From the Jam

The Electric Palace, Bridport

Review: Neil Harvey

Removing the vinyl from the sleeve of my old copy of Setting Sons, I cannot believe that it is 35 years ago that I bought this record.

That the years have been kind to bass player Bruce Foxton is obvious, as he strides out on to the stage at The Electric Palace along with Russell Hastings on guitar and vocals and drummer Smiley, to the sound of a traditional telephone ringing. As they burst into the first song from Setting Sons, ‘Girl on the Phone’ the large, enthusiastic, crowd is transported back to 1979.

Thirty six minutes later and the album was over – as Bruce quipped. ‘We made ’em shorter in those days’.

That run through of 10 classic Jam songs, including great versions of Smithers-Jones and Eton Rifles also put to bed any fears about the band – Hastings is a great lead, Bruce’s fretting on bass has lost none of its speed or accuracy and Smiley’s drumming was immense.

For the next hour the band ran through large slices of The Jam’s back-catalogue, largely concentrating on the band’s later work, although earlier songs, such as Slow Down and David Watts were very popular.

Closing with a powerful ‘Town Called Malice’ From the Jam proved that not only are they a tight band in their own right, with a great catalogue of songs to choose from.

But they also showed a touching vulnerability, as they thanked the audience with ‘hope you liked it, it’s the first time we’ve played it live’.

We did.