FROM THE JAM are on their Final Tour of Australia dedicated to all the Australian fans of The Jam. For this finale they will perform a special set of The Jam’s Greatest Hits from their complete back-catalogue including – Town Called Malice, Going Underground, That’s Entertainment, In the City, Start!, The Eton Rifles, English Rose, David Watts, Down In The Tube Station At Midnight plus More!
FROM THE JAM features Bruce Foxton, legendary bass player from the original line-up of The Jam. On vocals is Russell Hastings who understands The Jam’s history and admirably fills Paul Weller’s shoes. FROM THE JAM have played over 1,000 live shows and gained a reputation for capturing the energy and excitement of live performances that sealed the reputation of The Jam back in the day. The legendary Bruce Foxton speaks to Hi Fi Way about the tour.
Being the final tour of Australia, do you go into it with mixed emotions?
I’m not getting any younger and if I can still do it next year then I’ll do it. I’m not quite sure whether this is the last tour we’ll be doing of Australia, keep that door open a bit.
Does the power of the legacy behind the back catalogue?
Yeah. They, they stood the test the time basically. I’m not surprised that people still want to hear those songs. That’s another reason for gigging really, is that as long as the audience come and my health holds out, then we’ll continue for a while. Might have to sit down on some of the songs, but it’s a testament to the playing of the band and Paul’s lyrics, you know, and there you are.
Is seeing that audience reaction the best compliment you can get?
It’s such a joy, it’s a two-way thing. You come to see it From The Jam concert or even The Jam in those years, but if they’re enjoying it, we feed off that enjoyment and vice versa. It’s just such a pleasure. I’m so lucky to have this, I wouldn’t say job, but this position, it’s great to go to Australia see all the sites, weather is good and play some great shows. I can’t see anything wrong with that.
Working out the tour set list must be a tough challenge to have with so many awesome songs to draw on?
It sounds big headed really, but we aren’t being big headed, we have got such a catalogue of songs to play that if we played them all it would take a week. So, we have to choose an hour and a half set. Sometimes, it’s tricky because you don’t know what to lead out because they’re all really good songs to play and they go down well, but that’s the way it’s.
Is there much time in the schedule to take in the surrounds of each city or is it focused on the shows?
It’s pretty much focused on the shows. We have got a couple of days off towards the end of the, the tour little, and because like you can appreciate, because the set is very energetic, there’s four shows in a row, which for us now is really pushing it a bit. Being such an energetic show, you want to give it your best. You don’t want to go on feeling knackered.
Are the back-to-back shows getting harder to do?
Yeah, well, Russ and myself had a health issue early last year. He had a couple of stents put in and I had a lymph node removed from my arm, cancerous lymph. It made us assess things, that’s like a warning really that we have to ease up a bit. In the UK we only do a couple shows then about four days off and do another couple, we have to think of about health and as well as the band. So yeah, it just goes a warning, thankfully touch wood, he says, we’re both and fit now so that can continue.
Is the generational shift something that is pleasing to see at your shows now?
Obviously, people our age that were into The Jam have turned their sons and daughters on to the band and so like you said, there’s another new generation there. I mean tours can could run and run and as far as I’m concerned, if health is okay, then I would keep going. I think the guys are trying to take it easy on me by saying last one. That’s not necessarily true…
What achievements from your career are you most proud of?
Without being conceited or being like that, there’s quite a lot you could mention, but a couple of things like going underground, going straight at number one, which hadn’t been done with any artists for X amount of years since The Beatles. Flying home on Concord was an experience, there’s quite a few bids of bobs that, and the band brought a lot of joy to a lot of people around the world.
Looking back is there anything you would have done differently?
Yeah, the three of us were critical about the band, we took it very seriously when we first embarked on going out as From The Jam for instance, I wanted to make sure that we could do those songs justice, otherwise it would just turn into a cabaret act, so we were very critical of ourselves in The Jam days and From The Jam days.
Interview By Rob Lyon
Catch From The Jam on the following dates, tickets from Metropolis Touring…
