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Saw Paul Weller last night...

What an amazing band.

Tight. Tight. Tight, with the ability to freestyle and jam (no pun intended).

It looked like the bassist (Andy Lewis) was using a P bass with no pickguard. Beefy tone. For a couple of songs he used a Ric - and it was much brighter. Paul did about 5 songs from The Jam, one from the Style Council and the rest from his solo stuff with a couple covers thrown in.

I have some crappy iPhone pics, so you can't really see the bass.
 
The first time I saw Weller, I was quite surprised at what a strong lead player he is. I always thought of hm as more of a thrasher from his days in the jam, but he was getting some lush sounds from an SG and an old Casino and played great solos all night long. He signed my Ric 12 string after the show, too.
 
I'm beginning to soften on Paul. This past spring he actually had Bruce Foxton come up and do a few songs with him in England. I was pretty sure I'd never see that.

He is in so many ways a prima donna diva. While I can appreciate that you don't want to go back to the well a lot, every major band from that era has in fact at least done one or two reunited tours. Heck, if the Police can do it and make it through a 1.5 year tour (yes, they were sick of each other again at the end for the same reasons) then the freakin' Jam could as well. Weller would have been a music hero/god had he done one.

Hell, he could even have written some new stuff.



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I'm beginning to soften on Paul. This past spring he actually had Bruce Foxton come up and do a few songs with him in England. I was pretty sure I'd never see that.

He is in so many ways a prima donna diva. While I can appreciate that you don't want to go back to the well a lot, every major band from that era has in fact at least done one or two reunited tours. Heck, if the Police can do it and make it through a 1.5 year tour (yes, they were sick of each other again at the end for the same reasons) then the freakin' Jam could as well. Weller would have been a music hero/god had he done one.

Hell, he could even have written some new stuff.



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Heck, look how much time Foxton spent in Stiff Little Fingers....
 
Huge fan, but I can't imagine a Jam reunion being anything but a disappointment. There's no way those three guys would be able to deliver that kind of energy 30 years older after a lifetime of smoking and drinking. They don't have the knees and ankles for it anymore. A 50 year old Bruce Foxton trying to jump sky high with his Rick would be sad.
 
Huge fan, but I can't imagine a Jam reunion being anything but a disappointment. There's no way those three guys would be able to deliver that kind of energy 30 years older after a lifetime of smoking and drinking. They don't have the knees and ankles for it anymore. A 50 year old Bruce Foxton trying to jump sky high with his Rick would be sad.


Actually saw him in his band "From the Jam". He can still take off and you know, it wasn't sad at all. He and Buckler really still had it and Russel Hastings was as near to a Weller clone as I've seen.

I wouldn't expect them to be like they were then, but would love to see that musical chemistry again. Doesn't matter what age, once you are in a band like that you never lose that chemisry. My guitar bud Dan and I found our groove in 1988 and we lasted as a band with two other mates till 1992. In those four years we had chemistry that no others in our area had.

Dan and I still do some shows together. We played a short set of our old stuff last summer for a new release of mine and we both heard screams from the back of the crowd. "Oh my God its the Baby sEal Club!" The locals still remember our sound and there is no one who sounds like Dan and I together.

Well, I wandered, but darn, give me a Jam reunion short tour. NYC to Asbury Park. I'll be at every show.