The only
remnant from the original band The Jam was bassist Bruce Foxton when he brought
his “tribute” act ‘From The Jam’ to The Meres leisure centre on Friday night.
But
despite being devoid of Paul Weller, after a song or two, the absence of the
Modfather and original drummer Rick Buckler was soon forgotten.
Russ
Hastings was as good a Weller replacement as you are likely to find and former
Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki certainly knows his away around the skins.
The gig
kicked off at 7.30pm and it was all done and dusted by a remarkably early 9pm –
but the intervening 90 minutes were sheer bliss for any Jam fan.
The band
began by playing the classic 1978 album All Mod Cons in its entirety, to
celebrate the 35th anniversary of its release, starting with the short and
snappy intro title track. They went through sequentially to the closing epic
Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, by which time the sizeable crowd were
also in good voice, having already sung along to David Watts, In The Crowd and
Billy Hunt.
Next up
was the fastest version of Larry Williams’s Slow Down I have ever heard, the
track featuring on The Jam’s first album In The City.
They
continued with renditions of big hits When You’re Young and Going Underground
before slotting in a ‘From The Jam’ orginal called Number Six off their own
album release, which blended in pleasingly well with the back catalogue
material.
Another
track off the In The City LP – Non-stop Dancing – was played in tribute to
ailing British R&B legend Wilko Johnson, followed by more crowd pleasers
such as Start!, Strange Town and Town Called Malice, and the set concluded with
That’s Entertainment.
The band
returned for an encore and pumped out the almost inevitable Eton Rifles,
followed by Beat Surrender, before bowing out to their appreciative and
knowledgeable audience – who were promised a return visit next year for the
35th anniversary tour of The Jam’s Setting Sons album. Bring it on!
Review by John Burgess
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