Jam packed! It's a night to savour at the Uppermill Civic Hall

Photo: Tim Simpson

The Jam Restart in Uppermill Civic Hall

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LOOKING back on the event a couple of days later, all the ingredients were there.
This was the feverishly-anticipated return of mighty Oldham tribute band 'The Jam Restart' last Friday, at the ideally atmospheric and perfectly sized Uppermill Civic Hall, and it was AWESOME.

Towards the end of the gig as the first of nearly 500 freaked-out and almost exhausted Restart fans began to exit the famous old venue, I grabbed sussed-out promoter Tim Simpson and asked, 'Surely, you can't have expected the night to be this fantastic?'.

His reply while wearing a broad grin? "Of course I knew it would be,".

That says such a lot, but as stated earlier, Simpson had brought everything together brilliantly and huge credit to him for that.

After a decade away from the scene, front-man Mark Stelfox, bassist Mike Greatbanks and drummer Stuart Reid were bang on musically and, joined by Cupids' very own Jake Fletcher on keys on a few numbers, the Jam Restart made a truly emphatic return.

Supported by Revolution Radio's ace indie DJ Dave Sweetmore, the whole night went with a huge bang.

As the Restart roared through their hit after hit set so cherished by all fans of Paul Weller's late 70s and early 80s Jam trailblazers, I said excitedly to my DJ pal Dave Waterhouse that I hadn't heard crowd enthusiasm and noise like this anywhere in or around Oldham for years.

The punters were bouncing, the beer was flying, and from the start of the night to the end, the whole atmosphere was almost euphoric.

Despite the packed crowd there was minimal hassle getting a drink, thanks to Simpson laying on an additional bar adjacent to the main one, so all in all this really was a night to remember.

The reaction to 'Down in the tubestation at midnight' during the encore was quite something else.

Hats off to everyone involved in such a terrific spectacle.

As for Stelfox and Greatbanks, playing as regular duo Spark the night after at the Peels Arms in Springhead must have felt like a huge comedown!

The Jam Restart will be back on Friday, December 2, with a gig at Lowerhouse Cricket Club near Burnley, but Stelfox told me there will be more for locally-based fans - and there's clearly a good few hundred of those.

Simpson's next night at the Civic Hall has a punk theme when the Sex Pistols Experience and London's Calling - a Clash tribute band - head for Uppermill on February 4 next year.