Paul Weller, with Lucy Rose, at Pantages Theatre, Minneapolis (13 Oct 2017) (Updated)

Paul Weller Setlist

I’m Where I Should Be Nova My Ever Changing Moods (The Style Council song) From the Floorboards Up White Sky Woo Sé Mama Going My Way Have You Ever Had It Blue (The Style Council song) She Moves With the Fayre The Weaver Hung Up Shout to the Top! (The Style Council song) Into Tomorrow Above the Clouds Cranes Saturns Pattern Friday Street Porcelain Gods Start! (The Jam song) Peacock Suit — Encore — Acoustic Set Dusk til Dawn Gravity Wild Wood Hopper What Would He Say? Out of the Sinking — Encore 2 — These City Streets How Sweet It Is (Marvin Gaye cover) Broken Stones The Changingman — Encore 2 — Movin’ On Up (Curtis Mayfield cover) Town Called Malice

Lucy Rose Setlist

Love Song Strangest of Ways No Good at All Second Chance Moirai Shiver Is This Called Home

Now this is a kind of revolution that we can all get behind—

Paul Weller’s current tour of North America in support of his 13th solo album, A Kind Revolution made a recent local stop at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis for a raucous three-encore show. 

The evening began with a well-received, charming half-hour opening by London-based singer/songwriter Lucy Rose, in support of her third full-length, Something’s Changing (Communion Records) playing acoustic guitar and keyboards, and supported by a couple sidemen (Ben and Andrew) for her set. 

Rose plays a delicate blend of indie folk, similar to Laura Marling and inspired by Joni Mitchell and though her musical style may be a polar opposite of the headliner’s, it was Weller himself that confessed to be a fan, texting her directly to ask her to open this tour- “I’m just as shocked as you” Rose said. 

She snuck in a lovely ‘Moirai’, a reward for the quietly attentive audience, mentioning she’d only played it once so far, at the show her dad attended, as it was his favorite song of hers.  Finishing with ‘Shiver’ and ‘Is This Called Home’, the demure songstress certainly won over those in the crowd that arrived early enough to enjoy her.

After the intermission, lights dimmed as the intro music of The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ announced Paul Weller and his band taking the stage for a breathtaking two and a half hour headlining set that would touch on all points, of his over four-decade long career.

Weller has surrounded himself with a crack band for the tour featuring longtime sidemen Steve Cradock (guitar), Andy Crofts (bass), Steve Pilgrim (drums), and Ben Gordelier (percussion) as well as new addition Tom Van Heel (keys) and kicked things off with 2015’s ‘I’m Where I Should Be’, a song which encapsulated The Modfather’s confidence in still finding his place in today’s musical landscape and also echoed the sentiments of the thousand people in attendance cheering him on. 

Weller followed up with the new ‘Nova’, a Bowie-esque tune presumably written for his eighth child, a daughter of that same name born earlier this year.  Things then got dialed back to the ‘80’s for the first of three Style Council songs, the peppy, soulful ‘My Ever Changing Moods’ which was the band’s highest charting US single. 

‘Woo Sé Mama’, the opening track from the new record, vibrated with a stomping finessed blend of blues, soul and rock, showing Weller still has plenty more to offer.  “We play what we play”, Weller said following, saying they don’t conform to any need to play certain songs.  The Style Council song ‘Have You Ever Had It Blue’ was actually a bit of a live rarity, drawn from the soundtrack of 1986’s Absolute Beginners, and Crofts’ bass was the anchor for the new ‘She Moves with the Fayre’ with Weller on Telecaster singing echo-effected vocals.

Weller eventually moved to keyboard for several songs, notably the title track of his 2015 album Saturn’s Pattern and the pensive ‘Friday Street’. Weller went back to guitar for The Jam’s ‘Start!’ from 1980 and with the main set closing ‘Peacock Suit’ at the ninety-minute mark, the crowd was getting more boisterous… and the show was really only just beginning. 

For the first encore, Weller and band went into a six-song, acoustic sit-down performance, with the selections being more reflective and of the wandering spirit ilk such as 2015’s ‘Dusk til Dawn’.  “You’ve been a very patient audience, I don’t want to push it, but we’re going to play you a couple songs not on any record” Weller said, treating the enraptured crowd to the rare ‘Gravity’, following soon after with the newer ‘What Would He Say?’.

The second encore was more of a soul revue, with Weller mostly behind the keyboards with his own trippy ‘These City Streets’ channeling itself into a joyous, slowed-down Marvin Gaye cover, and ending with two 1995 selections, ‘Broken Stones’ (which had everyone clapping along) and ‘The Changingman’. 

Not quite done yet, the band emerged for a third encore, somewhat energized by the momentum uplift and continuing with a percussion/bass heavy and funky ‘Move on Up’, a Curtis Mayfield cover The Jam would cover in 1982.  

Showing McCartney-like stamina, the 59 year-old Weller ended the evening after almost 2 ½ hours, banging the tambourine on a rowdy ‘Town Called Malice’ that had the audience in a frenzy, dancing about and singing the chorus back at Weller. 

The revolution continues as Paul Weller and band end the current tour on October 27th with a show at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, then head  to Japan and Australia in January, and Ireland and the UK in February and March – Vive le Revolution!

Tour dates: