Play Some Old!
I went to see Paul Weller at The Marquee, Cork last night, and it was fantastic. Lots of energy, and Weller really enjoying himself. The crowd loved it, well everyone except my mate! You see, he went with the sole purpose of hearing Weller play some Style Council tunes, and when he got none he was really annoyed.
Now, I had told him that Weller usually doesn't play a lot of stuff from the 80s but this fell on deaf ears. He was of the opinion that people (him mainly) paid a lot of money for a ticket so should get a lot of old hits. I'm of the opinion that I want to hear what the artist is currently doing, and don't really mind if he plays really old stuff!
It obviously helps that I like Weller and know his solo records fairly well, but I still thought that it was unrealistic of my mate to expect him to play a load of Style Council or Jam tunes. Or am I wrong? what does everyone think?
ps. For the record here is a close enough set list to what he played last night.
Peacock Suit'
'From The Floorboards Up'
'All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You)'
'Out Of The Sinking'
'Sea Spray'
'Have You Made Up Your Mind'
'Wild Wood'
'Broken Stones'
'Picking Up Sticks'
'Wild Blue Yonder'
'Shadow Of The Sun'
'Invisible'
'You Do Something To Me'
'The Changingman'
'22 Dreams'
'Come On/Let’s Go'
'Eton Rifles'
'Whirlpool's End'
'All You Need Is Love'
- More from humphreym.
- Login or register to post comments
Weller Council
A couple of Style Council numbers may have been nice but I think your mate should have prepared himself for Weller's solo stuff; he is being very unrealistic! Personally, I love most of Weller's solo stuff, must purchase his new album soon, it's on the list. Is it worth parting cash for?
The new album...
is definitely worth buying, haven't stopped playing it since I got it. It took a while to grow on me, but I always think that those albums last a lot longer anyway!
Cheers
Yes indeed, the growers are often the best albums! Will buy Weller this week I think!
The Style Council petered out
nearly twenty years ago. Since then Paul Weller has made nine solo albums (not including live albums and compilations). Expecting him to play old Council hits (great as they are) is unrealistic and unreasonable. humphrey’s setlist shows that he’s not just playing “stuff from the new album” but a broad selection from a solo career now in it’s 19th year. And Eton Rifles.
New album’s great David - much better than the last few and well worth snapping up.
Love the latest album
There are some songs on there that are as good as anything he's ever written in my opinion; and the rest is better than most of his solo albums.
I'm still a Weller fan after nearly 30 years because he's still doing new material, not going down the old hits route. I'd rather new stuff - even if it's not as good as his older material sometimes, rather than see him become cabaret.
22 Dreams...
...the most diverse, compelling album he's ever put out as a solo artist in my opinion. Psychedelia, folk, soul, jazz and even some avant garde weirdness make an appearance and he pulls almost all of it off (though I don't like 'God' very much). Let's hope the albums which follow continue in this more diverse vein- been playing through most of his other solo works and none of them appeal to me in anything like the same way.
Not a bad set list, I would have said- quite a few of his solo hits in there but it's the newer stuff I would have been most interested in anyway!
I actually...
do like 'God'! The set list differed a bit, the one I posted is from a London show (I think!) but it's close. He also fell on his arse last night, and then blamed the Guinness!
He's being gutless.
5 songs from 22 Dreams? I saw him in Leicester the other month and it may have been 6 or 7 in a two hour set. His live band is the best I've seen with what's his best solo album and he's pandering to his hardcore fans instead of going with the artistic bent that created 22 dreams. He's got the balls to put it out but not to play it.
He also did...
'Push It Along' and 'Echoes Round The Sun', been trying to remember what else. Usually somebody posts up a set list!He probably had the old dilemma of how many new songs to play, but I thought he did well on the night. You're right about his band, they are excellent especially the drummer.
Contemporary
Your mates attitude sounds a bit unreasonable to me. I think Weller is still a very contemporary artist and the continued popularity of his recent albums prooves this. It feels to me like he's quite a long way off becoming a play-the-hits type act such as The Who. I don't even think Bowie's new stuff is met with interest Weller's is.