Miles Kane opened for Paul Weller at Scarborough on Friday night.

By Miles Salter

Photos by John Hayhurst

It was a raucous set of guitar indie rock but lacking in dynamics. ‘I feel like I’ve been shouted at for forty minutes,’ said my friend Richard when the set closed.

Kane’s songs aren’t bad, but he hasn’t made the jump to hyperspace that Sam Fender has, in far less time, due to Fender’s ability to craft more catchy material.

Paul Weller has always been more politically leaning than a lot of artists. In the 1980s, he was part of Red Wedge, a sort of touring cabaret in favour of The Labour Party, that Billy Bragg was also involved in. The Jam’s ‘Going Underground’ railed against nuclear weapons. He was a supporter of CND.

Tonight, people on the guest list are encouraged to donate £15 to a charity that helps people in Palestine, and there’s a Palestinian flag on stage.

He arrives clad in denim to cheers from the Scarborough crowd. You’re outside here; there’s a chance of rain. But the weather – phew – is good to us. The sun goes down gradually over the hill and seagulls swoop around. On a summer’s evening, this venue is unbeatable.

Weller’s all-male band is large: he has eight accomplices. These include long time guitarist (and ex Ocean Colour Scene member) Steve Cradock, who cranks stunning sounds from his Gibson SG. Jacko Peake is impeccable on saxophone. Steve Pilgrim is terrific on drums and looks like he’s having a great time. (‘Night one’ he posts on Facebook after the gig, with a love heart.) Jake Fletcher channels something of The Who’s John Entwistle on bass, and is the classic, quiet bass player – so good you never have to think about him.

Mid-set, Paul Weller lights up a cigarette on stage. It’s not something you see very often these days. Weller’s devotion to cigarettes shows up in his lined face and pale hair, but the impact on his voice, strangely, is less noticeable.

A section from The Style Council years includes ‘80s hits like Shout To The Top, My Ever Changing Moods and Have You Ever Had It Blue.

The best of the solo years followed: Broken Stones, You Do Something To Me, Changing Man, and Wild Wood were all delivered during the evening.

These show Weller at his best, I think – soul replaces anger, even if the rage in Town Called Malice was explosive. The scene in Billy Elliot where Billy dances to the track is completely captivating, one of the best matches of music and film.

The inclusion of Jam classics such as the delicate English Rose, the love song he wrote for Gill Price, was a delight and a surprise. Weller was pretty intense and angry in The Jam, with lyrics that swiped at inequality, but English Rose showed a tender side to him that was explored more fully in the solo years.

Other songs followed from The Jam.

A buoyant That’s Entertainment and an excoriating Eton Rifles (followed by a verbal swipe at England’s upper class and financial elite) really helped to make the night.

I would have liked a little more from that early burst of brilliance. Weller ignored two of his most famous and celebrated songs with The Jam: Town Called Malice and Going Underground in favour of tracks from his large solo portfolio (eighteen albums since 1992), which was a shame.

That said, Out of The Sinking from Stanley Road was mesmerising and More took the band in a trippy direction.

The night featured a great band, an appreciative audience, a lovely summer’s evening and a portion of fish and chips. What’s not to like?

Leaving the venue, cars snaked around the headland in the dark, red lights poking through the dark, waves keeping time at the shore.

We got in the van and headed home, tired but happy.

Miles Salter is a writer and musician based in York. He fronts the band Miles and The Chain Gang.