The PAP DX Blog: Paul Weller in Athens 2009

As I mentioned on my previous post, I had gone to see Santana in Athens on a Wednesday night and the weekend after that I went to London to see Oasis. On Tuesday after my return from London I went to see Paul Weller for the second time that year, this time in Athens. Meanwhile, I had been out both on Monday night and on the previous Thursday while also working during the day. So when I started feeling a bit poorly while waiting for Paul Weller to start his set at Vrachon Theatre I assumed that it was just tiredness. I did not for a moment think that while in London I had contacted a serious flu that was going around at the time. I managed to enjoy the Paul Weller gig, but after it finished, I went straight home and jumped into my bed. I attempted going to work the following day but after a couple of hours I had to go back home. The problem was that on the following weekend I was due to go to Italy not for one, not for two, but for three Bruce Springsteen concerts. Would I be able to recover in time?

Back to the Weller concert now. I did not regret having seen him in London earlier that year because back then, at the O2 Arena he had a whole string section with him (comprised only of women), as can be seen on his Just A Dream DVD. Now he had come with just a basic band.

Moreover, when I arrived at the theatre I realized the reason that I had never expected him to come to Athens and why he would probably never come again (He still hasn't and it's 2020 now): There were only a handful of people who had come to see him (although one of them had the exact same haircut and sunglasses that Weller was sporting back in his Jam days). Thus, I was able to get on the first row and grab "the railing". Minutes before he appeared one of the organizers came on stage to announce that Paul was going to play only six songs from his then latest album "22 Dreams" and all the rest would be old favourites. And that's indeed what happened. Although he started with one of his solo songs that had only been released as a single ("Wild Blue Yonder"), we then got Jam songs ("The Eton Rifles", "A Town Called Malice"), Style Council songs ("Shout To The Top") and a lot of his solo favourites ("You Do Something To Me", "From The Floorboards Up" and "Wild Wood" among them).

So yes, I enjoyed seeing Paul Weller one more time and I realized that I had to go and see From The Jam now (Bruce Foxton's band) in order to complete the experience. But that was to come in December. Meanwhile I had to go back home and recover from the flu in time for the following weekend's Bruce Springsteen experience. Thankfully, the fever finally subsided the day before my trip...