The Jam
London Michael Sobell Sports Centre
December 12, 1981
It’s Christmas. Snow on the ground, Thatcher in power, and the Human League’s Don’t You Want Me at No.1. At an all-ages show, thousands of school-kid mods try to act cool while shivering in the cold. Or is it the prospect of facing the gangs of skinheads rumoured to be massing at Finsbury Park station to pick off stragglers afterwards?
None of it matters during an electrifying 21-song set in which Going Underground, Start! and David Watts are greeted with huge roars – all from a crowd fuelled by nothing stronger than fizzy drinks. The announcement of a new song, a month before its release, is greeted with total silence, but A Town Called Malice sounds incredible. “Bear this in mind!” Paul Weller says sagely before a final When You’re Young triggers one more euphoric teenage rampage.
On the way out, a trestle table full of CND paraphernalia and a huge Christmas tree in the foyer get trashed to mass chants of “We are the mods!” before it’s back to grim North London reality.
Down in the Tube station at midnight, ecstasy morphs into terror. Whispers in the shadows. The distant echo of faraway voices boarding faraway trains. It hits me: this isn’t just music to live your life by. This music is my life. Now that’s entertainment.