Dr. Rock's Music Adventures: Paul Weller at the House of Blues, Cleveland, Ohio September 7, 2014

I have listened to Paul Weller's music over the years and looked forward to a chance to see him live. I discovered he was playing in Cleveland while reading a free local publication while in Cleveland in July. I was very happy to be able to attend. I bought a front-row center seat on StubHub.
VENUE: I have been to this venue before for one of the Gospel Brunch session on a Sunday. It is a nice venue, close to much of what is going on in downtown Cleveland with easy access to parking, other attractions, and the highway. The set up for the show was seating down front and in the balcony with standing on the sides and back.
MERCH: Had some nice items -- t-shirts, CDs. I bought a tour t-shirt.
OPENER: The band Chamber Strings opened up. I love these guys and girls! Nice cross between alternative rock and barroom blues. Apparently, they are from Akron, Ohio. Nice set! I hope to see these guys again! Note: the bassist commented on my Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds shirt and we discussed me seeing their show this summer. This shirt has attracted more attention from bands!!
HEADLINER: Paul Weller came out and he and the band flew right into their set. He also nodded at my t-shirt when he came out! Goodness! He was right in front of me on stage. Full band with a great sound -- you can tell they had played these songs together on tour and were in fine form. Solo material, "My Ever Changing Moods" (Style Council), and "Start!" and "Town Called Malice" (the Jam) made up the setlist -- and it was a very nice career retrospective. Mr. Weller was in good voice all night. Excellent energy from the band.
Paul was dropping guitar picks, not throwing them in the crowd. The first one that dropped near me, I grabbed. Then he kept dropping more. A woman next to me got one, I got one for Ken, and one for the nice guy next to me. Wow!
The band closed with "Town Called Malice". Excellent show! Of note, the setlist lists "Wild Blue Yonder" and "Whirlpool", but Paul and the band did not play these. At the end of the show, quite a few set lists got handed or snatched by folks. I missed one. I hung around as the crowd thinned. When a noisy woman was rudely asking for one and getting gently prodded to leave by security, I asked Paul's guitar tech "Any more set lists?" and he handed me one that had been beside Paul's keyboard!
I attended the show with my friend and huge Weller fan, Ken Zakel. We had a wonderful time!
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars!