![]() It’s really surprising, and more than a little disappointing, that he didn’t drop some of the more dour solo material from the set and add a few more soul and R&B covers. He only did one, a moving rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).” Apart from that, he played a regular set that featured the usual mix of songs from his 30-plus years in the music business by his old bands The Jam and The Style Council as well as his two decades as a solo artist. Given the venue, most fans in attendance expected Weller to perform a few soul covers in his set. There was also a second keyboardist that performed on some of the songs. Weller’s excellent backing band includes his longtime collaborator Steve Cradock (who also plays with the UK band Ocean Colour Scene) on guitar as well as Andy Lewis on bass, Steve Pilgrim on drums, and Andy Crofts on keyboards. His amplifiers are decorated with the red, white, and blue Mod target symbol. Soul music was the preferred music of the Mods, and Weller has long subscribed to the Mod way of life in both his music and his fashion sense. Weller is a big soul music aficionado, and he spoke at the Apollo gig about how many of his musical heroes had performed on the stage there. The album was nominated for the UK’s prestigious Mercury Prize earlier this year. Weller is on tour in support of his latest studio album, which is titled Wake Up The Nation. ![]() Judging from the accents that I heard at both shows, it appeared that many fans flew over from the UK for the NYC shows. ![]() (The only other stop was in Los Angeles last week.) The Modfather’s Manhattan shows took place at Harlem’s legendary soul venue the Apollo Theater on Saturday, November 6th and the Best Buy Theater in Times Square on Sunday, November 7th. Paul Weller hit New York City this past weekend for two shows as part of his very brief U.S.
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