Paul Weller w/ Barbara – King George’s Hall, Blackburn: Live Review

By At The Barrier on 18th April 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Paul Weller takes a trip down memory lane with a career retrospective set. Support comes from At The Barrier favourites, Barbara!

We’ve been looking forward to this one; a lot. We were thrilled – nay, ecstatic – when our friends, Barbara, the up-and-coming Brighton band led by brothers John & Henry Tydeman – announced that they had been invited to open for Paul Weller on his Spring 2024 UK Tour. It’s what we consider a genuine two-for-the-price-one package – not only do we get to see the distinguished Mr Weller perform an extensive retrospective of his career, but also one of our favourite bands receive a well-earned dose of massive exposure, and get to exercise their blossoming repertoire on some big stages. Every one’s a winner!

Mike and John popped along to Blackburn’s King Georges Hall to watch events unfold… No strangers to Blackburn’s prime venue, our pages have featured reviews of performances by acts as diverse as The Australian Pink Floyd, Rival Sons, The Proclaimers and Marillion over recent times – you could say that the place is one of our current favourite venues.

PAUL WELLER

From early afternoon crowds were already starting to gather outside the Hall and in the surrounding pubs and cafes with Mod-crops, parkas, Lambretta insignia and roundel designs very much in evidence. It’s obvious that many a ticket holder tonight have been in for the long haul. Possibly even in sixth form when The Jam were straight in at #1 with Going Underground or able to reminisce over the incendiary Weller/Foxton/Butler live shows of the era.The striking Barbara logo was less obviously on display, but maybe next time they’re in the area, copious Glorious Graphite Flower, Monstrous Monstera and Magnanimous Melon Tee-shirts will be in evidence.

In years from now, 2024 might be viewed as something of an Indian Summer in the Paul Weller grand scheme of things. He admits to it feeling like an age since he and his band have been on the road. This tour of relatively smaller venues, a trip to the US and then another UK jaunt at the end of the year sees a plentiful and welcome glut of prime Weller on which to gorge.

As he sings the opening lines to Rip The Pages up, “I’ve been down but I’m going to get up,” that kicks off the show with a funky swagger and stinging wah-wah passage, you wonder what those down points might have. Having noted that, judging by his critical and commercial standing and chart record with regular Top 3 bothering releases, he’s never really been out of style. He’s a stylish guy too, tonight casually smart in a button up denim jacket, grey strides combo. Couldn’t get close enough to check out the shoes…

However, we do observe a huge two drum set up – each brandishing a ‘6’ on the bass drum – the new album, more of which later, is 66 – as the sold out Blackburn crowd gets informed how we’re “going on a journey across the decades” and true to his word, Paul Weller does exactly that. A tall order when you actually sit down and think about the journey which began over four decades ago and then consider the set he plays against what else still sits on the subs bench – maybe the likes of Heliocentric and Illumination and the early noughties albums might be mined for later in the year?

A small teaser of new songs are strategically placed in the set. Soul Wandering fitting in straight after the opening blitz and a couple (including the Noel Gallagher co-write on Jumble Queen – complete with insistent da-da-da-ding earworm) inserted after the vibrant crowd pleasing Shout To The Top.

The presence of a clutch of Fat Pop! songs sees Weller at the piano for Glad Times that’s sandwiched by Stanley Raod and Above The Clouds in a brief laid back section when the mirror ball gets its first outing of the evening. An opportunity for the couples in the audience to have a smooch in contrast to the electro cool of the Fat Pop! title track (which always conjures up images of Ian Dury) that gets the crowd into shimmy mode and one that Weller himself refers to as “a hymn” as he espouses over the redeeming power of music.

Of course, the songs are played out by a crack band that includes Weller’s main lieutenant; rarely is he seen with out the similarly cool Gibson SG wielding Steve Cradock by his side and it’s been a while, but nice to see ex-Gramotone Jake Fletcher looking cool in his bass role. However, the presence of Jacko Peake on brass, ranging from deep sax to flute adds more than just an instrument; it’s his contribution that gives a real smooth and soulful feel to the material

With the Beatlesque/Revolveresque double whammy of Start! and Peacock Suit bringing the main set to a rousing close with some vibrant soul, be it heavy or rubber, the two encores swing one extreme to another. A mini set that builds around the chilled vibes of Wild Wood and Rockets then swaps direction to the sort of finale that ensures the crowd leaves on a high with The Changingman ringing in the ears. A top night and no finer way to act as an amuse bouche for the September/October second leg.

BARBARA

The atmosphere was electric and the sense of expectation palpable as the hall filled and the lights dimmed – to a recorded announcement from none other than Paul Weller himself – “All the way from Brighton, France” – and Barbara surged onto the stage. It was a throbbing version of recent single Waiting Outside Alone that got Barbara’s set underway. The song has become the band’s go-to set opener, and tonight, the audience was thoroughly engaged, right from the opening bars. John, dressed as usual in corduroy jacket, vee-neck pullover and flannels was as dynamic as ever as he reeled guitarist Dean Llewellyn towards him in a simulated fishing scenario, whilst Henry, having eschewed his regular green tank-top for an altogether more dapper outfit, was as Ron Mael inscrutable as ever behind his keyboard.

The stage was crowded – Paul W’s gear occupied about 75% of it, of course, and the bits of the remaining 25% not occupied by Barbara’s setup and trailing cables left little room for manoeuvre, but the guys coped splendidly. They’ve clearly been putting a lot of effort into polishing their stagecraft and presentation – and they were already pretty good at those things – but, tonight, their efforts reaped special rewards. The band have grown, in confidence and presence and their delivery is slicker and more brightly polished than ever. John has always been a captivating frontman, but it’s great to see that Dean Llewellyn – an impeccable guitarist whose style fits Barbara to a ‘T’ – and even bassist Jack Hosgood – undeniably solid and usually static – getting in on the visual part of the Barbara show.

By the time the band had kicked into Pretty Straight Guy Weller-ites in the crowd seemed to be shaking their booties, and they didn’t stop as that particular gem was followed by Rainy Days in June, a song that, to veteran Barbarettes like ourselves, now feels like a venerable old friend. “It’s a celebration of the introvert – someone like me!” announces the ever mobile John (probably joking, actually) as he introduced the song. It was straight into A Perishing of Cherished Things, perhaps THE highlight of Barbara’s April 2022 debut EP, Mildly Entertaining, a song that now includes a new “statues” pose at the song’s mid-point and a vibrant heavy metal ending – and they work a treat.

John used his thumb to gesture towards Dean as he sang the “Have you seen my electronic self” opening line to Don’t Send Me Messages, a song dedicated to the brothers’ mother, before thes final number, the Abba-lick-drenched BRB. “Thank you Blackburn – we hope that, sometime, in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be back,” shouted John.

“The best weeks of their lives,” the brothers confided about the tour when we caught up them at the Merch stand. We’ve already predicted that 2024 will be a monumental year for the band – it’s started tremendously with this tour and we have no doubt that they’ve made a lot of new friends; they’ve got a second EP – Happy Days! – due for release in May and, hot off the press, they’ve announced that they’ll be undertaking a short tour in November of this year (details here) with tickets already selling like hot cakes!