Paul Weller Rocks Harlem's Apollo Theatre

Regular readers of this journal know that Paul Weller is the house favorite when it comes to music. With Bowie semi-retired, Stummer gone to his reward and Johnny Rotten/Lydon doing TV ads for butter, Mr. Weller carries the flag for the music one couldn't hear on American radio in the 1970s because it was too creative. Saturday night, he brought his show to Harlem's Apollo theatre. "So many of our heroes have played here," Mr. Weller said to the crowd, "We just hope we do it justice." No worries on that score.

The Apollo is one of those rarities in entertainment, a venue that is famous in its own right, and one that has survived the ages. Liverpool's Cavern is a parking lot now. London's 100 Club is in danger of closing forever next month while the Hammersmith Palais' brilliantly weird sideways stage is merely a memory. The Fillmore West first moved from Geary Boulevard to Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco before closing in 1971. New York's CBGB's is no more. And the Apollo almost died in a funding dispute a few years back, but the fates dictated that the 1,500 seater continue.

The audience was typically Weller-esque, mostly those whose ages are circling 50, a large British contingent a long way from home, and a respectable number of college-aged aficionados. A few striped shirts, an olive-colored parka and a boating jacket were visible in the orchestra, but by and large, the crowd's attire was more non-descript than it was in the 1980s.

Full marks to the warm-up act Erland and the Carnival, an alternative (or folk-rock, or alternative electric folk) band from London. Simon Tong (formerly of The Verve, Blur and The Good, The Bad, and the Queen) and brilliant drummer David Nock (The Orb, the Cult and the Firemen) have teamed up with a lad from the Orkney Islands Gawain Erland Cooper in a five man act (Andy Bruce on synthesizers and Danny Wheeler on bass round out the quintet) that has great promise. The old Welsh folk tune "Gentle Gwen" became a solid piece of rock and roll in their hands. 'Love Is a Killing Thing' has Radio 6 top playlist potential, and the Jackson C. Frank's song "My Name is Carnival" explains the band's name (and they play it damned hard).

The headliner's play list started with "Aim High" from the new disc, and covered every era of his 35-year career during the course of a 2-hour set (the Apollo has an 11 pm curfew, and forbids alcohol and cigarettes on stage -- Mr. Weller survived that ban most nobly). From the Jam years, he and his four-man back up band (including the ever present Steve Cradock on guitar) played "Pretty Green," "Start!" and "Art School." The Style Council's "Shout to the Top!" seemed a good fit for the Apollo, and most of the set came from his solo career including "Wildwood," "Porcelain God" "Come On/Let's Go," and "Wake Up the Nation."

In tribute to the Apollo's history in black American music (which all English mods live and breathe), he played Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," rescuing it from James Taylor's easy listening version. Seated at the piano, he found a reflective angle to the song that contrasted well with the original's celebratory tone.

Sunday night, he played the Best Buy Theater (formerly Nokia Theatre) in Times Square, a fine enough space, but with no history in a district noted most for charging tourists $5 for a bottle of water. Who wouldn't have rather been uptown Saturday Night?

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

Kensington Review Home