BUZZCOCKS/FROM THE JAM LIVE AT THE QUEENS HALL EDINBURGH
John Scott relives a part of his youth and pops off to see Buzzcocks/From The Jam at The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh.
Get a guitar, learn three chords, and start a band; the punk philosophy that started a revolution against the bloated excesses of prog. Making a racket with your mates was one thing but if you wanted to have a hit it helped if you had an ear for a good tune. Fortunately, in singer and guitarist Pete Shelley, Buzzcocks had a songwriter with pop music nous to match their buzz saw energy.
Sadly, Pete Shelley is no longer with us, and original bassist and drummer, John Maher and Steve Garvey, no longer play with the band but guitarist Steve Diggle has kept the flag flying with live performances and last year’s album Sonics In The Soul.
While new songs like Senses Out Of Control, Manchester In The Rain, and Bad Dreams fit seamlessly into the setlist, it is obviously the classic album tracks and singles that the fans have come to hear. The band opens with What Do I Get and the pace never lets up from that point on. Unfortunately, poor sound results in Diggle’s vocals being slightly muffled but the crowd compensates by singing along with favourites such as Fast Cars, I Don’t Mind, Autonomy, and Orgasm Addict. As the band reaches a climax with Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve), the years just melt away. 
Just like Buzzcocks, The Jam has a catalogue of classic songs. A Jam reunion has never been a realistic proposition, with Paul Weller showing no interest in rejoining his bandmates to relive former glories, but bassist Bruce Foxton continues to keep the band’s material alive in From The Jam.
Accompanied by Russel Hastings on guitar and vocals, Mike Randon on drums, and Andy Fairclough on keyboards, Foxton’s distinctively melodic basslines are at the heart of the jukebox of timeless tunes that make up tonight’s setlist. Opener Pretty Green is a reminder that the Jam took their inspiration from the early beat group days of The Who and The Small Faces. The Weller-shaped hole in the band is admirably filled by Hastings who obviously loves these songs and knows them inside out (and has better hair). He has thankfully fully recovered from last year’s heart attack and bristles with energy throughout the show.
With so many great songs to choose from, the gig cannons along with barely time to take a breath. Highlights include Start!, David Watts, That’s Entertainment, A Town Called Malice and Martha Reeves and The Vandella’s Heatwave. Whether required or not, a pause for breath is well deserved and then the band return for a killer encore of Eton Rifles, Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, Ghosts and Going Underground.
Two terrific bands banging out over thirty-five fabulous songs.
That’s Entertainment!
John Scott
