PAUL WELLER + THE STROPPIES – BRIGHTON CENTRE 2.4.22
Walking down the Kings Road on Saturday night and there is a good vibe about the place. There are a lot of sharp dressed people, I’m particularly impressed by the pair of white ‘All Mod Cons’ plimsolls worn by a middle aged man, making their way to Brighton Centre for the return of Paul Weller to the venue where he played his last ever gig with The Jam. He has of course played there since, but this was to be my first time I had seen him play here as I missed the last ever concert by The Jam when my car broke down within about 15 minutes of my home and many miles away from Brighton.
This Paul Weller gig had been a long time coming and I don’t just mean because it had been rearranged a couple of times since the original date of Halloween 2020, but the fact that I had not seen my teenage idol for a number of years. For that person who hung on every word the Modfather would utter, purchased every record, and went to many gigs in his various guises, it would have been unthinkable that I have not purchased an album since ‘22 Dreams’ in 2008, nor have I seen him play live this century!
Paul Weller has gone full circle and returned ‘home’ to Polydor where he had arguably some of his finest moments with The Jam and even The Style Council, first time round, until they ditched The Style Council before their last album would see the light of day. His first release second time around was ‘On Sunset’ and then last year’s critically acclaimed offering ‘Fat Pop’ which made me sit up and take notice of Mr Weller once again after a 13 year hiatus. This signalled my opportunity to re-engage with Paul Weller at long last and whilst waiting for this gig to happen I was able to watch some of Paul’s lockdown acoustic sessions assisted by his wife on camera duty.
The support band for tonight are The Stroppies from Melbourne, Australia. They were handpicked by Weller so I was expecting a decent showing even though I am unfamiliar with their work. Paul is a known admirer of the band having chosen the song ‘Cellophane Car’ for a CD he compiled for MOJO last year and on hearing it tonight I can see why.
Maybe not your typical Paul Weller support act, but I was suitably impressed with their lo-fi indie and when they peaked they were very good. From the first bars of their opening song ‘Nothing At All’, they appeared to win over what can be a tough crowd, so there was no need for Angus to announce that he was terrified.
The vocals are shared between Claudia Serfaty and Angus (Gus) Lord throughout the set but for me the best songs are when Gus transfers from guitar to keyboard duties. For me this is highlighted on ‘Go Ahead’ an early song taken from their self-named first album which was probably my favourite track of their eight song set. ‘Entropy’ was pretty downbeat but we were warned beforehand that it was a miserable song. I will be listening out for their new album ‘Levity’ which is due to be released on May 6th, so not long to wait to see what all the fuss is about.
Stroppies setlist:
‘Nothing At All’ (from ‘Whoosh’ 2019)
‘The Perfect Crime’ (from ‘Levity‘ out May 6th)
‘Go Ahead’ (from ‘The Stroppies’ 2017)
‘My Style My Substance’ (from ‘Whoosh’ 2019)
‘Entropy’ (from ‘Whoosh’ 2019)
‘Smilers Strange Politely’ (from ‘Levity‘ out May 6th)
‘All The Lines’ (from ‘The Stroppies’ 2017)
‘Cellophane Car’ (from ‘Whoosh’ 2019)
Find The Stroppies on Facebook.
The auditorium was filling up nicely for this sold out concert. Beforehand I spoke to a couple of men who had never seen Paul Weller live before and were most excited, and then there was the other end of the spectrum with a couple I got chatting to who follow him all around, from Kew Gardens to Europe and beyond. There were some youngsters with their parents but the majority of the crowd did appear to be middle aged.
A Weller gig is a no frills affair and there are Ukrainian flags on the drum kits and an amp but little else. Weller entered the stage and is of course immaculately groomed, his hair has been cut to more of a bob style post-lockdown. He is still a fashion icon and I’m sure there will be a rush to buy those racing green cardigans.
He has formed a faithful and accomplished band in the form of guitarist Steve Craddock of Ocean Colour Scene fame, bass player Andy Crofts, drummer Steve Pilgrim, second drummer/percussionist Ben Gordelier, and Tom Heel on keyboards. Even though there is little interaction onstage, the closeness within the band is obvious to all in attendance. From the two rousing opening songs, ‘White Sky’ and ‘Long Time’, both taken from the ‘Saturns Pattern’ album, it instantly becomes evident as to what I have been missing out on.
Weller is a man of few words during his live shows but boy can his music talk. Tonight is a walk through his musical journey, going back as far as ‘Start’ and the singalong of ‘That’s Entertainment’, through The Style Council years, with the majority of the set covering his 32 year solo career. Weller shows off his undoubted musical talent by swapping between guitar and piano throughout the set, but for me I have always preferred him at the helm on guitar and vocals where has such great stage presence.
Hearing ‘Headstart For Happiness’ played live makes the hairs on my arms stand to attention, but it also made me realise how much importance the vocals of Dee C. Lee played in The Style Council’s music. I definitely missed them tonight. ‘Shout To The Top’ and ‘Have You Ever Had It Blue’ are both brilliantly performed. It is of great credit to Paul Weller that he could have played any number of career spanning songs and they would not have looked out of place in his set.
There are only two offerings from his most recent release ‘Fat Pop’ including the Ian Dury sounding title track and ‘Cosmic Fringes’ which just so happens to be my favourite song from the album. I am also very happy with the added bonus of ‘Peacock Suit’ being on tonight’s setlist, as it had not been played thus far on this tour. But the obvious disappointment of the night had to be the non-inclusion of ‘Town Called Malice’ even though it was due to be played as the final encore.
From where I was sat, unfortunately no standing ticket for me this time, the crowd looked fairly mild mannered with quite a few dancing, but nothing over exuberant to be seen even for the faster songs. They didn’t really get going until ‘Into Tomorrow’ when a few in the balcony also took to their feet. Maybe if a bit more energy had been shown then we would have got that final encore, but still it’s hard to complain when you’ve just enjoyed close to two hours of sublime musical entertainment. There was a nice touch during the first encore when Weller dedicated ‘Wild Wood’ to Ukraine, not the politicians, just the people of Ukraine. Finishing off with ‘Come On/Let’s Go’ seemed appropriate enough and the crowd were left with a satisfied glow. Let’s face it a 28 song set isn’t bad value for your money in this day and age.
Paul Weller is the ultimate Changing Man who has never been afraid to experiment musically with many diverse influences, isolating some of his original punk and mod following along the way, but always landing on his feet and finding new followers. His longevity is something to behold in this cutthroat industry and for those that have been loyal along the way they have been treated to some of the best songs ever to have been composed. I may have missed out on 13 years, but after tonight I am a born again Weller-ite and my adoration will not wane again.
Paul Weller setlist:
‘White Sky’ (from ‘Saturns Pattern’ 2015)
‘Long Time’ (from ‘Saturns Pattern’ 2015)
‘Cosmic Fringes’ (from ‘Fat Pop’ 2021)
‘From The Floorboards Up’ (from ‘As Is Now’ 2005)
‘Headstart For Happiness’ (from ‘Café Bleu’ 1984) (The Style Council)
‘Village’ (from ‘On Sunset’ 2020)
‘Have You Ever Had It Blue’ (from single 1986) (The Style Council)
‘Stanley Road’ (from ‘Stanley Road’ 1995)
‘Going My Way’ (from ‘Saturns Pattern’ 2015)
‘Saturns Pattern’ (from ‘Saturns Pattern’ 2015)
‘Hung Up’ (from ‘Wild Wood’ 1993)
‘Fat Pop’ (from ‘Fat Pop’ 2021)
‘More’ (from ‘On Sunset’ 2020)
‘Woo Se Mama’ (from ‘A Kind Of Revolution’ 2017)
‘It’s A Very Deep Sea’ (from ‘Confessions Of A Pop Group’ 1988) (The Style Council)
‘Rockets’ (from ‘On Sunset’ 2020)
‘Old Father Tyme’ (from ‘On Sunset’ 2020)
‘Into Tomorrow’ (from ‘Paul Weller’ 1992)
‘Shout To The Top’ (from single 1984) (The Style Council)
‘Start’ (from ‘Sound Affects’ 1980) (The Jam)
‘Peacock Suit’ (from ‘Heavy Soul’ 1997)
‘Brushed’ (from ‘Heavy Soul’ 1997)
(encore 1)
‘Broken Stones’ (from ‘Stanley Road’ 1995)
‘You Do Something To Me’ (from ‘Stanley Road’ 1995)
‘That’s Entertainment’ (from ‘Sound Affects’ 1980) (The Jam)
‘Wild Wood’ (from ‘Wild Wood’ 1993)
(encore 2)
‘The Changing Man’ (from ‘Stanley Road’ 1995)
‘Come On/Let’s Go’ (from ‘As Is Now’ 2005)
More information on Paul Weller, click here: paulweller.com
