Paul Weller has no time for nostalgia and he doesn’t dwell on the past (even though his is epic). Forty years into a stellar recording career that has seen him place number one albums in the UK charts in four different decades, he is all about the present and all about promoting his current work.
So, as his tour pulled into Washington, DC on Saturday night in support of his thirteenth solo record, A Kind Revolution, a heavy dose of new material was to be expected. True to form Weller played six of A Kind Revolution’s ten songs, while airing two-thirds of 2015’s Saturns Pattern album. Fortunately for everyone in attendance at the elegant Lincoln Theatre, Weller’s latest records are quite good and his five-piece accompanying band excellent.
Taking the stage a little after 9pm, following a well-received set from opener Lucy Stone, Paul Weller and band delivered a high energy, two-hour plus show. Highlights from the new material included “Nova,” “Long Long Road,” and “Woo Se Mama” (A Kind Revolution) and “Going My Way” and “White Sky” (Saturns Pattern). Rousing versions of “From the Floorboards Up” and “Friday Street” off of earlier solo albums kept the crowd on its feet in this seated venue, while versions of The Style Council’s “My Ever Changing Moods,” “Have You Ever Had it Blue,” and “Shout to the Top” were met with especially appreciative applause. The band went into full psychedelic blues jam mode on “Into Tomorrow” and “Peacock Suit” featured exquisite guitar playing by Steve Cradock and Paul Weller. The set closed with a raucous and raw “Porcelain Gods.”
