June, 2012
With performances by Spiritualized, Japandroids, 2:54, Towns and more.
“Like pebbles on a beach…”, five words were enough to trigger a mass sing-along from the crowd at the 100 Club that echoed round the world to the thousands of people watching the show live online. The classic ‘Broken Stones’ closed a rollercoaster of a set from Paul Weller that took in new material and a host of classics from both The Jam and his solo career.
Rewind a few hours and Towns were first on stage showcasing their accomplished 90s referencing sound. They were followed by sister-act 2:54 whose atmospheric washes of guitar and breathy vocals comfortably reference bands gone by like Tears For Fears and newer acts like the XX.
Stripping things down still further, Canadian duo Japandroids fittingly brought a slice of raw garage rock to the 100 Club. Rocking the classic guitar and drums only setup Brian King and David Prowse hurtled through a selection of the best bits of 2009’s ‘Post Nothing’ and this year’s ‘Celebration Rock’. Their back to basics approach sounded great in the intimate surroundings of the 100 Club and set the scene nicely for what was to come.
Spiritualized arrived on stage in an unassuming manner but as soon as they picked up their instruments the atmosphere crackled with the kind of electricity that only they can bring. The band kept the crowd mesmerised for the full set closing with a hypnotic rendition of ‘Take Me To The Other Side’.
With the club full to bursting point and all eyes on the stage it’s fair to say anticipation was high. BBC’s Tom Ravenscroft kept up the pace with an excellent selection of records but everyone wanted one thing and the opening bars of 2010’s ‘Wake Up The Nation’ announced it. More new material from this year’s ‘Sonik Kicks’ proved that Weller is a man still at the very top of his game, but it wasn’t until mid-way through that the club’s legendary walls reverberated to a classic Jam track in the form of ‘Start’. The hits kept on coming, with the epic ‘Changing Man’ closing the show.
The whole band were in world beating form and you could tell the man himself was loving every minute. Like the UK Subs the night before, playing the 100 Club was like a return home for Weller and the whole show had an atmosphere of genuine celebration. A true British legend.
Stay tuned to facebook.com/converse for updates throughout the rest of the shows.
