The Jam 1979
I found out about this concert on the upcoming Monday late on Saturday night while at a record store in Dayton. My friends and I went into high gear to get tickets. Thing was, we couldn't find everybody we figured would want to go. Money was tight but we went ahead and bought tickets for everybody we knew would be willing to skip work on a moment's notice to drive up to the Cleveland Agora to see The Jam. Well, we didn't. There was no way to get tickets to that venue at such a late date than just go to the club. We enlisted Phil's uncle, who lived in Clevo, and he came through in flying colors.
I have no idea who Dwight Twilley is. I think he was a local bigshot in the Clevo area. I remember him sucking. I think somebody nailed the guy with a shot glass. We wanted British mod music, dammit !
The Jam were cool. They hung out in the audience during Twilley's act. Paul Weller's dad was the manager. I guess he was being fatherly in not letting Buckler have any money for cigarettes as he was chain smoking bummed cigarettes. Weller, Foxton and Buckler were gracious and friendly. They hung out in he bar, chatting with fans after the show, too.
We got to ask Weller if the band would play News of the World. He replied that they usually didn't have it on the playlist. They played it. We were appreciative. The show was an orgy of Rickenbacker guitars and neo-Modism.
They handed out gold vinyl singles of "Strange Town", which was nice but they had been pressed off center, so it was kinda useless. I guess that's why they were giving them away. :-)