Paul Weller @ Irving Plaza, Night One: Bringing You Your Hit Parade

The hottest ticket in New York this week is NOT Peter Bjorn & John, it would the three night stand at Irving Plaza of British institution Paul Weller. Hand it to the promoters for creating the hook of Night One would focus on The Jam, Night Two on The Style Council and Night Three would be Weller's solo work. Once the tickets sold out within minutes, then word on his website's message board speculated that it was not the case. They were right. Tonight's show was an all-encompassing retrospective on The Modfather's catalogue.

Setlist ( I think, please forgive me if I messed up):

• Shopping
• Tales from the Riverbank
• Carnation
• English Rose
• That's Entertainment
• Man in the Corner Shop
• Thick As Thieves
• In the Crowd
• Floorboards
• Paper Smile
• All the Pictures on My Wall
• Above the Clouds
• Running on the Spot
• Porcelain Gods
• I Walk on Gilded Splinters
• Wild Wood
• Savages
• Fly Little Bird
• The Pebble & The Boy
• Broken Stones
• You Do Something to Me
• Come On/Let's Go
• Changingman
• Foot of the Mountain
• Encore: I Wanna Make It Alright
• Sunflower
• A Town Called Malice

Geez, that took forever to type out. There might have been more after Malice, but when they take their final bow, hand out the setlist and have the house lights go up, that's time to head for the exit in my book.

It was an epic two plus hour show, which started at 9:15 for those who want to know. I really didn't mind that it was old and new. I know pretty much nothing of his solo work, but hearing some tunes tonight peaked my interest.

In any event, that setlist was killer with some Jam tunes. "English Rose" -- my good man, that's one of Weller's best written songs. That's worth the price of admission alone. End with "Town Called Malice" where the whole crowd took over singing duties. Of course, he could have played "Absolute Beginners" or "Start!",  but then if he played everyone's favorite Jam songs, I'd still be at Irving Plaza right now.

To be honest, I had a long internal debate on whether to go or sell my ticket for $200 to desperate souls outside in the freezing cold (the ticket was $50 total). $200 can buy many goods and services as well as many future shows. Then I looked at the framed picture I have of Paul Weller circa 1979 on my living room wall, where he's jumping high in the air while hitting a guitar chord, and thought, "You know, I owe it to myself to see him in some form just once." 

So seeing him tonight gave me a glimpse of what it would have been like to see him in The Jam form. He's got the Mod suit going, the thin frame and all the guitar licks. A little gray hair, wrinkled face and he didn't jump five feet in the air, but he's the man, the myth, the mod.

I've always felt that The Jam was the only OTHER band that ever mattered. They filled the lineage between The Kinks and The Smiths. Like The Clash, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and The Damned, they were the products of late-70s Britain. Tired of listening to the British prog rock, they brought the sound of the working class into their music. What made The Jam stood out was their expert lyrics and joy of rock in the music ... yes, those suits and skinny ties were the best. 

Fast forward to 2007, Weller is one of the elder statesmen of 70s British rock. I'm sure he has plenty to say about the current state of music.

With him being an icon of that 70s era, it brought out the people who were part of that scene. Usually, I feel like the oldest guy at a rock show. Tonight, I felt like the young kid, even though there were a handful of people my age or younger. The majority were British ex-pats or true Britons who made the trip over.

After waiting online for 45 minutes to get in (where five people were turned away for having fake tickets -- dummies), I entered a packed Irving Plaza and snuck my way to mid-room. Many of the people around me were sloshed already -- especially this one lady, maybe late 30s, early 40s, who was making out with this dude who she just met. I'm not talking about just making out, it was vulgar, like joking making-out in a comedy sketch, tongues were everywhere, drinks were being spilled and people were being pissed off. I'm trying to see the show and take a few pics and all I can see in my line of sight was this drunk slapper being man-handed by this older dude. Then the lady starts making out with the dude's male friend. Guess what guys, you just made out with each other. Anyway, she lasted five songs and she somehow made it out of there upright. It was truly the worst displays of PDA ever. As much as I'll always remember the show, I can't get the image out of my head of these people all over it other. ARGH!

That's just a little fun story for ya. Massively entertaining time tonight. I am a better man for it.

Comments

[kenneth]

Wow -- great post! I'm so jealous that you got to see him on Jam night. My friend flew in from Chicago for us to go on Style Council night (tonight) ... click back to my blog if you're interested in why we chose Tuesday over Monday.

[The Contrarian]

Great show review and pics. I didn't bring my camera, but we were able to talk our way in (long story) and had a blast. My wife was always a huge fan of Paul Weller & The Jam, and I still remember watching the video of "A Town Called Malice" when I was 13 during the early days of MTV. Weller did a very nice mix of old and new stuff. I was surprised how spirited his latter work was.

[bill p]

Not quite all-encompassing... no Style Council songs, right? Or was he doing deep cuts or something? Still, sounds like quite a show.

[drewo]

What? No pix of the snogging couple?

Thanks for the review and the the concert pix.

[kelly]

I have to admit I left the gig feeling it was a major letdown. Not to say Paul wasn't brilliant - he was and the band was on fire BUT 8 songs don't make it a "Jam night" in my opinion. I waited 20+ years to see this show and paid alot of money to boot, but in the end it was much like the last Weller show I saw. What was the SC show like?

[Dfactor]

Hey, nice write-up on the Weller show. I went the first night and wrote about it here:http://wavedrumor.blogspot.com/2007/01/paul-weller-irving-plaza.html
Ended up selling my second night ticket.

Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for linking both of us up today.