Wednesday 06/12/06 Paul Weller @ Kentish Town Forum, London

So how’s the old modfather doing these days? “Alwight,” he’d probably say, while lighting up his fiftieth cigarette of the day.  Never one to jump on any musical bandwagon, Paul Weller has stayed true to his mod meta-faith since the dawn of time – that is, sometime in the early 70s – and has never let anyone tell him how to make his music, or change his style. He could quite possibly be the most belligerent artist in pop music when it comes to defending what he thinks is right, and by god, it’s certainly worked for him over the years (give or take a few dodgy decisions in the late 80s). Weller’s made an absolute mint from making forthright, soulful, oak-smoked mod rock for thirty years now, and this year, he’s shown no signs of stopping. In fact, he’s actually worked out how to perform best: by giving his legions of die-hard fans exactly what they want, an invigorating mix of old and new tunes from his long career.

Six years ago Weller was boring everyone to death by trying to be a bit Nick Drake; bringing in orchestras, drawing out elongated mini mod-tinged opuses and generally losing his fire ‘n’ skill spark on albums such as 'Heliocentric'. Over the past couple of years, Weller’s had some strong albums which have seen him rocking again, most notably ‘As Is Now’ and live album, ‘Catch-Flame!’. Tonight sees him relight that fire ‘n’ skill, by running rampant through a setlist of old favourites from the Jam and solo years. Backed up as ever by Steve Craddock, Steve White and Damon Minchella, this could easily be ten years ago at the height of Weller’s phoenix-like rise when he sat at the head of the Britpop table, showing everyone how to do it. Not only is he on top face-gurning, guitar-chopping form, he also bounds about the front of the stage, is uncharacteristically chatty, and looks exceptionally sharp, considering he’s pushing fifty, in a tailored silver-grey suit.

More than anything, he doesn’t slow it down too much, only rolling steadily through more ambling tunes such as ‘Above The Clouds’ and Broken Stones, but then breaks into a powerful jam and twists the tracks into the most exciting versions they’ve been in a long time. Jam fans are ecstatic when ‘Thick As Thieves’ is ripped through, and sounds as great as it does when Weller was twenty-four, which could be the last time it was played. ‘Porcelain Gods’ is jammed supremely with ‘I Walk On Gilded Splinters’, and ‘Foot Of The Mountain’ is innovatively played at double speed, with a mind-blowing ending. Bizarrely, the only let up in the furious pace is to let drummer Steve White finally have his X-Factor style chance at singing Blue Moon, while Weller backs him up on keys – showing that the grumpy man of mod really does have a sense of humour after all. With a ‘Town Called Malice’ encore to finish, there’s not a Lambretta-tattooed Wellerhead in the house that couldn’t have agreed to a better set from him. The pipe and slippers are a long way off yet.