paul weller live at scarborough’s open air theatre

★★★★★ (5/5)

PAUL WELLER LIVE AT SCARBOROUGH’S OPEN AIR THEATRE
PHOTOCREDIT: JOHN HAYHURST

The good old British summertime, you’ve got to love it. Walking up to a venue which I absolutely love but which has no cover once you’re inside I was looking at the very dark clouds that were gathering and wondering when the heavy rain might arrive. I had an experience at the Pulp gig last year in the same venue that I’m still scarred by! As we collected our tickets the storm hit, luckily, I was prepared after the previous time and had brought waterproofs with me. Many of the rest the crowd clearly weren’t quite as prepared, I saw tesco carrier bags utilised as hats, people dressed as proper mods who resembled drowned rats and a number of people looking miserable in the weather.

Luckily for them they were here to see the Modfather, one of the greatest song writers the UK has ever produced with a string of hits to his name from the late 70’s until now with his latest release, 66, which also happens to be his age, getting substantial air play and bringing in a new audience.

The audience themselves were mixed, a number of people who have clearly been with Paul from the Jam all the way to some really young fans who can’t have been born when Paul wrote much of his music. Many came dressed like they would have in their Jam days and there were clearly a few mods there, I was disappointed not to see any scooters parked outside.

I did feel a bit sorry for the security team, they had been told no smoking or vaping was allowed and they did their best to police it but in a packed standing crowd (we were standing rather than in the seats) it was quite hard to do so, it meant people near the edges were asked to stop while they could see people further in clearly smoking which caused frustration and a feeling that the policy wasn’t being consistently applied. Thankfully it stayed good humoured which was probably down to the feeling of all being in it together in the weather, but I’d suggest there either needs to be consistent enforcement or a change of approach.

The support act, Stone Foundation, entered the fray at about 6.45, miraculously the weather started to clear up and the rain pretty much stayed off for the remainder of their set apart form one late flourish. This is an act who Paul has co-wrote with, sung on some of their songs and generally has a great relationship with. It was the perfect antidote to the weather, they are lively, upbeat, play a soulful, brass laden mix of rock and pop and did their absolute best to liven the crowd up and get them going. They managed to get a bit of singing along on the go, they got some dancing in the standing section and generally put on a show to build anticipation for Paul himself. It may be one of the longest support act sets I’ve ever seen, lastly well over an hour but they gave it their all and got a very warm reception from the crowd.

Paul himself was on stage at 8.30, making it clear from the off he was going to play a longer than usual set, which ended up being two hours. There is something quite self-effacing about him as an artist, there was no big entry, no big fanfare, no fireworks but then, when you’re Paul Weller you really don’t need any of that, you walk out, and your warmth and charm instantly shines through.

This felt very much like a gig of two halves from Paul, the first hour or so contained very few of his hits, given he intended to paly such a long set list he drew from a variety of sources and albums and aired a number of songs that don’t get played live that often.

Throughout many of the songs came from the new album, 66, which does sound as fresh as anything he’s done in quite a while. It feels like he’s undergoing a reinvigoration. There were however songs drawn from a number of other of his recent albums, that first hour will have been a real delight for die-hard fans who probably got to hear things played live they never thought they would. What struck me most is I don’t think he can write a bad song, even the songs I personally wasn’t as familiar with were good, some being better than that and prompting me to investigate his back catalogue.

The second half was much hit laden, drawing from the Jam, The Style Council and his own solo work. It the tempo at times for the first hour was a bit more laid back the second hour was clearly designed to get everyone up, get them dancing and singing and generally make sure people would remember this gig for a long time. The design succeeded, the crowd were energised, those who may have not known some of the songs from the first hour were bouncing around, two women besides us who may well have been entering their 7th decade (although that may be unfair) started an impromptu dance session. When you can pull out That’s Entertainment, My Ever Changing Moods, Stanly Rod, Shout to the Top, Start, The Changingman, Wild Wood, Broken Stones, You do something to me and finish the whole show with a Town called Malice you don’t really need to do much else than turn up and sing. Paul did so much more though, he engaged with the crowd, insisted the band did as well, although I’m not sure they felt as comfortable and generally had a great time. The encore was six songs long and I’m pretty sure no-one wanted it to finish.

Paul came to Scarbadoes, he sauntered in, he gave a masterclass in being a brilliant singer, songwriter, and performer then he sauntered off into the night, job very much done!