About The Band
One of the most often asked questions is: "The Jam were never a huge success in America like they were in the UK, so why is it that you decided to do a tribute to them of all bands?"
Well, you have to know a little bit about the Boston music scene of the 1980s. It was the most thriving, exciting and thriving place for live music you could ever imagine. Boston and its young culture of musicians was interested in what was new. And in the 1980s what was exploding was new wave and punk coming not from home but from across the ocean. At that time also, college radio stations were also becoming interested in what was new and were playing songs from unknown bands such as U2, Echo & the Bunnymen, the Clash, the Undertones, and another band named the Jam. And since there are more colleges in the Boston area than probably anywhere in the US, there were a lot of these underground and not so underground stations playing this new music. And people were digging it, especially local musicians.
If you talked to any local band in Boston in the 1980s (and into the early 90s) and you asked them what their influences were, the Jam would be on almost everyone's short list. Even though the Jam were uniquely British, the younger generation in Boston "got it." Their music was uniquely British in delivery, but the overall messages were universal. In short, it was as cool as it was inevitable to like the Jam if you were a local musician in the 1980s. And we were at ground zero sharing this experience with the hundreds of other local kids who were playing in bands.
Members:
Barry Pugatch (Paul Weller): Lead Vocals/Guitar
Glenn Matto (Bruce Foxton): Bass/Vocals
AJ Beaulieu (Rick Buckler): Drums
Other drummers included: Jeff Kane, Eugene “Geno“ Broder, Craig Wilson, Gregor Leguia, John Sullivan, and Shawn Hudson
All Mod Cons was one of three original tribute bands to arrive on the UK shores in he 1990s. The other two were the Australian Doors and Bjorn Again (Abba tribute). All three bands were imports as the concept of a "tribute band" was foreign to UK audiences at that time. However, All Mod Cons was the first tribute band performing in the UK to venture outside of mainstream music. And for a group of young lads from Boston, Massachusetts to be portraying a band so inherently British was as novel as it was puzzling to many Brits.
From All Mod Cons' inception in 1989 to the touring of the UK in the 90s and 2000s, one thing we wanted to be clear about was that we were doing this because we love the music of the Jam, and the Jam fans who would come out and share this experience with us. Our gigs would become a big Jam love fest and the best seats in the house were right there on stage (where it was safe!) Most importantly, we were never in it for the money. We weren't touring as our primary source of income like some tribute acts these days. We didn't want to profit off of the Jam --that would be against everything they stood for. We would make enough money to keep the tour going. At the outset we said, we don't want to charge more than 6 pounds per ticket. If that's enough to support a tour we're in.
All Mod Cons toured the UK in 1992, three times in 1993 (if you include a weekend at the Marquee we flew over for), once each in 1994, 1996 and 2004. We also did a stint in Canada in 2000, which was sponsored by our friends at Guinness. We played in Las Vegas at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in 2005. And lost count of how many shows we've played in New England over the years. Our first live performance was at the late great Channel Nightclub in Boston on December 4, 1989.
But see us today, we think we may be finally getting good at it.
Well, you have to know a little bit about the Boston music scene of the 1980s. It was the most thriving, exciting and thriving place for live music you could ever imagine. Boston and its young culture of musicians was interested in what was new. And in the 1980s what was exploding was new wave and punk coming not from home but from across the ocean. At that time also, college radio stations were also becoming interested in what was new and were playing songs from unknown bands such as U2, Echo & the Bunnymen, the Clash, the Undertones, and another band named the Jam. And since there are more colleges in the Boston area than probably anywhere in the US, there were a lot of these underground and not so underground stations playing this new music. And people were digging it, especially local musicians.
If you talked to any local band in Boston in the 1980s (and into the early 90s) and you asked them what their influences were, the Jam would be on almost everyone's short list. Even though the Jam were uniquely British, the younger generation in Boston "got it." Their music was uniquely British in delivery, but the overall messages were universal. In short, it was as cool as it was inevitable to like the Jam if you were a local musician in the 1980s. And we were at ground zero sharing this experience with the hundreds of other local kids who were playing in bands.
Members:
Barry Pugatch (Paul Weller): Lead Vocals/Guitar
Glenn Matto (Bruce Foxton): Bass/Vocals
AJ Beaulieu (Rick Buckler): Drums
Other drummers included: Jeff Kane, Eugene “Geno“ Broder, Craig Wilson, Gregor Leguia, John Sullivan, and Shawn Hudson
All Mod Cons was one of three original tribute bands to arrive on the UK shores in he 1990s. The other two were the Australian Doors and Bjorn Again (Abba tribute). All three bands were imports as the concept of a "tribute band" was foreign to UK audiences at that time. However, All Mod Cons was the first tribute band performing in the UK to venture outside of mainstream music. And for a group of young lads from Boston, Massachusetts to be portraying a band so inherently British was as novel as it was puzzling to many Brits.
From All Mod Cons' inception in 1989 to the touring of the UK in the 90s and 2000s, one thing we wanted to be clear about was that we were doing this because we love the music of the Jam, and the Jam fans who would come out and share this experience with us. Our gigs would become a big Jam love fest and the best seats in the house were right there on stage (where it was safe!) Most importantly, we were never in it for the money. We weren't touring as our primary source of income like some tribute acts these days. We didn't want to profit off of the Jam --that would be against everything they stood for. We would make enough money to keep the tour going. At the outset we said, we don't want to charge more than 6 pounds per ticket. If that's enough to support a tour we're in.
All Mod Cons toured the UK in 1992, three times in 1993 (if you include a weekend at the Marquee we flew over for), once each in 1994, 1996 and 2004. We also did a stint in Canada in 2000, which was sponsored by our friends at Guinness. We played in Las Vegas at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in 2005. And lost count of how many shows we've played in New England over the years. Our first live performance was at the late great Channel Nightclub in Boston on December 4, 1989.
But see us today, we think we may be finally getting good at it.
