Ok so From The Jam are not The Jam but on a cold Winter’s night it was a highly enjoyable way to spend the evening. With Jam member Bruce Foxton on bass guitar, Smiley on drums and Russell Hastings taking on guitar and vocals, old school fans of The Jam in attendance were given the chance to relive their youth and revel in songs dating back 30 plus years. And revel they did with the Oran Mor, normally a tame and chilled-out venue requiring a barrier at the front of the stage and security entering the crowd on more than one occasion. Quiet Sunday night? I don’t think so!
Arriving at the venue, I was pleased to catch upcoming Glasgow artist Michael Cassidy accompanied with his acoustic guitar. Having heard Michael’s name branded about in conversations over the last few months he proved to be another local artist I enjoyed hearing live and the majority of the crowd appeared to enjoy his set.
In the lead-up to FTJ taking the stage you could almost feel the anticipation in the air and by the time ‘Girl On The Phone’ opened the set the crowd were more than ready for the tunes of a generation. Being billed the Setting Sons tour guaranteed the fourth studio album would feature in its entirety. For me personally it was great to hear songs that I have only really got into in the last ten years and particular highlights were the opener as well as ‘Private Hell’, ‘Eton Rifles’ and one of my favourite Jam tracks ‘Heatwave’.
Despite the new alcohol driving limits many in the crowd were fuelling themselves throughout and when ‘Going Underground’ followed the Oran Mor erupted and continued to flare-up as the old classics continued. Such was the intensity drummer Smiley’s fingers appeared to bleed as he continued to pound his kit. ‘Strangetown’ and ‘David Watts’ sounded terrific with Russell Hastings doing a great job of engaging the crowd both during and between songs.
‘Start!’, ‘Beat Surrender’ and ‘That’s Entertainment’ ensured the crowd were fully entertained so to speak. A pulsating encore then followed featuring ‘To Be Someone’, and ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’ before the night was finally brought to a rousing end with ‘Town Called Malice’. With the band promising to return to Glasgow next year for a ‘Sound Affects’ tour everyone left with a smile on their face albeit a sweaty one!
Bazza Mills
@bazzamills
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