Came across this yesterday. I'd forgotten all about it. A great gig that brought all sorts of memories. I was also reading the 'wave your flags' thread and it struck a chord with me. Maybe it's a generational thing but I feel the flag waving thing is about tjw modern or compliance culture.
Anyway. Here it is.
PAUL WELLER
BOSCOMBE OPERA HOUSE
SATURDAY MAY 17th 2008
I first saw The Jam in 1977, it cost a pound and you got a free badge. I still have it. The punk/new wave nights of the late ‘70s can never be repeated for their energy, power and sheer anarchic exuberance. It was thrilling, just thrilling. Like being lifted into a world where anything was possible, where the crowd was in control, but not necessarily out of control. The absence of external control was everything. As I type these words I’m experiencing something visceral as I catch a sense of the feeling of being there. It’s impossible to convey the atmosphere to anyone who wasn’t there, it’s a bit like trying to compare standing on the North Bank at Highbury in the 70’s with the Emirates ‘match day experience’. No comparison.
I’ve seen Weller maybe 20 times since then, All Mod Cons tour at the Rainbow – truly brilliant, the Poole Arts Centre gigs where the moving floor made you dance whether you wanted to or not. The Style Council at Southampton Gaumont sandwiched between Billy Bragg and Tracie and the Questions (Remember them? No, thought not), then the final ‘Cost of Loving’ tour where they began to sound more like Genesis than Genesis. The first solo tour at the Arts Centre, half full, seated and totally wonderful. I couldn’t believe that so few people were there. It was a treat.
I have seen him occasionally since then, the last time I really enjoyed it was at the first V festival where he shared headlining duties with Pulp, Jarvis hinting that ‘if you get here early you’ll get peacock soup and you might get a roll with it’ (Noel Gallagher turned up to add a touch of Thunderbirds puppetry to the evening).
Then, for me, it all became a bit samey, a few gems along the way but it wasn’t for me. Still, no matter. With a back catalogue like that he could do what he wanted. I made do with the vinyl I already had.
Last year I saw him at Glastonbury, good set but nothing to get excited about. Still, I had to go and see him, he’s Paul Weller. It’s like being part of a family, a loyalty inspired amongst and between fellow Weller/Jam fans.
Now he’s in Boscombe, just round the corner, in my local venue. How could I not go?
It’s not just a gig with Weller, there’s a shared history. The sheer joy of hearing ‘In the City’ for the first time, buying ‘All Mod Cons’ and being blown away, all those great singles, Strange Town, When You’re Young, Eton Rifles. Each new single release eagerly awaited, each album an event that helped mark the calendar. Then TSC, all floppy fringes and overcoats, café culture that was pretentious and wonderful. Our Favourite Shop telling it like it was in the evil 80s, the destruction of communities, the smashing of the miners, the deliberate elimination
of compassion and humanity and family life at the centre of our lives, illustrated in words and music.
The atmosphere was celebratory and expectant in the Opera House, I was excited at the thought of seeing Weller in a small venue, one with a real sense of intimacy.
And, just before 9, there he was Mr Weller. The sound was great, the crowd responsive and up for it. He announced that he would play old and new, but it didn’t matter as ‘they’re all good songs’.
The crowd was difficult to call, plenty of people who would have been at the Arts Centre gigs all those years’ ago, some younger people, lots of (but not exclusively) ‘blokes’. I always thought Weller inspired the same kind of following as a football team. There were several songs I didn’t know in the first hour, some I did. There were a couple of stand out new tracks. Most of all here was Weller relaxed, smiling, chatting between songs to the crowd, a man on the top of his game really relaxed and enjoying himself. A real contrast to the past, I’ve seen him grumpy, dismissive, angry, non-communicative – a man who has never put himself out for an audience other than through his music.
Each song rapturously received, lots of beer going down, movement and, most of all, everyone focussed on the stage. After an hour they went off, returning for an acoustic bit, four men strumming guitars, some great songs, including Butterfly Collector and old Jam B side and favourite.
It just seemed to ramp up from there, it got hotter and hotter, the band just got better and better. Everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives, band included. It’s a while since I‘ve seen so many people beaming at a gig.
Towards the end we got Changing Man and Eton Rifles, both singalong-brilliant, a moving, swaying crowd really at one with the music. I can’t remember the order of songs or what they ended with before the encores or anything, I can remember singing, dancing and smiling till I thought my face would split.
The noise at the end (before the encore) was fantastic, second encore (I think) was Wishing on a Star, then, really finally a version of All You Need is Love. Genius. It worked, there was so much love in that room at that moment that, bottled, would have saved the planet.
And that was it, 2 hours plus, the lights slowly came on (I think he’d have come out again) and music played. People drifted around, smiling at the world, strangers spoke to each other, communicating a sense of sharing something very special. The dance floor was awash with beer.
Now, here’s the thing. I’ve been going to gigs since 1972, still go to about one a month. One thing that’s changed for the worse over the years is that gigs now often come at a price, not financial (although that is also the case) but a whole other thing. We are searched, observed, have lights shone in our eyes, have cameras taken away, told to not stand there, move away from here and so on. I saw Crowded House at the BIC (Yes, I know) and I went to buy a bottle of water, I was even prepared to pay the exorbitant price. The bottle then had its top removed, I asked why this was and was told it was ‘health and safety’. I said I couldn’t buy it as I needed the top. What do they think is going to happen? Are loads of dull middle aged people (I was simply role playing that night) going to buy over-priced bottles of water to throw at Neil Finn? At a recent Bjork gig at Hammersmith Apollo people had bottles of water taken from them and the ‘security’ people (there’s a misnomer if I ever heard one, they don’t make me feel secure) shining really bright, pencil-thin lights into the crowd if anyone dared take a photo with a camera or phone. This oppressive atmosphere is now a common feature at gigs, (or is it the concert going experience?) move off the stairs, ‘health and safety’. The crowd is a collection of individuals, compliant and forelock tugging, frightened (no, not even frightened, its worse than that, people don’t even consider protesting at the invasive and oppressive nature of gigs any more – maybe it reflects the compliance in wider society) to protest. And don’t even start me on the O2.
At the Opera House, for me, the crowd was united. Large, hot, sweaty, loud but together. We were a crowd, not a group of individuals. Crowds like that aren’t compliant. I hate compliance, but we have been fooled into believing that it is in our interests. A crowd does not have to be ‘controlled’, treated with respect a crowd will ‘control’ itself. This is what anarchy is, a society without (external) rulers, after the Greek word an-archos, meaning "without ruler." It does not mean "without rule," since all societies must have rules in order to function and cooperate well. In an anarchist society, individuals are self-rulers, or at least contribute or agree directly to the rules of their groups. At a gig like this the people ‘buy-in’ to a code of behaviour. This crowd was not for controlling.
For me it was so much more than a good gig, it was a reaffirmation of what it should be like at a gig, a celebration of music, community and humanity.
Dig the new breed.
www.mojo4music.com
