Paul Weller – The Forum

Despite the fact he played songs from both The Jam and The Style Council, there was absolutely nothing nostalgic about Paul Weller’s show at The Forum.

His 2010 album Wake Up The Nation had made it blindingly obvious that the British post-punk icon was far from ready to make a living on the oldies circuit and in fact it had been revealed as a vital, urgent and challenging album.

He played a good slice of that album tonight as well as songs from 2008’s 22 Dreams, but it wasn’t what he played but how he played them that was important.

Weller exudes an effortless cool but at the same time he provides an energy in his performance that makes a mockery of many of his peers. It’s not an energy based around jumping around or high kicks, rather its an energy coming from the fact that you cant help but sense that the music still matters to him.

In fact the only song that felt like Weller was playing it out of obligation was Shout To The Top – it was a crowd pleaser but it was the only time it seemed like Weller was going through the motions. The same couldn’t be said for The Jam’s superb That’s Entertainment which was a spiky and urgent as the first time you heard it.

Of the Wake Up The Nation songs the title track and Fast Car/ Slow Traffic were highlights while the other great moment of the night was provided by The Changingman from 1995’s Stanley Road.

But I don’t think Weller actually distinguishes between old and new. I suspect, to him, each song is just a song and it has to battle for its place in the set, not due to its newness nor classic status, nor chart position or number of downloads or requests on fan forums.

In a way Weller has evolved into one of the most pure live artists you’ll see simply by playing the show that seems to fit together best to him. There were songs I wasn’t even all that familiar with and some that had a whole new approach taken to them and you can only get away with that if you have a band that is able to match its leader in its flexibility and dexterity. Weller currently has such a band.

This show was equally appealing to the hard-core Paul Weller acolytes and to those who knew nothing and were able to approach each song with completely fresh ears. The casual fan who wanted to hear the hits may have been the only ones who left feeling slightly short changed.

Wake Up The Nation – Paul Weller (Island)

The career of Paul Weller has been notable for its versatility and evolution and this album does nothing to change that view. It’s another set of sharp and incisive songs that cover a lot of stylistic  ground encompassing all of his touch stones – soul, new wave, art-pop and rock n’ roll.

It’s his tenth solo album and unlike some of his contemporaries he seems to be gaining in momentum over the past few releases. While not every song will be to everybody’s taste that’s kind of the point with Weller.

The soul traditionalists will respond to No Tears To Cry (which is a superb showcase for one type of Weller vocal, the rough hewn soul singer). The title track is a  socio-political call to arms that will receive favour with the “Weller for PM” crew while. The albums opener Moonshine is a British bar band rave-up that recalls his new wave beginnings, albeit coloured by enough ‘bleeps’ and ‘wizzes’ as to suggest a nod to electronica.

And that’s just the first three songs!

Throw in a couple of instrumentals (one in waltz time) and any number of other genre mash ups and you got an album from an artist who is still pushing the envelope. Perhaps the only song that could have found a logical home in one of his previous incarnations is Aim High, which devoted Style Councillors will find to their liking.

Wake Up The Nation is an album that travels and you need to be prepared to make the journey with it. It covers the small and strange and the big and momentous – an example of the latter is the anthemic Find The Torch, Burn The Plans which is perhaps the most bombastic piece Weller has offered in several years. It seems like a great candidate for a show closer in the live context.

Much has been made of Trees – a deep soul groove song that features the most raw vocal on the album and wanders in and out of Big Audio Dynamite type territory. It’s a short piece of work that is almost and album’s worth of genres in itself.

There’s a lot of like about this album, in its own right and as a pointer to Weller’s upcoming Australian tour which promises to be an intriguing event (on a number of levels)