THE “MODFATHER” is coming back to the Wild Wood.

Singer Paul Weller, who performed in 2009 at a sell-out concert in Dalby Forest, near Pickering, will play there again on Friday, June 27.

The event is one of a series of woodland gigs being organised by the Forestry Commission through its Forest Live programme, featuring concerts in spectacular woodland locations across the country.

The commission says more than one million music fans have now attended such concerts, which are staged in woodland clearings temporarily transformed into concert arenas, providing a safe and relaxed atmosphere for gig-goers.

Weller, who sprang to prominence with The Jam more than 30 years ago and later brought out an album called Wild Wood, said of the woodland gigs: “It’s a favourite summer jaunt for me, so I look forward to performing in a few of the forests that I haven’t played in a good while.”

A commission spokesman said Weller had been a significant figure in popular music for the past three generations and remained a cultural icon.

His concert at Dalby in 2009, which sold out in just six days, took place in a mud-soaked clearing.

Our reviewer said then that he might be into his 50s, but he continued to display an energy and exuberance shaming those half his age, with his “rocket-fuelled set”, topped by an unexpected, but brilliant rendition of The Jam’s classic, The Eton Rifles. His encores finished with Town Called Malice, which warmed the crowd on a drizzly Dalby night.

The commission spokesman said it intended Forest Live to bring music to new audiences without commercial branding or sponsorship, with income from the concerts spent on improving woodlands for both people and wildlife.

• Tickets for this summer’s concert, costing £46.20, including booking fee, go on sale at 9am on Friday from the Forestry Commission box office tel 03000 680400 or by going online to forestry.gov.uk/music