New Paul Weller album, Saturn's Pattern (May 2015)

Anyone from the Bay Area check him out at Hardly Strictly today?

 

Awesome show at the Fillmore tonight. He played almost all of Saturns Pattern, which made me very happy, plus "Man in the Cornershop," "Start!" and a very psychedelic "In the Crowd." "Starlite" was a nice surprise, and I was indeed thrilled to finally hear "Have You Ever Had It Blue?" live.

Interesting to note he played nothing from Wild Wood -- or 22 Dreams.

 

I'd like to not hear Town Called Malice, been done to death and there are other Jam chestnuts I would rather hear. Did he break that one out yet again?

 

Best setlists I have seen him perform (two of the LA nights), just love the mix of old and new. I doubt he will ever do that they of thing again.

 

Yeah, final encore, and totally agree.

 

And nothing from Wake Up The Nation, either! But I'm okay with skipping WUTN and 22D - I prefer the first four solo albums and the most recent two. Would've liked some As Is Now stuff, but since I saw that tour, I can live with their absence from the setlist.

The setlist posted at setlist.com is incorrect for Seattle. He did "Paperchase" (which isn't listed) and didn't do "Ghosts" (which is listed). He also did a very bizarr-o version of "Out of The Sinking" as one of his Seattle encores, which he didn't repeat in Portland. It had an almost jazzy arrangement and was one of the few real misfires of the evening for me. I've only ever heard the song done with passion and urgency, so to hear this weird sort of "light" version just didn't work for me. Too bad no other forumites appeared to make it to either NW show - I was hoping some others might chime in.

Glad you had a good time, @e.s.!

 

All told, nothing from Heliocentric, Illumination, As Is Now, 22 Dreams, and Wake Up the Nation. He played seven songs from Saturns Pattern, one from Sonik Kicks ("Paperchase"), one standalone single ("Starlite"), three from Heavy Soul ("Peacock Suit," "Up in Suze's Room," "Friday Street"), two from Stanley Road ("The Changingman," "Porcelain Gods"), and two from his debut ("Into Tomorrow" and "Above the Clouds"). The rest were Jam / TSC songs: "Man in the Cornershop," "In the Crowd," "Start!" and "Town Called Malice" / "My Ever Changing Moods" and "Have You Ever Had it Blue?" Overall, pretty different setlist from last couple times I've seen him, which was welcome.

 

Only two from Stanley Road? I got five the first night in Seattle (+You Do Something, Out of The Sinking, Whirlpools End) and EIGHT from Saturns Pattern...

 

Honestly, with the exception of that last one, I've heard plenty of Stanley Road live, especially "You Do Something to Me."

 

Amazon Uk are have a clear vinyl for Friday
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saturns-Pat...F8&qid=1444117549&sr=1-6&keywords=paul+weller

 

We got the same standard set tonight in LA. But "Start" was not taken at a relaxed pace, but sharp, fast, and hot, and Corner Shop was not cut off before the end. "In The Crowd" sounded wonderful. That I had not heard done live before. We got "Ever Changing Moods" but not "Long Hot Summer".

All and all Weller had a good night, and said he was very excited to be back in our wonderful city. He seemed really sincerely happy to be playing LA. I took some cell phone video from up front, it going to look great, but I'm afraid to hear the sound of it, it's likely pure audio distortion.

Hoping tonight (Thurs) the setlist gets major reworking, but I kind of doubt it will.

 

I just discovered a nice little 50-minute thing on Amazon tonight that was filmed this spring/summer in Brighton (UK), for those who have Amazon prime. A "secret/surprise" gig with Paul mainly doing Saturn material - nicely filmed, with a bit of interview/dialogue to change up the pace a bit.

Look for Weller "front row" or "great escape" and you'll find it there...

 

There were a couple major set list differences tonight Thurs 10/8 in LA. The biggie to me was the addition of
"Boy About Town" which sounded really hard rockin and electric. Class-A Jam song right there! "That's Entertainment" too, which always sounds great, and I have not heard him perform that in many years.

 

"Boy About Town" has only been performed live by Weller one other time, and it was KILLER last night, I hope the tapers got it!

"That's Entertainment" has not been performed on this tour previously, or not recently. But it was done last night because Miles Kane was brought out as guest and performed it with Weller. I did not know who Kane was previously. But he was a very sharply dressed Brit guy who hits a mean rhythm guitar, and looked to be having a blast up there with Weller. In fact Weller said we had a really great time last night (weds), and are glad to be back tonight!

Last night's show was five songs longer than the average show on this tour.

 

Miles Kane is fantastic -- two solo albums, one with The Rascals, and one with Alex Turner as The Last Shadow Puppets.

 

I've been messing around with my video footage of both shows trying to make a mini movie of the two LA nights. The quality of picture and sound is far above what one would expect, yet it takes several conversions to get the video up to where it can be streamed. I hated the results after conversions. I will post some (video) so everyone can see.

But taking stills from the video frames shows off the picture quality a bit better until I get my head around the conversion process. iPhone footage is a nightmare to work on, yet the original frames are excellent.

Anyway, here is a still from Kane's guest appearance with Weller in LA so you can get an idea anyway what went on on stage.

 

Here is an example of a video after the conversion process. It's gone from really good to unacceptable. I might pull this down after a day of so. Try and rework on the stuff to get it much better. Sound is Weller's guitar mainly because I am standing directly in front of his amp.

 

This is actually how nice most of my video looks on my PC. Here another still (taken from video footage) from second night in LA.

 

New video:

 

The last single of the bunch. Apparently the 2nd vinyl actually comes at no extra charge with the first...

I kind of hope they issue all five of these 7", like they did with the Sonik Kicks box. I've made fun of the Spirograph artwork, but I actually think they look better as singles than the SK artwork (it was fine for the album, but having all the singles be variations of the same shot was kind of dull). The price on these puppies is pretty ridiculous though. Some $56 plus shipping - ouch...


Tracklisting:
7” #1
A. Pick It Up B. Pick It Up (Dub Version)
7” #2 (D2C exclusive)A. On Days Like These*B. Praise If You Wanna**

 

I've only been able to see him three times in 20 years of being a fan, but I've still never heard the title track, which is my favorite off the LP. Oh well.

 

Hmmm, I'd have to look at set lists, but now that you mention it, I don't know that I've ever seen him do "Stanley Road" live either...

 

I don't think he's ever played it very often. I know it wasn't a single, but still kind of a surprising rarity, considering it's from one of his most successful LP's and is a pretty energetic, uptempo tune that sounds great in big venues. Maybe he just doesn't care for it, for some reason. It's just always been one of my favorites.

 

Same here, and at this point, I'd much rather here that than "Broken Stones," "You Do Something to Me," or "Porcelain Gods." I don't dislike any of those songs, but they've been played to death at the point. Same with "The Changingman," which went from something I loved hearing live to just another song in pretty short order.

 

I'd probably feel the same way if I got to see him more than once a decade. I had to go all the way to Detroit last year to catch him for the first time in 10 years, and at this rate, that might've been my last shot. Was slightly bummed he didn't do "Changingman," although I totally get the sentiment. I have U2 and Springsteen songs I feel that way about.