The word legend gets banded about all too frequently but tonight was a meeting of legends.
Paul Weller returned to the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow; the Modfather and the Barras; the legends.
Paul Weller has attained legendary status amongst his peers and army of fans. The 66 year old could easily have hung up the guitar and lived an easy life on his rich pickings gained from an illustrious career.
Starting out in the 70’s Paul Weller has amassed a discography that few can match and a reputation that most can only dream of… fronting The Jam, Style Council and as a solo artist.
The leading figure of the 70’s and 80’s mod revival, his songwriting has influenced such luminaries as Oasis and brought him a boxful of awards.
Tonight he brought his trusty band to, arguably, the greatest live venue in the UK… some would say the best in the world.
The tour is named “66” in reference to his latest album and the set list promised to be a banger.
First up on the stage was English singer / songwriter Liam Bailey.
The internet describes Liam as being influenced by soul, reggae and blues and his languid gait as he arrived stage front certainly gave off major reggae vibes… he was smooth as he slithered to his microphone.
Fronting the 4 piece outfit Liam went about his business like he was in his front room; cool, smooth and relaxed.
It was obvious that some of the crowd knew him as they sang along to some of the songs in the short set… he even came down from the stage to speak to one of the fans at the security barrier.
After the break Paul Weller and his band came onto stage with very little fanfare… they were here to entertain and that meant no pomp or ceremony to announce their arrival and, after performing ‘Cosmic Fringes’, he told the crowd ‘we’ve got a lot of songs for you tonight’ and he wasn’t wrong as they rocked their way through 26 songs!
The stage set was simple; the lights did the job without trying put on their own show, the sound was good; Mr Weller very seldom moved from behind the mic stand but that’s where he’s most at home.
Steve Cradock on guitar threw the occasional rock guitarist move and having two drummers always gives an extra bit of stage presence.
The set was tremendous and served the diehard fans as well as the casual listener with songs from The Jam and Style Council having a decent outing.
As always with Paul Weller, the show was outstanding. Top musicians plying their trade on a stage that is used to the best and in front of a packed house (for the second night) at Barrowlands.
The set was played out with a couple of The Jam songs and to huge acclaim. ‘That’s Entertainment’ as a penultimate song would be hard to top but Mr Weller knew better as the anthemic ‘Town Called Malice’ waited to pounce as the final song.
There are few bands or artists who can dream of writing and playing songs even remotely as good as those final two songs of the set.
The Barrowlands crowd were euphoric as they raised the roof on Weller’s departure and they hoped the legend would grace them and the city with his presence in the future… at 66 years old most people look to more gentle hobbies like gardening or looking after grandkids… others rock the best venue in the world!!
Review and Photographs by John Brown Photography
