Days Of Speed [Independiente]

The solo acoustic tour has, of recent years, become something of a mark of desperation – a low budget way for some old has-been to get out and

milk the nostalgia market. Trust that contrary old bugger Paul Weller then

to reverse the trend and produce some of his best performances of recent years.

Days Of Speed is a document of the show that Weller has brought to Ireland twice this year and one that shows, that stripped of the unweildy bluster of much of his solo work, he is still a songwriter of rare guile and passion. Finally abandoning the Stalinesque purge of his band years, the collection takes in moments from The Jam (an aching ‘English Rose’), Style Council (‘Down In The Seine’) and his solo albums.

With ‘Brand New Start’ offering a fitting beginning to proceedings – “I’m going to clear out my head” – the more thoughtful end of his canon unsurprisingly works best, ‘You Do Something To Me’ and ‘Wildwood’ both wistful and emotive. The rough and ready approach to the recording lends it an almost bootleg feel but one that gives good impression of the sort of nights these were – you can almost hear the audience’s intake of breath as he launches into spirited versions of ‘That’s Entertainment’ and ‘A Town Called Malice’, before they burst into life on the choruses.

A long overdue return to form.