Paul Weller Live! (Paul Weller in general)

Member Name: NikkiH

Product:	Paul Weller in general
Date:	26/10/02 (1223 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: He is a god!, Brilliant tracks, Charged atmosphere

Disadvantages: Not the ideal venue

Many of you know if you have read my profile page that I am partial to a bit of Paul Weller. I had ?You Do Something To Me? as I walked down the aisle to be married instead of the wedding march, and I even converted my husband into a Weller fan, which is no mean feat I can assure you. I have seen Paul Weller live about 6 times now, however I will share my latest live experience with you all now.

Friday 17th October - Newcastle Telewest Arena. I had known for months about this date, but as much as I love him, due to other commitments (building work on the house), I just did not have money spare to justify spending over sixty pounds on 2 tickets to see him. As the date approached, I honestly became quite depressed at the thought he was in Newcastle, and for the first time since 1993, I would not see him. However, there was a guardian angel in the form of the Telewest Arena?s newsletter.

I signed up for the newsletter a couple of months ago, and on Friday afternoon I received an e mail from them to say that they had released 10 pairs of free tickets to the 1st 10 people to arrive at the box office. My hubby, being the kind loving soul he is trekked off, and 15 minutes later called to say he had 2 tickets in his hand, and we were going to see Paul Weller, so I better organise a babysitter quick sharp. My mood quickly lifted and once more I became bearable to be around!

Proud Mary were the support band, and they went down a storm, as they were the support act for Oasis in July, therefore many of the diehards at the front knew a lot of their songs. They played a 50 minute set, which is long in terms of a support act, and I was impressed with the band, and I thought that the lead singer had excellent stage presence, and he reminded me a lot of Rick Witter from Shed Seven.

The Arena looked smaller than normal, and I quickly sussed that the stage had been moved forward and about 300 seats were covered over, which worried me, as he had ne
ver had anything other than sell outs when he has come to Newcastle before. However, he normally comes to The City Hall, a smaller venue, which gives a better experience, and the audience is full of true Paul Weller fans, and the atmosphere there is electric.

Our seats were level with the stage, so we saw the gig side on, and could see Weller and his band lining up to come on stage, and to my delight I saw that Yolanda Charles was no longer the bass player as she had been replaced by ex Ocean Colour Scene bassist Steve Craddock, of whom I am a huge huge fan.
My bliss was quickly and rudely interrupted by the man behind me who started shouting ?Come onnnnnnnnnnnn? before every song, and then managed to sing everything at least 2 beats ahead of Paul Weller as if to prove he knew all the words, but not even he could spoil the experience for me.

The concert opened not with old favourites as I expected, but a wide selection of songs from his new album ?Illumination?, starting with ?Bullit? which I really like, but especially the single release ?It?s Written In The Stars? and the song ?Leafy Mysteries? which is resembles the mood captured by ?Stanley Road?. Then we revisited ?Heavy Soul? with the sublime ?Friday Street?, and then even further back for the brilliant ?Bullrush? and one of my all time favourites the fabulous ?Hung Up?.

?Picking Up Sticks? did not seem to grab the audience the way it normally does, and I felt that the audience were going to be quite hard work. He quickly picked up the pace, and ?Gilded Splinters? went down a storm, quickly followed up by the magnificent ?Woodcutter?s Son?, but still only a small percentage of the audience were really into it. I was starting to wonder what would perk them up, when as if by magic, the band sat down to do some acoustic numbers, and started with ?That?s Entertainment?. Even the most reticent in the audience were moving in time to the music.

Then he made his way over t
o the piano, and predictably (although not in a bad way) he played the opening notes of ?Broken Stones? and dedicated it to the people way at the back. It was becoming more and more apparent that he was uncomfortable with the size of the venue. Weller gigs are a really intimate experience, and as anyone who attends arena concerts will agree, the word intimate does not immediately spring to mind.

?Changingman? was harder and had an edge to it I had never heard before, and it worked. Steve White launched into an awesome drum solo, which left many people shaking their heads in amazement at this man whose name is never uttered outside these venues, yet he must be one of the best drummers of the moment, although not better than Dave Grohl my husband adds! At this point I thought it couldn?t get much better, again I was wrong. The next 2 tracks were ?Pretty Green? and then the spine tingling ?Town Called Malice?. Paul Weller, tambourine in hand playing the opening bars of this unmistakable song. At this point, hardly anyone was still seated, with many dancing in the aisles. It was a sight to behold, and one I can?t wait to experience again.

There are many songs that were played that I have not mentioned, but I hope I have captured the atmosphere accurately for you, and if you have never heard any Paul Weller then please go and buy ?Stanley Road?, which will serve as your introduction to the genuis that is Paul Weller. Once you have had Weller you never go back!

I was too young to appreciate The Jam, but when I hear their tracks played live, I was envious of the people sitting around me who had clearly heard all of these songs the first time around. He stayed away from any Style Council stuff, and wisely so many fans would claim, but I actually liked The Style Council, and I think ?Shout To The Top? has it?s place in Weller?s ever changing repertoire.

That sounds hard to top, but he did it with a double encore of ?Peacock Suit?, ?Wildwo
od?, ?Out Of The Sinking? and the unforgettable ?Stanley Road? At just on 2 hours on stage, it was amazing, but I hope that he forgets the Arena next time, and returns to his real Geordie home...The City Hall. It is much better to be closer, and I got the feeling that Paul Weller and his band felt much the same way, so hopefully his management will sit up and listen.

Love him or loathe him, he has staying power and has been so influential to many of today?s musicians. He is pure entertainment, and a man who lives for his art.

The merchandise was priced at levels I have come to expect, ranging from sixteen to twenty pounds for a t-shirt, and then there were mugs, badges, keyrings and tour programmes.

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