Page 8--Thursday, May 27, 1982-The Michigan Daily
The Jam were here!
(Continued from Page!)
The Jam. It seems that Weller realized
this, and on the album he purposely
roughs up the production of a couple of
tunes as if to delay the inevitable. In
concert, though, even the albums more
reflective and contemplative tunes
("Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero?")
and "Ghosts") became angry and
urgent.
The full intended impact of the other,
tunes, however, was felt in concert. The
influence of soul master Jackie
Wilson's "Higher and Higher" became
apparent on "A Town Called Malice,"
as the fatback bass line received more
emphasis that it does on the LP.
"Precious," embellished with airy, jaz-
zy horns, rocked harder than it does on
Lie album, making dancing quite easy.
The pace of the concert was unrelen-
tless, with only the slightest reprieve
coming with "That's Entertainment,"
a fervent ballad from Sound Effects.
Like The Who, The Jam don't leave
much room in their repertoire for
ballads, prefering instead not to disrupt
the hard pace they've established.
Not many of the older tunes were per-
formed, but of those that were, the an-
themic "Start" and Ray Davies'
"David Watts" were the most welcome.
And just as a well paced concert
should, it climaxed with the last song of
the set, "Trans-Global Express," as
Weller, thoroughly absorbed in the
beat, busted a guitar string. The song,
with or without Weller's funky riffs,
was absolutely the most danceable tune
of the night.
Having had all my energy drained by
this time, the encores were anti-
climatic and only "Circus," an in-
strumental from The Gift, deserves
mention. I have never heard a pop-rock
instrumental that could stand on its
own, and "Circus" is no exception.
Even though its chaotically tense
melody is interesting, without lyrics it
could pass for a theme song of some
cheap detective show on television.
It's refreshing to see a band that
doesn't need flamboyance or gim-
mickry to leave you with the feeling of
having just seen something truly spec-
tacular. The Jam's ultimate charm is in
their lack of pretense. Hopefully they
can avoid maturity, a fate which even-
tually ruined The Who, so that the next "
time we see them the anger and
hostility isn't forced, but as natural as
ever.
[ 7 U A L T H E A T R ESe7 1 0A T SU N
^ * ENDS TONIGHT! osybe175
shows before
"The Woman Next Door"-7:00, 9:00 'K j2m
STARTS FRIDAY!
Doily foto Dy UUxAM
PAUL WELLER, lead vocalist/guitarist of The Jam.
PLUS LATE SHOW FRI & SAT NITE
(PG)
"IT REDISCOVERS LANGUAGE"
"A UNIQUE & BRILLIANT FILM"-ROGER EBERT
MY DINNER WITH ANDRE
THURS, FRI-7:20, 9:25