Photo Credit: Robin James
Less than a year on from the release of his eighteenth studio album ‘Find El Dorado’, the Modfather Paul Weller returns to Lincoln for another sold out performance, this time at the picturesque Lincoln Castle to bring a set filled with Weller classics as well as a few from his time in The Style Council and The Jam.
Kicking off the night was Merseyside rockstar Miles Kane, who is more than comfortable taking on bigger stages. Since the release of his debut album ‘The Colour of the Trap‘ fifteen years ago, Kane has gone from strength to strength with each record and his stage presence continues to impress crowds no matter where he goes. As he made his way on to the stage, the capacity castle crowd welcomed him with a roaring applause. Opening with ‘Cry On My Guitar‘, Miles led straight into the fast paced ‘Troubled Son‘ to keep the place alive. With the release of his sixth record ‘Sunlight In the Shadows‘ still fresh, ‘Electric Flower‘ made an appearance in the set before throwing it way back with the heavily guitar driven ‘Inhaler‘. Fans of Miles’ work began to show themselves as the older material came flowing through including ‘Rearrange‘ and ‘Coup de Grace‘. Kane thanked the crowd and Paul Weller for allowing him to perform on the tour before rounding off with ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are‘ and finally ‘Come Closer‘ to conclude a strong support slot.
It has been just over two years since the Modfather’s last appearance in Lincoln, but it’s felt like an entirety due to the reduced touring schedule in 2025 where dedicated fans were limited with opportunities to watch Weller grace a stage properly, so this was one set to be an exciting ones for those inside Lincoln Castle. As the band made their way on to the stage, Weller himself appeared with a huge roar from the capacity crowd. Taking the cheers in his stride as he always does, this was a walk in the park for the former Jam frontman. Opening his 31-song set with ‘Rip the Pages Up‘, it was The Jam’s classic ‘Precious‘ that really kicked off the night. Not wasting anytime between songs, Weller, Steve Cradock and co. powered through the next two hours with sheer force.
A cover of Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move On Up‘ followed next, a track that Weller had previously performed while in The Jam back in the 80’s. Despite the forty year gap, Paul sounded as fresh as ever. The classic ‘Come On/Let’s Go‘ and ‘Strange Town‘ kept the Lincoln crowd pumped up as many crowd favourites continued to come barreling in one after another. Another Jam classic came next in the form of ‘Man In the Corner Shop‘, with a string of solo material splitting up the eras leading up to the mid way point. ‘Village‘ has become one of those songs that die hard Weller fans have voiced as a favourite of his later records, showing that new music that the Modfather produces is still attracting people to this day.
The calming ‘Broken Stones‘ was sung with joy that filled the castle grounds with smiles, while a trio of tracks from The Style Council days immediately accompanied one of Weller’s biggest solo hits. ‘My Ever Changing Moods‘, ‘Have You Ever Had It Blue‘ and ‘Shout To the Top!‘ all brought people together to sing along and embrace each other hit after hit. After another run of solo material, it was ‘That’s Entertainment‘ that picked up the pace just before the encore came around as ‘Shadow of the Sun’ concluded the main portion of the set.
Already 24-songs into the night, Weller still had plenty more to give. As Paul and Cradock returned to the stage for The Jam’s ‘English Rose‘, the beautiful acoustic track sounds just as clear as it did when the band released it back in 1978. Now into the latter stages of the night, the encore was filled with all the big hitters. ‘The Changingman‘, ‘Eton Rifles‘, ‘Wild Wood‘ and ‘Rockets‘ set up for what Weller had in store as a surprise final track, it was non other than ‘Town Called Malice‘ which gave the capacity Lincoln crowd one last chance to let loose on a warm Saturday night before making their way back down Steep Hill.
Taped Magazine 