From The Jam

It’s been a good few years since I saw From The Jam live at the Forum and add another thirty or so to the first time I saw The Jam live at The Music Machine in Camden.

As most will know, From The Jam are NOT another Jam tribute act. Russell Hasting in fact was a Jam tribute but Bruce Foxton brought him in a ‘legitimised’ the arrangement.
They have been together for around 10 years and even have close relationships with Weller, all hatchets having been buried.

So, what is this.
Well, for one thing it is about time!.
From the Jam have been drawing in sell out crowds for years and the relationship between the band and their fans is as close as it was in the original days of The Jam.
The band are at their absolute best playing live where their interaction with the fan base can often lead to set changes in midstream and where the playing relationship between Foxton & Hastings is positively incendiary.

All the classics are here including dynamite versions of ‘In The City’, ‘Down In The Tube Station at Midnight’ and a crowd pleasing ‘That’s Entertainment’. ‘David Watts’ starts in a howl of feedback and that skinny riff tears into you while ‘Town Called Malice’ swings like a cat caught in a dryer. The encore of 'The Eton Rifles' is just explosive - breathtaking.

What makes this album, and what makes the band special, is their obvious love for the original music of the Jam. They aren’t copying anything and they aren’t trying to ‘be their heroes’; these guys are legitimate, the real deal.

Damn, I want to go out to a show right now – isn’t that what a live album is all about?