| Unchanging Man |
3 March 2003
|
Paul Weller Still One of Us
After about 25 years in the music business, a large number of Americans still ask "Who's Paul Weller?" Good thing, too, since seeing the sort of show he put on at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom is impossible in a stadium. From the Jam to the Style Council to his own solo act, Mr. Weller remains constant in one very significant way -- he has never separated himself from his fans. That intimacy is priceless.
His musicianship has grown since 1977 (as it should have), and his songwriting is often more subtle since there is more experience upon which to draw. Yet he has never set himself up as a rock god a la Jagger (who may merit it, or all those hair-metal front-men who don't). When he plays, Mr. Weller is not at a concert for his fans, he is at a party with his friends -- down to the Grimsby FC battleflag a few Brits were waving. As a tour wears on, that makes a difference between a good show and a great one.
The playlist covered a quarter century of work. A few favorites got missed ("Going Underground" and "Whirlpools' End" spring to mind), but when a man has written a good chunk of the soundtrack to one's youth and adulthood, that's bound to happen. "That's Entertainment" still sounds fresh, "In the Crowd" retains its teenage faceless melancholy, "Long Hot Summer" makes eyes tear up and smiles break out at the same time. His solo tunes hold up as well, which is something few musicians can say. "Peacock Suit" and "Woodcutter's Son" stand out. From the new album ("Illumination"), the crowd latched onto "A Bullet for Everyone." And Weller has made "What's Goin' On" by Marvin Gaye one of his own.
Sebatian Rogers and Fiction Plane were the two warm-ups, and one suspects they are too English in their current form to sell big in the States, but "Top of the Pops" may well lie in their futures.
Mercifully, we won't see them or Paul Weller at a stadium any time soon.