A Sense of Doubt blog post #3508 - Paul Weller Concert Review Chicago 2024
The first week of school is busy, and so I am still working on my own review/report on the Paul Weller show I saw in Seattle (and my whole trip) last week.
And so, while I am still working on my report/review, here's someone else's from the Chicago show also last week.
For no apparent reason that I can explain, this experience (seeing Weller in concert) is tied up with losing my Dad. I am still trying to figure out a way to articulate why.
Thanks for tuning in.
UK rock legend Paul Weller returns to the Midwest for the
first time in 7 years
On Sunday night, British music legend Paul Weller took the
stage in Chicago for the first time in seven years. That gap was the biggest
U.S. touring gap since his solo career began in 1991.
Senior Editor/Writer
Published Sep 16, 2024 at 12:02 PM
On Sunday night, British music legend Paul Weller took the
stage in Chicago for the first time in seven years. That gap was the biggest
U.S. touring gap since his solo career began in 1991.
While The Vic Theater wasn’t sold out, there was a large and
very appreciative crowd on hand as well got us all caught up on what he’s been
up to since his 2017 appearance at the House of Blues.
Weller has never performed as a solo artist, nor as a member
of The Style Council. The Jam did perform once at Bunky’s in Madison in 1978.
He explains why in this
2010 interview.
“In the seven years we’ve been away,” he said (and I’m
paraphrasing), “we’ve released seven or eight records. It’s going to be a long
night. We’ve got a lot of songs to get through. But I think you’ll enjoy it.”
There were actually four LPs in that time – “True Meanings,”
“On Sunset,” “Fat Pop (Volume 1)” and “66.” But we got his point.
Weller nodded, of course, to his still-beloved band The Jam
– one of the greatest British bands of all time – playing “Start!” and “Town
Called Malice,” and to The Style Council, whose best work was woefully
underrated and underappreciated. From the TSC era we heard “Have You Ever Had
It Blue,” “Shout ot the Top,” “My Ever Changing Moods” and “Headstart for
Happiness.”
Of course some of the key solo-era hits were on display, too, including “You Do Something to Me,” “Above The Clouds,” “Hung Up” and his solo debut, “Into Tomorrow.”
I was especially pleased that he played one of my favorites,
“All the Pictures on the Wall,” from “Wild Wood” (he played the title track
from that 1993 LP, too).
But, he really did focus on the records since his last
appearance, with three from “66,” released in May, but also four from 2021’s
“Fat Pop” and three from 2020’s “On Sunset.” There wasn’t anything on the set
list from 2018’s “True Meanings,” but some of that material was in the set at
the 2017 gig.
The band – most of which has been with Weller for a long time now, with the exception of a new bassist and the return of reedsman Jacko Peake who had been playing with Weller at the inception of his solo career – was top-notch as always, adept at both the rockier material and the more soulful stuff.
Personally, I’m a fan of all it, and during the show, as I
stood near what appeared to be a tween, I had the realization that the kid was
about the age I was when I first heard Weller, whose career I have followed
since I was a 12- or 13-year-old seventh grader.
That’s about 46 years. That’s longer than pretty much any
friend I have, except one (shoutout, Mark B!). I can only hope that the
youngster at Sunday night’s show gets as much joy out of the music as I have
over all those years.
Donegal singer/songwriter George Houston opened the show
with a set full of quirky, funny, melodic tunes augmented by his unique voice,
energetic acoustic guitar playing and charming between-song banter.
Setlist
- Nova
-
Cosmic Fringes
-
Soul Wandering
-
My Ever Changing Moods
-
That Pleasure
-
All the Pictures on the Wall
-
Shout to the Top!
-
Headstart for Happiness
-
Stanley Road
-
Glad Times
-
Have You Ever Had It Blue
-
Village
-
Fat Pop
-
More
-
Broken Stones
-
Hung Up
-
Above The Clouds
-
Nothing
-
Start!
-
Jumble Queen
-
Into Tomorrow
-
Peacock Suit
Encore:
-
The Changingman
-
Porcelain Gods
-
Wild Wood
-
Rockets
Second encore:
-
You Do Something to Me
-
Town Called Malice
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2409.25 - 10:10
- Days ago: MOM = 3372 days ago & DAD = 028 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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