Paul Weller performs a stellar show for enthusiastic Brooklyn crowd
Review by John Curley
Photos by Chris M. Junior
One night after opening their North American tour at Count Basie Center for the Arts’ Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, Paul Weller and his band performed at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, NY on the evening of Saturday, September 7th. Weller is touring in support of his 17th solo album, which is titled 66 and was released in May of this year.
Opening all the shows for Weller on this North American tour is the Donegal, Ireland-based singer-songwriter George Houston. Houston, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar for most of his 30-minute set and keyboards on his last song, received a nice reception from the crowd. An engaging performer, Houston spoke to and joked with the crowd often during his set of interesting and somewhat quirky songs. Houston is clearly a rising talent.
Just prior to Weller and his band going onstage, Weller’s intro music, The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” was played. It got the already-stoked crowd even more pumped up. Weller had not performed in New York City since October 2017, so the sense of anticipation in the crowd was high. Weller and his band would perform an eclectic set that combined well-known Weller solo songs, new songs, deeper solo tracks and classic tunes from The Jam and The Style Council. In addition to Weller on lead vocals, guitar and keyboard, the band on this tour includes Weller's longtime musical partner and Ocean Colour Scene guitarist Steve Cradock (guitar, backing vocals), Jake Fletcher (bass, backing vocals), Tom Van Heel (keyboards, backing vocals), Jacko Peake (saxophones, flute, melodica), Steve Pilgrim (drums, guitar) and Ben Gordelier (percussion, drums).
Weller and company kicked off their two-hour set with a stonking version of the 2017 song “Nova.” The performance of the song featured a strong lead vocal by Weller, an impressive guitar break by Cradock, heavy bass from Fletcher, nice sax playing by Peake, and tight work on drums and percussion by Pilgrim and Gordelier, respectively.
Next up was a heavy version of 2021’s “Cosmic Fringes” that was highlighted by Weller’s slash-and-burn guitar playing. The performance of the 1984 Style Council song “My Ever Changing Moods” brought the house down. Cradock’s guitar playing on the song was stellar as was Van Heel’s work on keyboards. Peake had a nice spotlight moment on saxophone. The crowd erupted with a huge cheer of appreciation at the end, the first of many such ovations on the night.
The first new song performed was “Soul Wandering,” which was co-written by Weller and Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream. Weller’s lead vocal on the song was terrific and the backing vocals from the band were quite good. The performance of “That Pleasure,” a song from 2021’s Fat Pop (Volume 1) album, had throbbing bass, heavy drums and percussion, great saxophone playing by Peake and nice work on keys by Van Heel that backed Weller’s strong vocal.
Prior to the performance of The Style Council’s “Headstart for Happiness,” a song from 1984, Weller spoke a bit about the war in Gaza and posed the question to the crowd: “Are you for genocide or against it?” “Headstart for Happiness” then received an awesome performance that was a full-on band effort, highlighted by Weller’s lead vocal and Peake’s terrific saxophone playing.
Since the pandemic-induced hiatus of live performances by Weller and his band in 2020-21, they rose from the canvas and have come up fighting. The band is like a well-oiled machine now, driven by soul, spirit, excellence and a shared musical brotherhood. The united front of the band was quite evident on the wonderful performance of 1993’s “All the Pictures on the Wall.” Weller’s great lead vocal on the song was backed by solid work by Cradock, Peake and Van Heel.
Weller moved to keyboard for the performance of the title track of 1995’s Stanley Road that was highlighted by his terrific lead vocal, Peake’s saxophone work and the fantastic guitar playing by Steve Cradock. The new song “Rise Up Singing,” a co-write by Weller, Miles Copeland and Dr. Robert (Robert Howard of The Blow Monkeys), received a performance that got a nice hand from the crowd.
Peake’s addition to the band’s touring lineup since the last North American tour has increased the band’s musical palette. And his skills were on great display in Brooklyn with his flute playing on 2021’s “Glad Times,” the saxophone break in 2020’s “Village” and the flute work on 2021’s “Fat Pop.”
The 1994 song “Hung Up” was given a fantastic performance that included a strong lead vocal by Weller and Cradock’s great guitar playing throughout the song. A massive roar from the crowd greeted the stellar performance of the 1984 Style Council song “Shout to the Top.” Many in the audience sang along at the top of their voices, almost drowning out Weller’s lead vocal on the song. And the audience’s boundless enthusiasm seemed to push the band to new heights as they breathed new life into the 40-year-old Style Council classic.
Weller returned to the keyboard for 1995’s “Broken Stones,” which received a performance that gave each band member a moment to shine. Peake’s playing of the melodica during the performance of the song was particularly impressive as was Pilgrim’s understated drumming.
Weller co-wrote the new song “Nothing” with Suggs (Gordon McPherson) of Madness and Suggs’s friend, Andrew “Chalkie” Chalk. The performance of “Nothing” in Brooklyn featured a terrific effort by the band that backed Weller’s strong lead vocal. Peake’s saxophone playing was outstanding and Van Heel’s keyboard work was impressive. Weller and company followed that with one of the highlights of the evening, an outstanding performance of the 1988 Style Council song “It’s a Very Deep Sea.” The band’s perfectly understated backing of Weller’s lead vocal was highlighted by Peake’s flute playing. The crowd gave it a very enthusiastic response.
Weller returned to guitar duties at center stage as the main set entered its home stretch with the performance of the new song “Jumble Queen,” which Weller co-wrote with Noel Gallagher. Weller and Cradock both did impressive guitar work on the song. Pilgrim played acoustic guitar for the performance of the song, so Gordelier assumed drumming duties. That was followed by a rip-roaring version of The Jam’s 1980 song “Start!,” on which Weller and Cradock both provided some terrific and punky slash-and-burn guitar playing. Weller’s lead vocal on the song was strong and the band’s backing vocals complemented Weller’s vocal perfectly. The crowd gave it a deafening roar at the end. Weller and the band then segued into a really nice version of 1992’s “Above the Clouds.” The performance of the song was tight, with nice flute playing by Peake, good bass playing by Fletcher, impressive guitar playing by Weller and Cradock and excellent keys by Van Heel.
The main set drew to a close with tremendous, rocking performances of 1992’s “Into Tomorrow” and 1997’s “Peacock Suit.” The former received an extended performance that was highlighted by the terrific drumming by both Pilgrim and Gordelier toward the end of the song as well as Peake’s soulful saxophone playing and Van Heel’s funky keyboard work. The latter had Weller’s aggressive lead vocal at its center, and Weller and Cradock teamed once again with some spectacular guitar playing. The crowd roared as the performance of the song concluded and the band left the stage.
Following a brief interval during which the fans did not stop cheering, Weller and the band returned to the stage for the first of two encores. It kicked off with a trio of songs from Weller’s landmark 1995 album Stanley Road. First up was a terrific and rocking performance of “The Changingman” that was powered by the intense guitar work of Weller and Cradock and underpinned by Fletcher’s fluid basswork and Pilgrim’s powerful drumming. Weller and the band then went right into the performance of “Porcelain Gods” that became a bit trippy and had an extended ending that featured Peake on flute. Weller moved to the keyboard for a nice version of “You Do Something to Me” on which he gave a great vocal effort. The performance of the song was also highlighted by Cradock’s stellar guitar playing, Van Heel’s impressive keyboard playing and solid work by the rhythm section of Fletcher and Pilgrim. Weller moved back to center stage on acoustic guitar and, when introducing the 2020 song “Rockets,” told the crowd that the song was about people who worked outside the system. The performance of “Rockets” had Weller’s measured vocal at its center and was underpinned by Cradock’s impressive guitar work.
Weller and the band then left the stage, returning about one minute later for the second encore. Weller introduced the band members to the crowd and then led the band in a genuinely joyous performance of The Jam’s 1982 song “Town Called Malice” on which the crowd sang along at the top of their voices. The performance of the song was an all-hands-on-deck effort, featuring Weller’s strong lead vocal, terrific guitar work by Weller and Cradock, great keyboard playing by Van Heel, impressive saxophone playing by Peake and was underpinned by Fletcher’s fluid bass playing and Pilgrim’s crisp drumming. The crowd cheered loudly as Weller and the band took their bows at center stage and then left the stage to continued applause.
Weller first performed in New York City in 1977 with The Jam at CBGB’s in Lower Manhattan. Since then, he has performed in the Big Apple many times. The stellar September 7th performance at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre showed that Weller, at age 66, is still at the top of his game. Those holding tickets for the remaining shows on this tour of North America by Weller and his band are in for one hell of a treat.
Weller and his band will be on tour in North America through September 28th, and the tour concludes with a pair of shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. They begin a U.K. tour in mid-October. Full tour dates can be found at https://www.paulweller.com/live.
The setlist was as follows:
Nova
Cosmic Fringes
My Ever Changing Moods (The Style Council song)
Soul Wandering
That Pleasure
Headstart for Happiness (The Style Council song)
All the Pictures on the Wall
Stanley Road
Rise Up Singing
Glad Times
Village
Fat Pop
Hung Up
Shout to the Top (The Style Council song)
Broken Stones
Nothing
It's a Very Deep Sea (The Style Council song)
Jumble Queen
Start! (The Jam song)
Above the Clouds
Into Tomorrow
Peacock Suit
Encore 1:
The Changingman
Porcelain Gods
You Do Something to Me
Rockets
Encore 2:
Town Called Malice (The Jam song)
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