When I found out 2/3 of The Jam were on tour performing the legendary UK band’s classic songs, I was instantly excited. Although America never quite embraced them, there’s no denying that they wrote some really amazing songs. Over the time waiting up to last night’s show, my excitement settled and was replaced by the expectations that they’d be just another group of old musicians cashing in on their past without the same passion as their hey-day. I’ve seen enough old washed-up musicians to know that these reunion tours are usually a big disappointment, especially when a quintessential member is missing.

Upon arriving to the Blender Theater, I found out that Hugh Cornwell would be opening. Cornwell is another legendary British punk, known as the voice of The Stranglers. Like The Jam, The Stranglers were heavily successful in the UK, but never made it here. Playing mostly Stranglers songs, Cornwell’s set had a few nice moments, and pleased all the Brits in the room, but left me a little bored and pessimistic about what to expect out of the guys from The Jam.

The minute From The Jam (as they were calling themselves) took the stage and sped into “In The City,” all of that earlier excitement returned. They may just be cashing in off of their past, but these guys still played like a bunch of young musicians who haven’t been worn down by years of being on the road. It’s rare that a band can play without their original lead singer without being a disappointment, but original members Bruce Foxton and Rick Butler found the right guy in Russell Hastings. If I hadn’t known that Paul Weller wasn’t touring with them, I would’ve had no idea it wasn’t him. Hastings sounded so perfectly like Weller that it was like they had cloned him. From their classic covers of The Kinks’ “David Watts” and The Who’s “So Sad About Us” to their own hits like “Going Underground” and “Pretty Green,” there was no filler in their set. Every song totally possessed the crowded room of drunken middle-aged Brits. To close the night perfectly, the band saved their former #1 UK hit “Town Called Malice” for the very end, leaving their fans with nothing but ecstatic feelings leaving the venue to the familiar sight of rain.

see more photos of The Jam at flickr.com/jonnyleather 

see more photos of Hugh Cornwell at flickr.com/jonnyleather