Words by Joanne Marsland
Photos by Philip Goddard
Friday night and I got to see one of the most influential men in British music history, Mod God PAUL WELLER. After enormous fame with THE JAM in the 70’s and THE STYLE COUNCIL in the 80’s he eventually went solo in 92 and his success has carried on for the past 30 years.
I have honestly never seen The Apollo as packed as it was for this rescheduled gig, I managed 3 songs before I had to depart from the front, WHITE SKY and LONG TIME from 2015 album SATURNS PATTERN and COSMIC FRINGES from 2021 album FAT POP. If you only know the massive hits and not the more recent albums then the gig probably only kicked in at song 19 when he played SHOUT TO THE TOP (Style Council), START (The Jam) and PEACOCK SUIT.
This was a long awaited gig for many and they wouldn’t have been disappointed at the quantity of tracks played, and the first, yes first, encore began with my favourite track BROKEN STONES and the beautiful song YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME, to which I witnessed some amazing smoochy dancing going on in the foyer ( the only place you could move really). This was followed by another JAM track THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT and solo WILD WOOD.
Encore number 2 began with THE CHANGINGMAN and the night ended with THE JAMS party anthem TOWN CALLED MALICE. I hope no one had to leave early because it was a fabulous end to an epic show.
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