Who, Paul Weller, Sleaford Mods, Kaiser Chiefs – Hyde Park, London

As I had been to see Blur here last week I was able to get entry for another Hyde Park gig for £24. I wouldn’t have paid full price, but for £24 I could do this one!

The Kaiser Chiefs were pretty good although the vastness of the arena didn’t lend them a lot of favours.

The highlight for me though was Sleaford Mods, who were playing a bandstand towards the back in front of a few hundred very appreciative fans. I caught the whole set and although they probably don’t vary much from gig to gig it was a great experience hearing something genuinely fresh.

I’m still pretty sure that they were added to the bill because some idiot booked them to support The Who and Paul Weller due to the word “Mods” in their name. (They are NOT mods!)

At the end of their set, there were a lot of calls for an encore. Andrew Fearn – the instrumentalist – said in quite a well spoken voice, “we’re not allowed to. Does anyone have a spliff? I’m dying for a fucking spliff. This place is shit.” He gets one passed to him from the crowd. Security just watch.

I loved the Jam when I was a teenager – I played their albums SO MANY TIMES on the 248 taking me to school from Romford to Upminster. (On a Walkman, of course). I’ve not been quite so excited by Paul Weller’s solo material. I did watch his set – it was OK, I can’t say more than that for an artist who was once such a big part of my life. The only other time I caught him live was at V2000. Bruce Foxton with From The Jam was much much better!

I had last seen the Who in 1989, so over 25 years between gigs has to be a record I’m unlikely to beat. (Edit: I did beat it – 34 years!) They were pretty good too but sadly they did not impress the wife and kids too much who were constantly wondering if it was time to go home. Some time before the end of the set, it was.