LIVE: Hugh Cornwell And From The Jam Still Have What It Takes
Thursday February 07, 2008 @ 03:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Feb. 6, 2008

Lee's Palace

Toronto, ON

by Steve McLean

I admit I was quite skeptical a year ago when I first reported about bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler reforming The Jam without the mod-punk band's lead singer, guitarist and chief songwriter, Paul Weller, under the name From The Jam. So I approached their headlining show on Wednesday night with a mix of curiosity and trepidation, but was comforted that former Stranglers singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell was opening so that even if From The Jam lived down to my lowest expectations, the evening still wouldn't be a write-off.

Cornwell hit the stage at 9 p.m. and launched into The Stranglers' first single, 1977's "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)," which he followed with "Please Don't Put Me On A Slow Boat To Trowbridge," a song from his forthcoming Hoover Dam album that was more muscular than the material from his last LP, 2004's Beyond Elysian Fields. That pattern of alternating between Stranglers and solo material continued throughout his hour-long set, which played to an ever-growing audience.

"Nice N' Sleazy" retained its familiar guitar licks despite a slightly reggaefied arrangement, and it led into "First Bus To Babylon." When Cornwell started "Peaches," I couldn't help but look at bassist Caz Campbell and chuckle to myself. The Stranglers were often vilified as being misogynists in their early days by people who didn't fully grasp the band's (and particularly Cornwell's) darkly humorous lyrics, so I figured the joke was now on them as a beautiful young woman happily helped keep the bottom end with drummer Chris Bell on one of the group's more controversial songs.

Beyond Elysian Fields highlight "Picked Up By The Wind" was much more spirited in the three-piece set-up than when I saw Cornwell perform it at Elysium in Austin, Texas during last year's South By Southwest Music Festival. Cornwell told me in a conversation last week that his guitar playing has improved with age, and that was particularly evident on "Hanging Around." Unfortunately, his Vox amplifier acted up for the remainder of his set, which frustrated but didn't hinder the man down the home stretch that included "Bear Cage" and an extended "Down In The Sewer," which featured lots of surf rock guitar.

When I first walked into the club, I spotted a woman wearing a shoulder-less top that showed off large tattoos of the three original Jam members' faces across her back. That was the most striking visual pledge of allegiance evident in the crowd, and a scan around the sold-out venue revealed just two guys wearing mod parkas. Considering their validity as both a Jam concert-appropriate fashion statement and a shield from the wind and snow blowing furiously outside, it was a bit disappointing.

Luckily, the same can't be said of From The Jam. While I have all of The Jam albums, I never got to see them before they broke up in 1982 after six studio LPs. I haven't had the same appreciation for Weller's Style Council or solo work, and have only seen him once, but have caught Foxton a few times playing bass with Northern Ireland punk greats, Stiff Little Fingers. But as mentioned earlier, I had mixed feelings about this new Weller-less version of The Jam, who feature singer/guitarist Russell Hastings and guitarist/keyboardist Dave Moore with the original rhythm section.

My fears were immediately laid to rest when they opened with the title track of their 1977 debut, In The City, and it sounded good. From there, it was a non-stop barrage of favourites for the next 75 minutes, with Hastings handling lead vocals on all songs but a cover of The Kinks' "David Watts" and "Smithers-Jones," where Foxton took over. Hastings' voice was up to the task for the most part, and his Rickenbacker guitar, dress pants, shirt and jacket ensemble made for additional Weller comparisons that more times than not ended in his favour — though no-one can truly replace the "modfather." Foxton and Moore were similarly attired, while the now-bald Buckler sported a Superman T-shirt.

The audience was as won over as I was and ate everything up. While Foxton was the only band member to show much mobility (including an impressive jumping kick during an intense version of "'A' Bomb In Wardour Street"), there was enough entertainment value in the songs to compensate.

Further highlights included a short reggae breakdown before the twin guitars chimed in during the bridge of "When You're Young," the familiar "Taxman" riff of "Start!," Buckler coming up big behind the kit on "The Eton Rifles," and the dancing around the bar touched off by main set closer "Going Underground."

The crowd was rabid for more, and got it when the quartet returned for "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight," "The Gift" and "Town Called Malice." Moore's keyboards on that last number weren't as buried as they were on "Strange Town," but a song most noted for its exuberant organ flourishes suffered because of it. But "Town Called Malice" probably received the biggest response of the night, which should come as no surprise since it was the closest The Jam ever came to having a hit in Canada.

And that's a pity (to paraphrase an old tea commercial). Admittedly, The Jam's '60s mod musical influences and many of their lyrics were quintessentially British (which must have inspired me to have two pints of Guinness and curry-flavoured potato chips within easy reach when I returned home to write this review), but the band never achieved the success they should have in North America despite topping the album chart with The Gift and racking up four #1 singles in the U.K. But the folks who liked them here liked them a lot, and that was in obvious evidence by the pretty much unanimously positive response to this revival act.

As proof, here's a quote from an excited Bruce Eaton, the biggest mod I know and a friend of the group's former frontman: "It's way better than The Jam sounded live with Weller."

From The Jam recorded a live DVD in London, England in December that should make its way to this side of the Atlantic in the not-too-distant future. There's also talk of them going into a studio to record new songs. I have doubts about how well that will go over, but my previous concerns about the group being nothing more than an embarrassing nostalgia trip have been erased. Foxton said they'll try to return to Canada in the summer, so take a chance and dig the new breed.

Here's From The Jam's set list:

• "In The City"
• "The Modern World"
• "All Mod Cons"
• "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)"
• "It's Too Bad"
• "Pretty Green"
• "David Watts" (Kinks cover)
• "In The Crowd"
• "So Sad About Us" (Who cover)
• "News Of The World"
• "Little Boy Soldiers"
• "Private Hell"
• "Ghosts"
• "Smithers-Jones"
• "When You're Young"
• "Start!"
• "'A' Bomb In Wardour Street"
• "Strange Town"
• "The Eton Rifles"
• "Going Underground"
• "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight"
• "The Gift"
• "Town Called Malice"