Live Gig Review
From The Jam -
All Mod Cons Anniversary
with The Skids
Date - 1st Dec 2023
Venue - G-Live
Town - Guildford
Two big players in the New wave / Punk scene of the late seventies & early eighties arrived in Guildford at the G-Live Venue with an expectant, boisterous crowd in attendance. Both bands only containing one original member but in both cases they are fairly critical to the originality of the music and show.
First up were The Skids who blasted through a run of classic singles, Richard Jobson still has the moves which reminded me of the old Muhammed Ali dance in the ring though not sure Richard could provide the knock-out blow in the same way. All the songs are highlights but I particularly enjoyed The Saints Are Coming, Circus Games, Masquerade, Into The Valley plus a great version of the Clash’s Complete Control. We were also treated to a few of Richard’s anecdotes between songs, he has a wry sense of humour. One song was dedicated to the immense talent that was Stuart Adamson, a major reason why The Skids were the band they were. No one can argue with Stuart’s songwriting and exclusive Yamaha guitar tone. The current line up recreate the songs pretty faithfully and with new album Destination Düsseldorf in the bag and receiving plenty of plaudits expect The Skids to arrive in your town for a time to come.
Bruce Foxton needed no introduction, the revered Bassist has not been idle since The Jam ceased their journey in 1982. He went solo before a long period playing bass with Stiff Little Fingers though the lure of those Jam classics finally meant creating From The Jam as a vehicle to get those songs sung again to the masses who severely need them back in their lives. Important in this band's authenticity is Russell Hastings, providing the guitar sound and vocals to do justice to those originals which is no mean feat, he has been doing this with Bruce for a good many years now with no diminished support for their Tours. I can say for sure from the photo pit when the band kicked in you are transported right back in an imaginary Tardis to those heady days of the late Seventies.
The current Tour is to celebrate the 'All Mod Cons' 45th Anniversary so we are treated to the whole album in pretty much the right order with Russell’s Rickenbacker recreating perfectly the sound of the album. All Mod Cons solidified The Jam’s position as social commentators at a time when as a young man Paul Weller felt the full force of alienation and the reality of becoming a well known face around town. This obviously didn’t fit well at times and he tells us so in the songs. He was certainly at his best when railing against the system?
With the final song of All Mod Cons being Down in the Tube Station at Midnight the level stepped up a notch and we are then treated to big hitters such as A Town Called Malice and That's Entertainment before an explosive encore of In the City, The Eton Rifles and Going Underground. A highly enjoyable evening all round.
Setlist:
All Mod Cons
To Be Someone
Mr. Clean
David Watts
In the Crowd
Billy Hunt
It's Too Bad
Fly
The Place I Love
'A' Bomb in Wardour Street
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
English Rose
Saturday's Kids
The Butterfly Collector
Lula
Town Called Malice
That's Entertainment
Encore:
In the City
The Eton Rifles
Going Underground
Photographs by Dan Reddick
Review by Dan Reddick