LIVE REVIEW: FROM THE JAM, Perth – 5 March, 2015
LIVE REVIEW: FROM THE JAM, Perth – 5 March, 2015
From The Jam, with Custom Royal
Amplifier Bar, Perth, Western Australia – Thursday, 5 March, 2015
Reviewed by Andrew Lowry
Amplifier was wall-to-wall full of Fred Perry polo shirts and wired with anticipation for Bruce Foxton’s mod revivalists From The Jam, and they didn’t disappoint.
Custom Royal delivered an excellent support set leaning heavily on their debut EP, but it was obvious most of those present were here for the headliners.
Called From The Jam because… well, he’s from The Jam… Foxton plays bass and is the obvious spiritual leader of the outfit, but he’s mostly content to let guitarist/vocalist Russell Hastings take centre stage, except for when he takes the mic for Smithers-Jones, one of The Jam tracks he penned himself.
The band repeatedly and sincerely apologised for cancelling their previously scheduled tour of a couple of years ago after ex-Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki left the band to be replaced by Steve Barnard, himself a veteran of Joe Strummer’s Mescaleros, Robbie Williams’ band and The Alarm.
A tight and punchy band, From The Jam celebrated the history of the band that was led by ‘Modfather’ Paul Weller, firing hit after hit at the full, sweaty room: Thick As Thieves, Saturday’s Kids, David Watts, Strange Town and more and the band had the woo-woo-ing crowd were in the perfect place for Foxton to intro two new songs that were recorded with From The Jam but released under his own name: Number 6 and Window Shopping.
Having just completed a UK tour playing the full 1979 Setting Sons album, it’s hardly a surprise that most of the tracks from that record were featured tonight, including The Eton Rifles, which was a savvy choice to get the crowd back to a frenzy after the two new tracks.
There’ll be a few older blokes with sore knees and necks when they wake up tomorrow, as plenty of them tried to relive their glory days with some pogo action as Foxton led From The Jam through In The City, Strange Town, That’s Entertainment and Beat Surrender.
Having to wait for the crowd to stop an enthusiastic (and no doubt amber-fluid-fuelled) football chant, an encore of Going Underground, Heatwave and A Town Called Malice sealed the deal, capping off a thoroughly enjoyable evening’s entertainment.
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Category: Live Reviews