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Its a 7.30pm start on a damp and foggy Friday night in Coventry, the venue is the deceptively spacious Warwick Art Centre which nestles within the Warwick University Campus.
Despite early doors, a small crowd gathers at the front of the stage and punters are already filtering into the upper seated areas. Your typical Paul Weller fan is probably in their late thirties or early forties, which is in stark contrast to the fresh faced support act Twisted Wheel. They kick off with 'Lucy The Castle', a short punchy straight forward rock and roller which sets out their stall for the next 30 minutes. Singer/guitarist Johnny Brown spits out his lyrics with suitable aggression, and appears confident but not cocky. Vocally there are stronger frontmen, but equally I don’t think Twisted Wheel were gifted with the best sound tonight, with verse lyrics in particular hard to decipher.
Without being harsh, these youngsters have absorbed some fairly obvious influences from English guitar bands from the sixties to the present day. You can hear elements of early Who, Pistols, The Jam, Oasis etc through to modern day outfits such as local boys The Enemy. The resulting output therefore lacks a little in originality but nevertheless, is executed well and more importantly with passion and feeling.
3 piece bands often suffer live when it comes to lead breaks and solos, leaving noticeable 'holes' in the tunes when the rhythm guitar drops out. This is not the case with Twisted Wheel and despite the obvious technical difficulties with the tech running on stage several times. Brown does a good job of mixing up the two, with solid bass and drums both playing their part in crafting the bands full, (and at times wall of noise) sound. That said, if the band want to develop things and take a more mature direction, adding a second guitarist or keys into the mix could add some additional melodies and colour to the arrangements.
Making good use of dynamics 'You Stole The Sun' is a definite foot tapper, with the drum heavy 'Let Them Have It All' being the highlight of their short set. Thus far the band have already supported some big names, and the chance to tour with Weller is obviously not to be sniffed at, and no doubt they picked up some new fans tonight. I just cant help thinking they would be more suited to a smaller intimate venue playing to a younger audience.
By the time Paul Weller and Co. take to the stage it's approaching 9pm, and the security staff are fighting a losing battle instructing the crowd to cease any recording or photography. I don't mind as there were no official photo passes issued, and given that brand new songs are being aired it is understandable that Weller’s 'people' want to try keep them out of the public domain until general release.
Its been a few year's since I last saw the Modfather playing live, and for this tour long term rhythm section Steve White and Damon Minchella are out of the squad, replaced by Steve Pilgrim and Andy Lewis respectively. Sporting typical mod apparel of pressed trousers and a v neck jumper, the now silver haired Weller is refusing to grow old gracefully (the barnet seems more extreme than ever with longer sides and a shorter fringe). Opening with the title track from next year's long player 'Wake up The Nation', early indications are that the his song writing is back on form, it has more urgency, energy and is generally a rockier affair than the majority of 2008's '22 Dreams'.
Steve Cradock retains his position on second guitar, delivering a snappy solo on 'From The Floorboards Up', the obvious on-stage chemistry and interplay between him and Weller continuous to develop as they jam out the tunes. Also new, 'Fast Car, Slow Traffic' harks back to Weller's Jam days, but with darker guitars and clattering keys it manages to sound fresh. Lyrically sparse the repetitive chorus is also reminiscent of Gang of Four, with Lewis proving his worth on backing vocals.
A twin assault of vintage SG's introduces 'Strange Town', the first of several tunes from The Jam's back catalogue. I'm not going to dwell on it but Weller's decision some years ago to resurrect these songs did not go down well with this reviewer. However, tonight, plenty of balding forty somethings in Fred Perry T shirts nostalgically pogoing along would beg to differ, and later on we get the same reaction to the unmistakeable bass line of 'Pretty Green', choppy guitars of 'Start' and the set closer and crowd pleaser 'Town Called Malice'.
Weller disappears stage left to play keys on a few numbers from '22 Dreams', and as the pace drops off Lewis and Cradock are both seated. Drawing from his entire 30 odd year career 'Shout to the Top' from his Council days gets a new lease of life, alongside other solo classics such as 'Broken Stones', a bluesier 'Into Tomorrow', and a storming 'Whirlpool's End'. 'Dust and Rocks' from the underrated 'Heliocentric' album sounds better than ever, and of course a Weller gig would not be complete without 'The Changing Man'.
The nonsense tango of 'One Bright Star' is only redeemed by Pilgrim's drum solo, and whatever he lacks in technique compared to Whitey is compensated by his power, attitude and flexibility, as he also takes on acoustic guitar duty and contributes vocals to end a 3 song mini acoustic set.
2 hours, 2 encores, a falling mic stand, strutting and swaggering from Weller, kicks and spins from Cradock, the appearance of a toddler on-stage with a toy guitar and ear defenders and 26 songs since his set started. Weller finally signals the end of proceedings by spitting out his plectrum and volleying it into the crowd with his tambourine. Cool as fuck? All in all a great Friday night out in Coventry, not forgetting Twisted Wheel who gave a highly charged and decent account of themselves.
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article by: Steve Hawley
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| published: 14/12/2009 13:12 |
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