A fantastic night to celebrate the great Bruce Foxton on his last ever tour with From the Jam.
‘From the Jam’ is so called because it was formed by original members of The Jam, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. Since 2009 when Rick Buckler left, Bruce Foxton has been performing with From the Jam alongside Russell Hastings and Mike Randon, but this is his final tour before he leaves the band due to health issues. Undeniably, this means it is a special event for all his fans.
Bruce didn’t appear on stage until forty minutes into the show, raising some concern amongst the audience in light of the news on his health. Russell and Mike, along with a stand-in bassist, kept the fans dancing until Bruce made his entrance, at which point there were cheers and chants of his name throughout the room with so many people delighted to see him. This show of support continued throughout the whole gig. There was of course also a tribute to the late Rick Buckler, who died only this year. They both spoke about him and had a large image of his face as the backdrop.
It was a sell-out show, so the Boiler Shop was packed. It was the sort of room where as a small person unless you get to right at the front, it’s quite hard to see anything, but the music provided an electric atmosphere. Everyone was having a great time, and even if you don’t know much of the music there will certainly be songs you recognise. Their hits include ‘Town Called Malice’, ‘Down at the Tube Station at Midnight’ and ‘Going Underground’, but I also enjoyed ones I hadn’t heard before including ‘Lula’: a From the Jam original. The band played brilliantly, with the musicians as tight as ever and Russel Hastings sounding remarkably like Paul Weller.
The support act was ‘London Calling’, a ‘The Clash’ tribute band. A good choice, since I imagine the two bands have many mutual fans. Their songs included ‘I Fought the Law’ and ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’. They were very authentic and got the audience going before the main event began.
The demographic were mainly people over 50 as was expected, but I also enjoyed it and could appreciate how important this event was for all their long-time fans.