Paul Weller

If you happened to catch Paul Weller on his 2005 tour in support of All Is Now, then you already know just what the Modfather has to offer on this live double-disc effort. Recorded in London on the tour’s final date, the 23 tracks on Catch-Flame! span the artist’s solo career (with an unsurprising emphasis on All Is Now) while rewarding long-time fans with a handful of tunes from Weller’s Jam and Style Council catalogues. (Renditions of "Long Hot Summer” and "Shout to the Top” have particular stage appeal here as guitars and real percussion stand in for the disco strings and woefully dated drum machine/handclaps of the original versions.) That the disc’s title features an exclamation mark belies the dynamics of the performance captured here. Though lively and upbeat at times, nearly a third of the programme dwells in the sombre, reflective zone in which the incessantly soulful Weller seems most comfortable. Still, in contrast to his ironically-titled 2001 solo acoustic live effort Days of Speed, this one has energy to spare.