A very special concert will see three of Britain’s most talented artists join musical icon Paul Weller to perform re-worked versions of the legendary artist’s tracks. The chosen tracks will be specially arranged for each artist and will be performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley, the BBC SO’s Creative Artist in Association. The artists included on the roster to perform with Weller and guitarist Steve Cradock, include Celeste, James Morrison and Culture Club frontman, Boy George.
Weller took to Instagram to announce the news.
The event will include material from Weller’s early days and tracks from The Jam but will also include new and unheard music and will be Weller’s first live performance in two years. The event’s setlist includes the tracks ‘English Rose’, ‘Wild Wood’ and the 1995 hit, ‘You Do Something to Me’, taken from his third solo album ‘Stanley Road’. The concert’s inclusion of Weller’s more recent material includes his latest album, ‘On Sunset’, the number one album from 2020.
The event is part of a series by the prestigious London arts centre, The Barbican. The string of events sees The Barbican collaborate with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley. The series entitled ‘Live From The Barbican’, has provided concerts during the COVID pandemic since October of last year, beginning with a talk and workshop curated by Emmy the Great.
The Head of Music at the Barbican, Huw Humphreys has spoken on his admiration for Weller as well as The Barbican’s dedication to the arts.
“We are delighted to welcome iconic British artist Paul Weller and guests Celeste, Boy George and James Morrison alongside Jules Buckley and our Associate Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, to the summer edition of our new concert series, Live From The Barbican. The series enabled us to continue our commitment to support artists and partner organisations during a difficult year and at a time when concert halls needed to temporarily close their doors. Until we can welcome back our audiences into the hall very shortly, we are hoping that many Paul Weller fans across the globe will be able to join us at the Barbican via Livestream this May.”
Rising Star Brit award winner Celeste also expressed her delight over working with Weller. “I have found Paul Weller to be such inspiration from afar, and also in the little moments I have spent with him. Wild Wood was a song sung at my first ever gig when I was 16, so to be able to sing it with him now 10 years later feels like a career full-circle moment and I’m truly honoured he’s up for doing it!”
Due to COVID restrictions in place, the event will not be able to host a physical audience but will be live-streamed on The Barbican’s website. The event will also enjoy coverage across multiple BBC platforms including TV, Radio, online, BBC I player and BBC Sounds. On 13th June, the full event will be aired on BBC Radio 2 with highlights broadcasted on Gideon Coe’s show on 17th June. Later on, in June, the event will be broadcasted on television, presented by Edith Bowman on BBC two.
