Paul Weller

Paul Weller has had a pretty much constant presence in my life. My first ever gig was The Jam. I luckily managed to catch them on their last Beat Surrender tour in 1982. I remember making the pivotal decision to buy three tickets before asking my parents if I could go. It feels like yesterday the woman at Wembley Arena box office asked the nieve 13-year-old where he wanted to be seated. I clearly had no idea and picked all I could afford which sat us high up at the back but such was my anticipation I could not have been happier if I was seated on stage. To this day the best £16 I ever spent. Today, it feels right that I'm reuniting with my younger brother, minus my mum, to celebrate, reminisce, and further discuss a man who after all this time is still at the top of his game in an ever-changing world of musical evolution.

After a glorious week the clouds were closing in and exiting Sloane Square the rain had already started to fall but nothing could dampen the spirits. We were older, not much the wizer and still excited and most of the crowd looked just like us. A quick couple of pints in a Sloane Street bar brought us toe to toe with The Style Council co-founder Mick Talbot and the evening was shaping up nicely.

Suitably dressed in a Chelsea Pensioners red shirt and black trousers Weller took to the stage with 'White Sky' from 2015's Saturns Pattern. It wasn't long before The Style Council's 'My Ever Changing Moods' delighted the large crowd and after a nod to "Micky Talbot who is here tonight" he lunged forward into 'Headstart for Happiness'. Weller seems to embrace this period more these days and so he should. The night is peppered with songs throughout his prolific career. In a twenty-seven strong set list, it's no surprise that The Jam favourites 'Start', 'That's Entertainment' and set closer 'Town Called Malice' receive the greatest reception. A well-oiled Suggs joined Weller on stage for their latest single 'Ooh Do U Fink U R' also clearly gratifying the audience.

Paul Weller has a way of peeling away the core if your heart. It's subtle but constant. A self-confessed 'Changingman' Weller has been on various reincarnations and the journey still continues with his joyful lock down record 'Fat Pop Vol.1'. It's hard to know whether he's completely comfortable in his own skin or if the reinvention is purely left to his musical side. All I can say is that 40 years on from the first time I saw him the smile on my face as we leave is just as big. Wonderful.

Setlist

White Sky
Long Time
Cosmic Fringes
From the Floorboards Up
My Ever Changing Moods
Headstart for Happiness
Village
Stanley Road
Saturns Pattern
Hung Up
Fat Pop
More
Woo Sé Mama
It's a Very Deep Sea
Rockets
Above the Clouds
Into Tomorrow
Shout to the Top!
Start!
Peacock Suit

Encore:
Broken Stones
That's Entertainment
Wild Wood
You Do Something to Me
Ooh Do U Fink U R (with Suggs)
The Changingman
Town Called Malice