Weller at the Wiltern

Last night I went to see one of my heroes kick off his latest tour of the U.S. and Canada. I've seen Paul Weller play the Wiltern a few times, but this time he was coming off a crazy new album with a reconstituted band. (No Steve White?) How would this follow up on his last dates in L.A. and NYC, which mixed in large doses of The Jam and The Style Council to commemorate a career-spanning box set?


The set started off with five or six rockers: "Peacock Suit," "22 Dreams," "Changing Man," "Floorboards Up," "All I Wanna Do"... While Weller seemed really amped during last year's three-night stand at The Palace, I'd be surprised if he wasn't just a little stressed about the expections of playing old songs for the first time in ages. This time seemed like he and the band were just playing hard and having a lot of fun. While most of the guys in the group wore T-shirts, the oil painting on the keyboard was pure class.


There were some interesting new treatments of older songs... "Carnation" sounded larger than ever before and the end of "That's Entertainment" had some dueling guitars between the Modfather and longtime axe-player Steve Cradock. The tripped out version of "Picking Up Sticks" was wild, and I really dug the dubbed out take of "Wild Wood" with echoing drums and super heavy bass. Weller held a smoke and drink while he sang, practically shaking with energy without any guitar or piano to hide behind. I think the Obama campaign should use "Shout To The Top!" somehow...


No spoken word or acid folk from the new album. The second show at the Wiltern might be more mellow like that, but last night was all about power. The final three songs of the main set were "Echoes Round The Sun," "Come On, Let's Go," and "The Eton Rifles." You already know what the final song was.

Just five more Weller shows on the North American tour... If you're a fan of The Jam, The Style Council, Paul Weller, or quality rock 'n' roll infused with soul and politics, don't miss him.

03/09/2008 - Los Angeles, USA
04/09/2008 - San Francisco
07/09/2008 - Toronto
09/09/2008 - Boston, MA, USA
10/09/2008 - New York, USA