Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Kneecap And More Review: Eclectic lineup come together at Gaza benefit

Pictures: Robin Clewley

Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Paloma Faith, Kneecap, Liam Bailey

Gig For Gaza, Brixton Academy, December 13, 2024

There’s an unofficial male dress code for Paul Weller shows – Ben Sherman shirts, Fred Perry polos, desert boots, dotty scarves – but at tonight’s Gig For Gaza benefit concert much of the audience clearly hasn’t got the memo. A significant number of ticket holders, many of them conspicuously young, wear green-and-white hoodies, tracksuits and woolly hats, a choice fully explained when Belfast rappers Kneecap hit the stage at 7.20pm and incite a small but riotous moshpit. With beatmaster DJ Próvaí sporting his trademark tricolour balaclava and Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap rhyming in Gaelic (and English), one might think controversial material like H.O.O.D. and Get Your Brits Out would terrify the Paloma Faith fans waiting patiently to see her perform. Instead, most appear to join in.

Kneecap’s reception sets the tone for an evening whose musical eclecticism might in other circumstances be its downfall, but in the electrically charged atmosphere – and there’s a palpable edge tonight – becomes a genuine strength. Announced just a month ago, as well as Kneecap and Paloma Faith this Weller-curated concert to raise money for humanitarian aid features Primal Scream, soul-reggae singer-songwriter Liam Bailey (Paul’s got-to support act this year), Irish-Palestinian folkie Roisin El Cherif, activist-rapper Lowkey, plus speakers and short films.

Belfast boys: Kneecap onstage at Gig For Gaza, Brixton Academy.

But brisk sets and quick turnarounds mean everything rattles along, and the crowd – and it is a Friday night – are evidently up for the craic and a degree of musical generosity. Weller himself takes the stage at 9pm, wrongfooting fans who assumed he would be headlining, and makes a rather understated start with the mid-paced That Pleasure, from 2021’s Fat Pop, chosen no doubt for its message of unity and hope: “Look beyond differences, see the connections,” he sings. But then familiar stabs of brass and drums fanfare the arrival of Shout To The Top and a celebratory, elevating mood takes hold.

With several hundred songs in his catalogue to choose from, and just 35 minutes to fill, one wonders what might be next, but that question is swiftly answered by a twiddling guitar riff and crashing chords of Peacock Suit, propelled with parping sax from Weller veteran Jacko Peake and, in the instrumental section, Paul going the whole Pete Townshend with windmilling arm, squalls of feedback and shimmying body movements.

It must be said that Weller’s current band is probably his best since the late ’00s: new-ish recruit Jake Fletcher adds a dash of glamour with his red Burns bass, curtained hair, burgundy strides and green leather coat; Peake brings a soul feel to the rockier numbers; and, on My Ever Changing Moods, twin percussionists Steve Pilgrim and Ben Gordelier beat out a dual tattoo that transforms The Style Council pop classic into an electric tribal stomp. It’s exhilarating stuff, and after Liam Bailey and Maverick Sabre come on to sing athletically and impressively through the latter’s I Used To Have It All, Weller and band, abetted by Roisin, sign off with a mass, euphoric singalong of Wild Wood.

Should the Modfather have gone on last at his own party? A tentative start by Primal Scream makes you wonder, but then Bobby Gillespie – in natty white Jagger-style suit – and Andrew Innes – rakish fedora – hit their stride with a raunchy, spirited Jailbird from 1994’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up. You may not want at this point to hear Gillespie say, “Here’s a new one,” but that track turns out to be the soulful, Bowie-esque Deep Dark Waters off this year’s Come Ahead, which, it so happens, more than holds its own against the ‘greatest hits’ that follow.

Come together: Paul Weller joins Primal Scream onstage.

Channelling tonight’s up-for-it vibe, the Primals – kept airborne by backing singers and Stones-y piano – pound through an utterly savage Loaded and Movin’ On Up, before ripping the place apart with a bordering-on-heavy metal Country Girl and, with Weller joining Gillespie at the mic, finishing off with a wild, pummelling Rocks. And then, amid deafening applause, the house lights go up, the various musical constituencies file out into the freezing night and the benefiting charities are a reported £120,000 to the good.

Potentially fragmented and disjointed, tonight instead felt really quite special; and you could see that Weller, leaving the stage with his arm triumphantly raised, sensed that too.