Paul Weller. Still a Class Act

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Age didn't matter tonight at Portsmouths Guildhall. Paul Weller and his band showed any up and coming musicians how it should be done. Although a Weller gig is a very different occasion now than when he first appeared at the guildhall in Portsmouth, the audience of all generations was mesmerised.

The pubs were buzzing around the guildhall Portsmouth in anticipation of the performance of The iconic Paul Weller. Many of the audience were probably present when Weller played in Portsmouth the first time with, The Jam in 1978, but what struck me was that he has crossed the ages and he still attracts people that were not even born then to his gigs.

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Personally I was too young to go back then, but my older sister still often talks of the frenetic energy of that gig to this day.

Paul Weller may not at 66 years old have the aggressive energy he once had but what's replaced it is a polish and craft that comes from decades if touring and playing with the best musicians.

Paul Weller wows the audience at Portsmouths Guildhall.Paul Weller wows the audience at Portsmouths Guildhall.
Paul Weller wows the audience at Portsmouths Guildhall.

And what musicians they were. It didn't matter that many of the songs on the set list were album tracks. The class shone through and enchanted the audience. It hardly matters that there was no room in the set for classic Jam songs like Going Underground or Eton Rifles. No one noticed that he didn't play, You do Something to me or Sunflower from his solo career.

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What the audience enjoyed was a classy performance of songs that some didn't know with just enough classic tracks to keep the enthusiasm going.

Stad out moments were Porcelain Gods, Changing Man and Shout to the Top was just divine.. Tracks from latest album 66 were fabulous and actually lesser known tracks were played with so much class that the amazing and very relevant (for today) That's Entertainment, didn't stand out. Paul showed he has lost none of his old fire with comments about how the genocide must be stopped in Gaza.

Although Paul is now 66, his voice seems stronger than ever and although he is not these days so sprightly around the stage, his set surely showed younger bands how it should be done