By Francis Fitzgerald
Well, well, Weller. The Modfather arrived on the stage at Stockton Globe to be greeted by a rapturous sell-out crowd. For the next two hours, Teesside was treated to a jaunt through a back catalogue that stretches back through five decades.
To kick off proceedings it was straight into sturdy renditions of Rip The Pages Up from 2008, followed by Nova from 2017, Cosmic Fringes 2021, and then Soul Wandering from the upcoming 66 album (which is a celebration of his 66th birthday BTW). They are all great tunes by a master of his craft, but maybe it is telling that the most vocal crowd reactions came with earlier material from the 20th Century, especially from the Wildwood and Stanley Road albums and a generous helping of Jam and Style Council Songs. Start, Entertainment and Shout To The Top were early era standouts for me, whilst Weller at the Keys for You Do Something to Me brought out the emotional goosebumps.
Needless to say, Weller’s band was as tight as a drum (Oh, by the way- two drummers, one for each 6 in 66). And special mention for the sublime saxophonist. A couple of encores finished with the best of the best of Weller, as it were. The band left us, appropriately with The Changingman and Everchanging moods, nicely sandwiched around A Town Called Malice. After all these years, the Modfather refuses to stand still.
