in the late '70 and early '80s and made the Jam (with the notable exception of the U.S.) a worldwide success, but he still brings plenty of passion and intensity to the stage. That was evident from the very first notes he played last night, kicking the show off shortly after 8 with the uplifting single "Wild Blue Yonder".
Five of the first nine songs were from 22 Dreams, a sprawling, ambitious, 21-song double album that represents a significant new direction for Weller and hits far more often than it misses. The soulful "All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You), and the title track, an upbeat raveup, alternated with the powerful "Out of the Sinking" and "The Changingman", both from the solo album generally regarded as Weller's best, 1995's Stanley Road. The emphasis on new material continued with three consecutive songs from 22 Dreams — soul stomper "Have You Made Up Your Mind", propulsive rocker "Push It Along", and the yearning, insistent pop of "Sea Spray". Weller switched from guitar to piano for Stanley Road's "Porcelain Gods", followed by the emotional swell of "Let It Be Me", a five-year-old B-side that benefited from longtime Weller sideman Steve Cradock's slide guitar.
The new material again took center stage, with the tango-flavored "One Bright Star", featuring Cradock's Spanish-style picking, "Empty Ring" and "111". Steve Pilgrim, a talented singer/songwriter in his own right, moved out from behind the drum kit and grabbed a guitar, making for an acoustic trio that powered the beautiful, simple folk-rock of "All on a Misty Morning" from 2005's As Is Now. A medley that sampled from Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and the Who's "Magic Bus" (a staple at Weller shows) gave way to a simple, repetitive pattern that got all the Jam fans in the crowd buzzing, as it signaled the intro to the bitter, caustic social/sexual commentary of 1979 B-side "The Butterfly Collector", a showcase for Weller's cold rage that surely raised hairs on necks from the pit all the way up to the balcony.
Things stayed acoustic for the upbeat positivity of another single, "Brand New Start", but the levels of volume and energy jumped up a notch for the title track from 1993's Wild Wood, featuring a much harder edge than the original, followed by the thunderous, barely controlled chaos of "Echoes Round the Sun", the first single from 22 Dreams, and an ebullient "Come On/Let's Go" from As Is Now, as the five band members (including keyboard player Andy Crofts and bassist Andy Lewis) left the stage.
The crowd's applause was no match for the din it replaced, pointing up the night's one significant flaw: The overall sound didn't do Weller and his bandmates justice — his vocals lacked separation and distinctiveness and were too often lost in the mix. Overly loud volume is a recipe for aural disaster at the Moore, and that was the case far too often last night. The only time the sound was optimal was during the piano/acoustic guitar section toward the end of the first set.
The band returned for a four-song encore kicked off by a version of "Shout to the Top" that rocked out far beyond the original, a poppy, breezy 1985 effort from Weller's second band, the Style Council, followed by the American debut of a new song, "7 & 3". Two of Stanley Road's highlights — "Broken Stones" and "Whirlpool's End" — again boosted the energy level, setting the stage for the night's emotional peak.
A familiar, repetitive guitar riff again signaled a blast from the past as Weller launched into "The Eton Rifles", another three-minute slice of scalding, anti-elitist commentary from 1979 that gained renewed relevance in England last year when Tory leader David Cameron professed his admiration for the Jam's music in general and "Eton Rifles" in particular, asserting "I don't see why the left should be the only ones allowed to listen to protest songs," and earning Weller's scornful retort, "What part of that song didn't he get?" Putting as much fury into the song as he did the last time I saw him perform it, nearly 27 years ago, Weller electrified the crowd and ended a memorable night on the highest of notes.
"It's nice to be back in Seattle after all this time," Weller announced early in his set.
Right back at you, Paul. Feel free to come back sooner next time.
3 comment(s)
Dougiemod says:
Ive seen Weller 7 times previous and although the set lacked obvious selections from his past,I thought it was quite good.He may have been a little on the sauce because being the perfectionist he is he was easy going about flaws in sound quality.It was good seing him have fun because that is what life is all about.Was there the possibility that it was a bit of a fuck-off to the past?Maybe,who can say.His solo stuff is proper and can take pepsi-challenge against any of todays young upstarts.Mod the religion,Weller the pope.The tunes are the gospel that give the faithful hope.
Posted On: Thursday, Apr. 16 2009 @ 10:17PM
andy says:
The best thing about Weller is that he is constantly reinventing himself. Jam to Style Council to solo. The show was always going to be about the new material and not a greatest hits tour. To hear Eton Rifles played loud was as much as I could hope for!
It was a phenomenal show. To me, he is recording and performing because it is his vocation and he doesn't really care too much for the record sales. If you want to see a show like that go and see Coldplay.
Posted On: Friday, Apr. 17 2009 @ 8:38PM
Christine says:
Exactly. During the show before playing one of the songs off of 22 Dreams, he said, "I know that the record isn't really selling over here, but who gives a f***?!?! It's a f***ing top record!"
I got to meet him before and after the show as well. He was very easy going. He signed things for everybody. There was this guy that had him sign like 6 things. After the show, he signed my iPod with his drunk signature. Very different from his sober one.
Posted On: Saturday, Apr. 25 2009 @ 9:16PM