A Little Bit of ‘Later’

When my phone pings in the early hours, it’s either the kids asking for money—or it’s Paul Weller, who’s pretty much nocturnal. A few weeks ago, it was Paul. It still freaks me out that I get random texts from one of my musical heroes. Sometimes he wants me to do a gig, arrange horns for a new track, or just chat about clothes, music, or football.

This time the message was more specific: “Do you want to do 'Later… with Jools Holland' with us? It's on 23 April in London.”
I had to reread it several times to let it sink in. Later… is the last bastion of proper music shows on TV—BBC2 primetime. Everyone who’s anyone has played it.
Do I want to do it? I think so!

We were to perform two songs from Paul’s new album, 66. I knew them well—I'd played them live with him before, and wrote and arranged the horn parts for the album. The last big gig we did together was at Wembley Stadium last summer. Not sure that one’s sunk in yet either.

The night before the recording, we stayed in a Surrey hotel. The next day a driver picked us up for the trip to Alexandra Palace.

'Ally Pally' is a labyrinth—corridors, staircases everywhere. We were met by Paul’s tour manager, handed our artist passes, and the crew whisked our instruments off to the stage area. The rest of the band were relaxing in the dressing room.

Paul arrived shortly after and greeted me with, *“Hello General”—*a nickname I picked up in Spain that’s somehow stuck. He gave me a big hug, complimented my outfit (always a bonus from the Modfather), and shared an update on his new granddaughter.

I skipped the trip to hair and makeup (a couple of the lads indulged), and soon we were called to the stage for a camera, lighting, and sound run-through.

We met Jools briefly, and also Mark Knopfler, who was promoting his new album. After running both songs a few times while the crew worked their camera angles, it was off to catering for dinner.

More hanging about. Then a photo call just before filming began. We were opening the show with Jumble Queen, co-written by Paul and Noel Gallagher. Then came time to watch the other acts. I hadn’t heard of any of them, but my daughter had—so I suppose there’s some credibility in that!
Nadine Shah, Bob Vylan, Katherine Priddy, Rachel Chinouriri? Nope, me neither.

During the show, Jools interviewed Mark Knopfler and kept referring to a video we had to applaud—even though we couldn’t see it. It was being dropped in during editing.
It’s strange to see what really happens when filming a show that airs “as live.” The audience started by being filmed applauding, in case they needed that footage elsewhere. Several interview bits were reshot due to lighting glitches or fluffed lines. It’s all stitched together later—you’d never know.
All the music performances, though, were live. No miming. No edits. One take.

We closed the show with Soul Wandering—the first single from 66, co-written with Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream.
The producer called out, “That’s a wrap – thanks everyone!”

After a quick photo call with Jools and the band, we headed outside to where our driver was waiting.
Back at the hotel just in time for last orders—thankfully.
I was still pinching myself. Had that really just happened?

One more tick off the bucket list