Paul Weller’s One-Day North American Tour

In-store appearances by recording artists are free concerts with an emphasis on the souvenir booth, and most of the time, one gets what one pays to hear. Usually, the “musician” turns up late, intoxicated and/or distracted with the bickering of the entourage. They get away with it because the hardcore fans are the only ones prepared to stand in the endless line in advance; they aren’t particularly critical. Somewhere along the way, Paul Weller learned to take the in-store performance seriously. His appearance at New York’s Tower Records on West 4th Street needed to be, as it is his only North American appearance this year. Odd little tour, innit?

Deciding on the ten or twelve songs to play in a space no larger than the average Woking pub can’t be easy after almost 30 years in the pop music game. So Mr. Weller stuck mainly to the new album “Studio 150.” The record is an odd, eclectic and rather daring collection of cover tunes, from Burt Bacharach to Bob Dylan by way of Gil Scott Heron. Surprise of surprises was “Close to You,” the sappy bubble-gum drivel that was the hallmark of the late Karen Carpenter (who did what she did about as well as anyone ever has). In Mr. Weller’s version, the words are meant, and the music is more memorable than whatever was in the elevator at work this morning.

“Wildwood,” “Headstart for Happiness” and the closer “That’s Entertainment” covered the three stages of his career to date, and the crowd of grey-hairs and relaxed-fit jeans were appreciative. And there was a 10-year-old in the crowd who may have dragged his dad there, or the other way round -- or could it be the appeal was multi-generational? There weren’t the soccer team flags that grace the arena shows, and the rugby scrum of the front rows was conspicuous by its absence. American Weller fans are terribly well behaved.

On stage, or rather on the little raised dais that Tower Records had everyone pretend was a stage, with Mr. Weller was accompanied on guitar by Steve Cradock, of Ocean Colour Scene and previous Weller enterprises. Mr. Cradock, of course, is a brilliantly talented guitarist in his own right. That didn’t stop them having to restart a song after tuning up a few bars into it. A fan offered some words of encouragement, and Mr. Weller, twinkle in his eyes, smiled, “You wanna play, mate?”

On WFUV (Fordham University’s station) earlier in the day, Mr. Weller told DJ Rita Houston that he was planning a 2005 tour of North America in February or thereabouts. His 2004 tour did seem a bit short.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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