After recently releasing his 17th solo album ‘66’ – the title a reference to its release, which was a day after his 66th birthday – Paul Weller played two sold out nights in a row at Newcastle O2 City Hall. Weller, of course, is a bit of a music legend having founded both The Jam and The Style Council. During his time with The Jam he was influenced by The Kinks, The Who and Steve Marriott from The Small Faces, as well as punk rock, and he became a leading figure in the mod revival scene.

He’s been putting out solo albums since the early 1990s and has influenced the likes of Oasis. I saw him once in the 90s when he made a surprise appearance at an Ocean Colour Scene HMV in-store gig on Tottenham Court Road.

Tonight, he’s joined on stage by a six-piece band, including two drummers and Steve Cradock (Ocean Colour Scene) on lead guitar. Always a stylish bastard, with his trademark mod haircut and clothes, he still looked cool dressed in black and emerged casually on stage to huge cheers, kicking off with ‘Cosmic Fringes’ and ‘That Pleasure’ from solo album ‘Fat Pop’.

He addressed the audience to express his anger at the conflict in the Middle East – a Palestinian flag was draped pointedly over the piano – but he was never one to shy away from issues he feels strongly about. During the eighties he played Red Wedge gigs and supported the striking miners.

Tonight he played a career spanning set, obviously aware that his fans want to hear his better-known hits. ‘Soul Wandering’ from the new album sounded great, but the biggest cheer was for The Style Council’s sophistipop classic ‘My Ever Changing Moods’ and ‘Have you ever had it Blue’ from the film ‘Absolute Beginners’. As he himself said: “Great song – shit film.” He then gave us an uplifting ‘Shout to the Top’ and introduced ‘Start’ with: “This track’s dedicated to the eighties. I’m glad you’re still here.”

He ended this initial set with the classic ‘Peacock Suit’, but there was never any doubt there would be an encore as the crowd cheered for more. He came back to play ‘The Changing man’ and ‘Porcelain Gods’ from the album ‘Stanley Road’. These were followed by one of my favourites, the lovely melancholic love song ‘You Do Something to Me’ with Paul on piano, followed by ‘Wild Wood’, Weller’s soulful voice still sounding fantastic. He and the band returned for a second encore and the crowd instantly recognised the first strum of the guitar intro for ‘That’s Entertainment’ and the one we’d all been waiting for, the classic ‘A Town Called Malice’. Taking a bow to rapturous applause Weller waved to the audience and promised he’d be back, if he could.

Deb Snell