Paul Weller – Live Review – Connexin, Hull

By Roger Crow, November 2024

I’d waited 45 years to see one of the greatest British singer/songwriters of his generation live, and when Paul Weller finally took to the stage in Hull on Halloween, it turned out to be worth the wait.

Weaned on those classic tracks by The Jam, The Style Council, and the past 30-plus years of him as a solo artist, like many other great tunesmiths, Weller was one of the most recurring artists who soundtracked my life, and countless others’.

There are many highlights of the evening, not least the fact we didn’t need a second mortgage for the tickets. Clocking in around the £50 mark each, Weller and his outstanding band delivered so many hits, old and new, that there was never a danger of feeling short changed. Quite the opposite. The biggest heartbreak for me was the fact there was no ‘Going Underground’, one of my favourite tracks of all time by any artist. On the plus side, there were all the old classics, including ‘Shout to the Top’; the gloriously mellow ‘Wild Wood’, and ever-seductive ‘You Do Something to Me’.

Naturally he played some stuff from the new album, 66 – the track he crafted with Noel Gallagher, ‘Jumble Queen’, is an absolute banger.

“Richness”

Paul and his band, including two phenomenal drummers, were like a well-oiled machine, seamlessly delivering the goods in an epic set.

There were a couple of encores, and naturally when they launched into ‘A Town Called Malice’, it brought the house down. Suddenly it was 1982 again and we were all angry young music lovers embracing the Modfather, not realising that his best was yet to come.

Even if you’re not a fan and have little knowledge of his back catalogue, do not let that put you off seeing him live. Mrs C had no real experience of Weller so didn’t know what to expect, and she loved it.

His back catalogue is extraordinary, not least the change of style (council), from angry young man to the mellow noodlings of the 1983 era and beyond. There’s a richness to those tracks that transcended fads of the era, and many were as relevant 40-odd years ago as they are today.

If, like me, you’d never seen Paul Weller live, then do whatever you can to catch him on his current tour. It’s a night you’ll never forget. That certainly is entertainment.

images: Roger Crow