Author Archives: Dan Starr

Reviews

From original 1992 release.

NME 2.92

When we expected Red Rocks, we get Warrington Parr Hall. When Tim Booth should take his shirt off and triumphantly climb the speaker stacks, he pulls on a woolly hat and settles for jittery tambourine playing. When everything’s set for a heroic guitar solo, all we get is another bloody trumpet flurry….

Seven The Live Video, then, does a pretty good job of defusing the epic aspects of the big, bold James band. Sharing an identical track listing to the current studio album – new marketing concept ahoy! – it relies on nostril-tickling close-ups rather than wide-ranging camera sweeps endowing the likes of Born of Frustration and Sound with some desperately needed intimacy.

It’s a clever trick, but it can’t disguise every weakness. Much of the video showcases a startlingly accomplished band flaunting their control and power on a batch of vaguely nondescript album tracks.

Booth – the inevitable focal point – is always immensely watchable, vibrating as if he’s permanently caught in a strobe’s fast-flickering glare, even if his jerky awkwardness is now well polished. But all the magnetic frontmen in the world would do well to enliven some of the stodgy, irredeemably pompous songs on display here.

That said, Bring A Gun and especially Ring The Bells are terrific, proving James can still be far smarter and edgier than the stadium dullards they’re increasingly compared with. Frustrating, but it isn’t quite time to lose faith.

Seven Go Mad On Stage – Liz Torres, Q Magazine

Since “Sit Down”, James passage into superstardom has continued apace. Seven instantly ensconced itself at the top of the album charts, their singles are always sure-fire successes, and they confidently moved into Stadiumsville with the announcement of a summer show art (of all places) Alton Towers.

One consequence of their ascent, of course, has been the band’s “new Simple Minds” tag, a label that they show no sign of shaking off. As this live reading of the new LP proves, James do stray close to the atmospheric pomp pioneered by Jim Kerr and Co: Tim Booth strikes the requisite Messianic poses, sidekick Larry Gott’s guitar sounds as strident as football grounds require, and the strains of songs like “Mother” and “Ring The Bells” have the aura of sense-filling hugeness that characterises the Minds’ much-maligned oeuvre.

Thankfully, James have retained a measure of sensitive fragility, infusing almost everything they do with a humanity that saves them from collapsing into bombastic emptiness. The trick is pulled off to great effect on “Sound” (this video’s highlight), a beautifully edgy opus that only benefits from an extended, suspense ridden live treatment.

It’s lapped up by an audience whose slavish adoration is astounding. Despite their unfamiliarity with almost everything performed (the concert took place a good two months before Seven was released), the crowd greets each song with rapture, prompting Booth’s trademark boyish grin to frequently spread across his face. There are times when the hysteria seems unfounded – “Live A Love Of Life” and “Next Lover” are nondescript – but when the festivities draw to a subdued close with “Don’t Wait That Long”, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that James, unlike so many of their unit-shifting contemporaries, fully deserve every adulatory scream that comes their way.

• Born Of Frustration :1992
• Bring A Gun :1992
• Don’t Wait That Long :1992
• Heavens :1992
• Live A Love Of Life :1992
• Mother :1992
• Next Lover :1992
• Protect Me :1992
• Ring The Bells / Ring Those Bells :1992
• Seven :1992
• Sound :1991

• Warrington Parr Hall (evening) – 20th December 1991
• Warrington Parr Hall (afternoon) – 20th December 1991

• Lytham Festival – 7th July 2024
• Glastonbury Festival Other Stage – 30th June 2024
• Lisbon Rock In Rio Festival – 22nd June 2024
• Mexico City Viva Latino Festival – 17th March 2024
• London Shepherd’s Bush Empire – 30th October 2023
• Southsea Victorious Festival – 26th August 2022
• Madrid La Riviera – 11th September 2019
• Mares Vivas Festival, Vila Nova da Gaia – 16th July 2016
• Paris Maison de la Radio – 16th June 2016
• T In The Park – 12th July 2014
• Haldern Festival – 9th August 2013
• Belladrum Festival – 3rd August 2013
• Lisbon Rock In Rio Festival – 3rd June 2012
• Isle Of Wight Festival – 15th June 2008
• T In The Park – 7th July 2007
• Dublin Witnness Festival – 5th August 2001
• Benicassim Festival – 3rd August 2001
• T In The Park – 7th July 2001
• Later With Jools – 18th May 2001
• London Shepherd’s Bush Empire – 8th May 2000
• Chelmsford V Festival – 23rd August 1998
• Glastonbury Festival – 26th June 1998
• Manchester Apollo – 11th April 1998
• Reading Festival – 22nd August 1997
• Glastonbury Festival – 25th June 1994
• Los Angeles Hollywood Palace – 22nd March 1994
• Los Angeles Hollywood Palace – 21st March 1994
• London Brixton Academy – 9th December 1993
• Lyon Transbordeur – 22nd November 1993
• Los Angeles Roxy – 28th October 1993
• Los Angeles WOMAD – 18th September 1993
• London Town And Country Club – 16th December 1992
• Alton Towers – 4th July 1992
• Glastonbury Festival – 26th June 1992
• Radio Europe Black Session – 30th April 1992
• KROQ Los Angeles – 24th March 1992
• Minneapolis First Avenue – 14th March 1992
• Chicago Cabaret Metro – 13th March 1992
• Rock Over London – March 1992
• BBC Radio 1 Mark Goodier – 16th February 1992
• Piccadilly Key 103 – 14th February 1992
• Born Of Frustration – BBC1 Top Of The Pops – 30th January 1992
• Warrington Parr Hall (evening) – 20th December 1991
• Warrington Parr Hall (afternoon) – 20th December 1991
• Rennes Transmusicalles – 7th December 1991
• Radio 1 Jakki Brambles – 26th November 1991
• Sound – BBC1 Top Of The Pops – 25th November 1991
• Sound – Channel 4 The Word – November 1991
• Belfast Ulster Hall – 14th November 1991
• Reading Festival – 24th August 1991
• Granada What’s New – August 1991
• Belfort Eurockeennes Festival – 23rd June 1991
• Lausanne Dolce Vita – 22nd June 1991
• London Tufnell Park Dome – 12th June 1991
• Seinajoki Festival – 8th June 1991
• Hilversum Meter 2 – 13th May 1991
• Paris Le Zenith – 16th February 1991
• Glastonbury Festival – 23rd June 1990

Reviews

From original 1992 release.

NME 2.92

When we expected Red Rocks, we get Warrington Parr Hall. When Tim Booth should take his shirt off and triumphantly climb the speaker stacks, he pulls on a woolly hat and settles for jittery tambourine playing. When everything’s set for a heroic guitar solo, all we get is another bloody trumpet flurry….

Seven The Live Video, then, does a pretty good job of defusing the epic aspects of the big, bold James band. Sharing an identical track listing to the current studio album – new marketing concept ahoy! – it relies on nostril-tickling close-ups rather than wide-ranging camera sweeps endowing the likes of Born of Frustration and Sound with some desperately needed intimacy.

It’s a clever trick, but it can’t disguise every weakness. Much of the video showcases a startlingly accomplished band flaunting their control and power on a batch of vaguely nondescript album tracks.

Booth – the inevitable focal point – is always immensely watchable, vibrating as if he’s permanently caught in a strobe’s fast-flickering glare, even if his jerky awkwardness is now well polished. But all the magnetic frontmen in the world would do well to enliven some of the stodgy, irredeemably pompous songs on display here.

That said, Bring A Gun and especially Ring The Bells are terrific, proving James can still be far smarter and edgier than the stadium dullards they’re increasingly compared with. Frustrating, but it isn’t quite time to lose faith.

Seven Go Mad On Stage – Liz Torres, Q Magazine

Since “Sit Down”, James passage into superstardom has continued apace. Seven instantly ensconced itself at the top of the album charts, their singles are always sure-fire successes, and they confidently moved into Stadiumsville with the announcement of a summer show art (of all places) Alton Towers.

One consequence of their ascent, of course, has been the band’s “new Simple Minds” tag, a label that they show no sign of shaking off. As this live reading of the new LP proves, James do stray close to the atmospheric pomp pioneered by Jim Kerr and Co: Tim Booth strikes the requisite Messianic poses, sidekick Larry Gott’s guitar sounds as strident as football grounds require, and the strains of songs like “Mother” and “Ring The Bells” have the aura of sense-filling hugeness that characterises the Minds’ much-maligned oeuvre.

Thankfully, James have retained a measure of sensitive fragility, infusing almost everything they do with a humanity that saves them from collapsing into bombastic emptiness. The trick is pulled off to great effect on “Sound” (this video’s highlight), a beautifully edgy opus that only benefits from an extended, suspense ridden live treatment.

It’s lapped up by an audience whose slavish adoration is astounding. Despite their unfamiliarity with almost everything performed (the concert took place a good two months before Seven was released), the crowd greets each song with rapture, prompting Booth’s trademark boyish grin to frequently spread across his face. There are times when the hysteria seems unfounded – “Live A Love Of Life” and “Next Lover” are nondescript – but when the festivities draw to a subdued close with “Don’t Wait That Long”, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that James, unlike so many of their unit-shifting contemporaries, fully deserve every adulatory scream that comes their way.

• Born Of Frustration :1992
• Bring A Gun :1992
• Don’t Wait That Long :1992
• Heavens :1992
• Live A Love Of Life :1992
• Mother :1992
• Next Lover :1992
• Protect Me :1992
• Ring The Bells / Ring Those Bells :1992
• Seven :1992
• Sound :1991

• Warrington Parr Hall (evening) – 20th December 1991
• Warrington Parr Hall (afternoon) – 20th December 1991

• Lytham Festival – 7th July 2024
• Glastonbury Festival Other Stage – 30th June 2024
• Lisbon Rock In Rio Festival – 22nd June 2024
• Mexico City Viva Latino Festival – 17th March 2024
• London Shepherd’s Bush Empire – 30th October 2023
• Southsea Victorious Festival – 26th August 2022
• Madrid La Riviera – 11th September 2019
• Mares Vivas Festival, Vila Nova da Gaia – 16th July 2016
• Paris Maison de la Radio – 16th June 2016
• T In The Park – 12th July 2014
• Haldern Festival – 9th August 2013
• Belladrum Festival – 3rd August 2013
• Lisbon Rock In Rio Festival – 3rd June 2012
• Isle Of Wight Festival – 15th June 2008
• T In The Park – 7th July 2007
• Dublin Witnness Festival – 5th August 2001
• Benicassim Festival – 3rd August 2001
• T In The Park – 7th July 2001
• Later With Jools – 18th May 2001
• London Shepherd’s Bush Empire – 8th May 2000
• Chelmsford V Festival – 23rd August 1998
• Glastonbury Festival – 26th June 1998
• Manchester Apollo – 11th April 1998
• Reading Festival – 22nd August 1997
• Glastonbury Festival – 25th June 1994
• Los Angeles Hollywood Palace – 22nd March 1994
• Los Angeles Hollywood Palace – 21st March 1994
• London Brixton Academy – 9th December 1993
• Lyon Transbordeur – 22nd November 1993
• Los Angeles Roxy – 28th October 1993
• Los Angeles WOMAD – 18th September 1993
• London Town And Country Club – 16th December 1992
• Alton Towers – 4th July 1992
• Glastonbury Festival – 26th June 1992
• Radio Europe Black Session – 30th April 1992
• KROQ Los Angeles – 24th March 1992
• Minneapolis First Avenue – 14th March 1992
• Chicago Cabaret Metro – 13th March 1992
• Rock Over London – March 1992
• BBC Radio 1 Mark Goodier – 16th February 1992
• Piccadilly Key 103 – 14th February 1992
• Born Of Frustration – BBC1 Top Of The Pops – 30th January 1992
• Warrington Parr Hall (evening) – 20th December 1991
• Warrington Parr Hall (afternoon) – 20th December 1991
• Rennes Transmusicalles – 7th December 1991
• Radio 1 Jakki Brambles – 26th November 1991
• Sound – BBC1 Top Of The Pops – 25th November 1991
• Sound – Channel 4 The Word – November 1991
• Belfast Ulster Hall – 14th November 1991
• Reading Festival – 24th August 1991
• Granada What’s New – August 1991
• Belfort Eurockeennes Festival – 23rd June 1991
• Lausanne Dolce Vita – 22nd June 1991
• London Tufnell Park Dome – 12th June 1991
• Seinajoki Festival – 8th June 1991
• Hilversum Meter 2 – 13th May 1991
• Paris Le Zenith – 16th February 1991
• Glastonbury Festival – 23rd June 1990