Alive & Weller

Never a serious fan of the man who was retro before retro, my expectations weren't too high for this closer in a hat-trick of solo dates. It was a pleasant surprise then to hear him deliver a fresh and uplifting set. Its acoustic nature translated perfectly into the Olympia's intimate atmosphere, letting the songs breathe free from the straitjacket of his usual big-band sound.

Scottish trio, Cosmic Rough Riders, had got the ball rolling an hour or so earlier. Their jangly acoustic-guitar pop, overlaid with sweet, triple-pronged harmonies was easy on the ear but too simplistic and made the growing audience impatient for the man himself.

"In the city there's a thousand things I want to say to you," was a line from Weller's first hit 24 years ago. Since then he's done exactly that. His three separate musical careers have spawned 15 studio albums. Twelve of them have gone top 10 turning him into the quintessential elder statesman of rock. There's more than a touch of grey in those locks but he cuts as cool a figure as he's ever done, bounding on stage tonight to a hero's welcome.

His passion hasn't ebbed one iota either. Picking his way through his extensive back-catalogue, he rose from soothing, folksy lulls to that familiar Weller yowl with infectious gusto. Jazzier workouts on the Telecaster spiced things up when it all threatened to get a bit too winsome. Then the Jam-era 'That's Entertainment' and a climactic 'Wild Wood' gave the crowd the classic singalongs they'd come for.

My only real qualm was the absence of 'You Do Something To Me', a song tailor-made for an acoustic Olympia slot on a rainy Wednesday. Apart from that, a thoroughly rounded night.