Even a
middle-aged Modfather remains cooler than most musicians half his age.
Yes,
57-year-old Paul Weller of The Jam and The Style Council fame brought his
ever-changing, genre-hopping music of the last four decades - retro-British
rock, soul, blues, psychedelia, dance, folk (frankly, he’s great at it all) -
to the Danforth Music Hall on Monday night.
The show
was sold-out but you could also watch it being live-streamed on Yahoo.
“How
lovely it is to be back here in Toronto - I mean that," said Weller,
stylishly decked out in a purple shirt, grey dress slacks and black and white
spats while camera men scrambled around him to get a killer close-up.
Touring in
support of his loud and hard-rocking yet still experimental 12th solo album,
Saturns Pattern, Weller and his five-piece band, with special mention to fellow
and equally impressive lead guitarist Steve Cradock (Ocean Colour Scene),
kicked off the hour-and-50-minute, three encore show with White Sky from that
new disc released just last month.
With five
blazing lights behind them and a wall of sound blasting at the crowd, there was
no question Weller and his band came out swinging for the rafters.
But
because he’s versatile, Weller constantly changed up the mood as the night
progressed, playing both electric and acoustic guitar before heading to
keyboards at the side of the stage.
Highlights
in a set list that wasn’t big on hits included older songs Come On/Let’s Go,
The Olde Original, Into Tomorrow, From the Floorboards Up, The Changingman and
new tunes the title track from Saturns Pattern, Going My Way and City Streets.
“It's hard
to introduce new songs but that’s why we’re touring,” said Weller.
The three
standouts of the night were varied, from the epic, jammy psychedelia of
Porcelain Gods, with plenty of solo work from Weller and Cradock, to the
intimate love song You Do Something To Me, with Weller on keyboards, to the
surprise third encore song, The Jam’s A Town Called Malice, with Weller letting
the crowd handle the chorus.
All that
was missing was The Style Council’s Shout It To The Top.
SET LIST: -
White Sky
Come
On/Let’s Go
Long Time
I’m Where
I Should Be
When Your
Garden’s Overgrown
The Olde
Original
Into
Tomorrow
Saturns
Pattern
Going My
Way
Above the
Clouds
The Attic
From the
Floorboards Up
Friday
Street
Porcelain
Gods
Brand New
Toy
You Do
Something To Me
Peacock
Suit
Whirlpool’s
End
ENCORE: -
Out Of the
Sinking
These City
Streets
SECOND ENCORE: -
Broken
Stones
Foot of
the Mountain
The
Changingman
THIRD ENCORE: -
A Town
Called Malice
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