Paul Weller played On the Waterfront at Liverpool's Pier Head for two and a half hours, using the stretch of time to move from deep cuts to the set-closing hits that carried the crowd to the end. At 68-years-old, he still fronted the night like a player intent on controlling every phase, not just landing the familiar choruses.
Rip The Pages Up to Long Hot Summer
Weller opened with Rip The Pages Up from 22 Dreams, a choice that signaled the set would lean on catalogue depth before moving into the better-known material. The night also included Long Hot Summer, The Style Council's My Ever Changing Moods, and The Jam's Precious, which shifted into Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up as the crowd answered with dad dancing.
The sequence around Precious mattered because it showed how Weller built momentum instead of simply hitting the obvious singles. He also played The Weaver from Wild Wood with Steve Craddock, linking a 1994 song with a live partner who has long been part of his stage setup.
Palestine, Gaza and boos
Weller said, "This is not a political thing – it’s a humanitarian thing. If you’re not disgusted by that, there’s something very wrong," while speaking about Palestine. He later dedicated The Style Council's My Ever Changing Moods to the people of Gaza, and the room answered with boos after the political pronouncement.
That clash between the statement and the reaction gave the set a sharper edge than a standard heritage show. Weller did not stay in one lane: he followed Strange Town, which he dedicated to "all the old fellas who bought it", with Man in the Corner Shop, then moved through The Changing Man and Out of the Sinking, keeping the performance anchored in songs that still carry weight.
English Rose to A Town Called Malice
Near the end, Weller and Steve Craddock duetted on English Rose before he wished Sir Paul McCartney happy birthday. He then brought out That's Entertainment, Eton Rifles and A Town Called Malice, a run that turned the final stretch into the commercial centre of the set rather than a slow fade.
For anyone tracking what Weller offers live now, this was a long-form case for range: older material, solo work, political comment and the biggest hooks all in one sequence. The unanswered part is the scale behind the reaction — how many songs filled the full setlist and how many people packed the show.
