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Manchester Arena – 26th April 2013

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Lose Control / Waltzing Along / How Was It For You? / Sound / Interrogation / Five-O / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Fire So Close / Just Like Fred Astaire / Were Going To Miss You / Shes A Star / I Wanna Go Home / Stutter / English Beefcake / Moving On / Johnny Yen / Sit Down / Come Home / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Sometimes / Laid

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James completed a sold-out ten date tour of the UK with a show at Manchester’s MEN Arena last night. We were there to witness a triumphant homecoming of a band looking backwards to move on with old favourites and future classics.

James are a band that don’t play by traditional rules. Dismissed ridiculously in some quarters as one-hit wonders (nineteen top forty singles), they can still achieve top 10 albums (Hey Ma) that elude most of what the industry horribly describe as “heritage” bands without any substantial record company support and play to 15,000 crowds in their hometown and sell out a tour in the rest of the UK.

They could take the easy route tonight and just play hit after hit and Manchester on a Friday night would melt in their arms. But, as when they toyed with the precipice of mega-stardom when they were the biggest band in the UK for twelve short months between the success of Sit Down and their 30,000 capacity live on Radio One show at Alton Towers in 1991/2, tonight they take the long winding route of musical integrity, improvisation, songs so new that Tim needed lyric sheets for one that makes them simply the most thrilling and unpredictable live band in the country.

Of the 21 songs they played, 12 were hit singles, enough for the casual fan and with some inspirational sing-alongs in there, but there’s two new songs, Interrogation and Moving On, which with familiarity will rank alongside those hits when they get released in 2014, the as yet unreleased in studio form Stutter which dates back to 1981, Fire So Close from their debut EP, two songs from Hey Ma (Of Monsters And Heroes And Men and I Wanna Go Home) which show that they can still write music that moves the body and the soul and other choice album tracks from their phenomenal back catalogue. Songs like Ring The Bells, Tomorrow and Say Something, which would form a career highpoint for the majority of the hip-and-trendy indie-by-numbers pedalled by the NME aren’t needed.

Tim Booth is the obvious star in the band and the focus of most of the adulation of the crowd. His boundless energy, shamanic trance-like dancing, starting Lose Control up in the level one seats, his engagement with the audience to the point tonight of walking on the shoulders of the front few rows during Just Like Fred Astaire, his continued look of genuine amazement at the response from the audience and his voice, which like fine wine has matured with age allowing him to hold notes longer than some bands’ songs, all make him one of the most unique, unmissable frontmen in the business.

James always have, and always will be, about more than Tim though. Larry Gott’s guitar work, so missed during his absence in the late 90s, simply takes the breath away as he improvises sections of songs, even those from the period when he was absent. Saul Davies, on violin and guitar, is the agitator in the band, that unpredictable spark that drives the band and his violin playing, in particular, takes songs like Laid’s Five-O into places you wouldn’t go at a rock concert. He laughs and jokes with Tim and the audience throughout. Andy Diagram prowls the stage with his trumpet adding flourishes and breathing new life into songs from across the back catalogue. The whole thing is underpinned, without playing down their contributions, by Jim Glennie on bass, Dave Baynton-Power on drums and Mark Hunter on keyboards, all essential parts of creating that framework for the others to paint on.

There’s points in the set where you see the chemistry that makes them so exciting on stage. Tim playfully prods Larry at one point when he’s in an improvised section of a song, at various points two, three or four of the band will come together, look each other direct in the eyes and drive each other on to do something out of character, something different which will make that version of that particular song different tonight from any other night. Manchester loves the hits obviously. Sit Down ends up as a ten-minute communal sing-along when the band stop playing – the Comic Relief sketch that used it appears to have convinced them that it’s not a song to be ashamed of but to love, celebrate and cherish. And that’s exactly what it is. There’s not a more engaging group call to arms and celebration of togetherness in the annals of the musical history of this great city

Sometimes has a crowd versus choir sing-off, Come Home has 15,000 people hollering Tim’s tale of self-loathing back at him as a form of catharsis and Laid starts off with the song played slowed right down with Tim being drowned out before descending into a riot with stage invasions including Peter Kay with a guitar as they start again hell for leather.

James are a one-off. Bands don’t sound like them or get compared to them, basically because they’re incomparable. Criminally, they’ve never had that critical acclaim reserved for the likes of many of their peers, because they refuse to play by those traditional rules that the industry dictates and because, in a world where fame and money is king, they’re all about the music and that connection it makes between band and audience. The only way they can be sure of challenging their audience is by challenging themselves. This wasn’t a gig, this was a life experience to a soundtrack of love and fear and hate and tears.

Birmingham Academy – 25th April 2013

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Lose Control / Waltzing Along / How Was It For You / Sound / Interrogation / Five-O / Say Something / Sit Down / Top Of The World / English Beefcake / She's A Star / Moving On / We're Going To Miss You / Born Of Frustration / Come Home / Sometimes / Johnny Yen / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Laid

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The penultimate show of the tour and you have to wonder how James will surprise us tonight. After eight hot shows on the run, it’s a challenge to keep it fresh and exciting, both for band and audience, but as you know James are no ordinary band.

They start with a trumpet and guitar led version of Lose Control, making its first appearance of the tour proper. Stripped back and shorn of its keyboard underpinnings, it’s the perfect start, the crowd singing along to a dark tale of love and despair. Waltzing Along is as vibrant and fresh as it’s ever sounded before, the rockier treatment lifting it out of that “James by numbers” accusation that you could possibly level at some of those 97/8 singles. How Was It For You starts with that calling card riff that announced James to the world of the pop charts and finishes with Tim bellyflopping onto the audience after singing most of the song on the barrier. Birmingham has surrendered faster than their football teams on a Saturday afternoon.

Sound is dark, moody, brooding and threatening. Tim prowls the stage like a demented banshee, challenging his bandmates to do something out of character. Interrogation is showing signs of developing into something that can have that impact on the set, Tim going into a trance-like dance half way through as the instruments drop before the end section which you could imagine being put to a dubstep background and still making perfect sense. There’s not enough superlatives to describe just how good that violin then violin/trumpet opening to Five-O is for a ten-date tour, nor for Larry’s guitar work in the main body of the song.

Say Something is another song that makes its first appearance of the tour proper and it’s the one disappointment. It’s a great singalong single, but either it doesn’t have the structure that allows them to do something too different with it or it’s suffered from familiarity or overplay. The crowd love it, but it feels like it needs to be rested or reborn.

Sit Down is as wild and crazy as it’s been every night. The crowd at one point are singing two different parts of the song, which is quite bizarre but actually sums up everything this tour is about – never the same, always changing, never predictable. Top Of The World, thrown in mid-set is a case in point. After the excitement of Sit Down, there’s a lot of chatter as the song starts, but by the time Saul picks up his violin and plays the most incredible solo, noone’s talking. Tim stops them going into the next song to tell the audience that this is why he loves the band so much, not knowing who’s going to improvise what next and that anyone can take control of a song and take the others with them. This was the 200th time I’ve seen them and he summarised exactly what makes this band so great in a couple of sentences.

English Beefcake and She’s A Star are challenging songs for Tim’s voice, which is slightly croaky after two weeks of two hours a night, but you don’t notice him missing any of the high notes of each of the songs. Beefcake, like Five-O before it, demolishes the myth that James are a band with one massive hit single and a back-up canon of not quite so singalong singles and not a lot else. They can afford to leave songs like Ring The Bells and Tomorrow out of the set and they not be missed by all those, except the idiot who the other night determined the gig was worth only two stars because they didn’t play his favourite song.

Moving On is the ultimate proof that James are not a heritage band, as is the current vogue phrase, they’re making exciting new music that stands comparison with the whole of their back catalogue. You know in another world it’d be a massive hit, in the current environment it’ll hopefully reawaken people to James in a way the radio singles off Hey Ma and the mini albums, great as they are, never quite managed.

The end section sees James get their big guns out. We’re Going To Miss You is dedicated to a gentleman in the audience who wrote to Tim about how the song was a spell against his cancer. Born Of Frustration turns the heat up in the venue even further as total strangers unite in yodelling the opening section. Come Home is as wild as ever, lurching, prancing from section to section. Sometimes seals the deal, but as it stops there’s no singalong, there’s no attempt by the band to start one, but as they leave the stage the crowd do start to sing the refrain back and continue to do so whilst the band do what they do backstage and when they come back on, they pick up where they left and improvise an end section. What had become so predictable with that song since 2008 became something different, and again different from what had happened elsewhere on the tour.

As Johnny Yen starts up, the young couple that had pushed their through to stand next to me (obviously there was a gap, they didn’t push just to stand next to me) sing along to every word of a song that was written before both of them were born and that noone would ever have told them was cool. I’d noted before Getting Away With It has been struggled to have that same vibrant effect as it usually has and tonight it’s slightly flatter too. This isn’t a criticism of the song though, just how much everything around it has been raised. Laid to finish proves this, there’s the first two verses played slowly with Larry’s acoustic leading, the audience singing back every word before all hell is let loose and we get the whole song at breakneck speed.

It’s hard to compare these gigs to each other, but this was up there with Newcastle as my favourite of the tour so far. Onto Manchester tonight and the hometown gigs are always a conundrum given the size of the venue and the expectations of that number of people.

Leeds Academy – 23rd April 2013

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Waltzing Along / Seven / How Was It For You / Sound / Interrogation / Five-O / Just Like Fred Astaire / Whiteboy / Sit Down / All I'm Saying / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / I Wanna Go Home / She's A Star / Moving On / We're Going To Miss You / Born Of Frustration / Come Home / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Johnny Yen / Sometimes / Laid

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After the ridiculously long journey to Leeds (not sure why we couldn’t have stopped off in Birmingham tonight and done Leeds on Thursday) from Bournemouth, the Academy is absolutely rammed to the point where there’s actually no room to get a decent spot to see and dance unless you got in at doors.

The upside to this is that there’s a massive expectant atmosphere when the band make it to the stage at nine. Tim’s almost drowned out by the crowd on Waltzing Along as the pit ends up as one heaving mass which continues through Seven, How Was It For You and Sound. Tim comes out and stands on the barrier in a couple of places during How Was It For You and you think at one point he’s going to dance full-on whilst perched precariously over the crowd. Tim’s thrown a St George’s Cross which he places near Saul’s monitor

Where we’re stood, Interrogation and Five-O are affected by chatter and gutteral tribal football chants. Interrogation is going to be fascinating recorded, they’re still tweeking it and it goes into sonic areas they’ve never been in before in the end section. Even the weareleeds brigade are silenced though by Larry’s breathtaking guitar work on Five-O, which follows the now familiar but never astonishing violin and trumpet extended intro. Just Like Fred Astaire is shorn of the drama of Tim going down into the crowd, but is sung back by almost every one of the 2,000 devotees in the building.

Whiteboy has a new opening section and gets a great reception. It’s the first of three Hey Ma songs tonight and it’s pleasing to see how much of the crowd know them.

There’s so much already been said about Sit Down on this tour, but again tonight it’s hard not to talk about it. Rather than a tired runthrough with the obligatory singalong at the end or an unusual take on it to throw it in and get it out of the way, there’s no shame in exactly what it is, one of the defining songs of the early 1990s. It goes up and down, Tim stood on the monitors conducting the audience who need no encouragement to turn it into seven minutes of delirium as the band improvise their way through the last half of it.

Then we get the first performance of a new song. From what Tim says it’s about the death of Gabrielle Roth. It starts slowly and builds with a beautiful “I’m talking to noone” under a very understated keyboard backing into a chorus which talks of births and graves, a theme that runs through a lot of records. It ends with some effects on Tim’s voice as he finishes with “see you next time”. It feels like it’s still work in progress, but there’s the seeds of a great song in there on first listen.

The duo of Of Monsters And Heroes And Men and I Wanna Go Home that finish off Hey Ma make a potent combination together live in the set and you have to have no soul not to be impacted by them. Monsters has that beautiful haunting opening and build into a dark brooding story and I Wanna Go Home has that James knack of turning a dark song into a celebration, Tim holding that high note for longer than any man should be able to.

It’s then hits all the way to the end of the set. She’s A Star has been revisited since it was last played on the tour and has lost the slow keyboard build up and has been rocked-up and sounds quite fierce. Moving On, although unreleased, will be a single, Saul tells us probably in 2014, and sounds every bit a potential surprise hit, should the industry get its cards in line and actually promote it. It has that immediate singalong chorus you won’t get out of your head and a tune that won’t let your feet stand still.

There’s some confusion at the start of We’re Going To Miss You as to when to start so Tim takes time to tell the story of the song whilst taking the mickey out his bandmates. It’s good to see that on-stage relationships seem so strong at the moment as they approach the recording of the album and a potentially big year next year.

Born Of Frustration and Come Home close the main set. Tim ends up on the barrier again for the former whilst half the crowd try (badly) to imitate the yodel. Come Home sees Larry improvising new guitar parts that add an even more fierce furious flourish to it. Leeds hardly notice as they’re too busy bouncing, flailing their arms and hollering it back to Tim.

Johnny Yen, again not a hit single but should have been, starts the encore and is welcomed like a long lost friend. It’s middle breakdown section is again different from how it has been on previous nights, a sign that this is a band operating at the peak of its powers.

Sometimes again is revitalised. It’s had three years of holding up the set with a predictable singalong section before jumping into Laid. It still has the singalong section, and by god Leeds SING it back at them, but it feels like anyone can pick up an instrument and lead it. There’s a point where five of them are in a line, almost ignorant of the existence of the other four, but in perfect time with them.

And Laid, well they start it slow, go through two verses of it as a communal singalong, before Tim gets the men in the crowd to sing the high-pitched part, before Larry triggers pandemonium by starting the song again, but this time as the raucous three minute bundle of fun that it is.

Bournemouth Academy – 22nd April 2013

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Top Of The World / Dust Motes / Dream Thrum / Seven / Waltzing Along / How Was It For You / Sound / All In The Mind / Interrogation / Five-O / Waterfall / Just Like Fred Astaire / Sit Down / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Moving On / We're Going To Miss You / Come Home / Laid / Johnny Yen / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Sometimes

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Monday night in the imposing surroundings of Bournemouth’s old opera house, now an O2 academy, and it’s the first of the not sold out shows (other than a few seats in Glasgow), but you can’t tell as the standing area is so packed, it’s impossible to get a decent spot even ten minutes into the Bunnymen’s set. So I ascend to “the Gods” as it’s called, to watch from the balcony and get a different perspective on the gig.

The band start off with a trio of slower numbers, Top Of The World sounding as haunting and eerie as ever as it makes its first appearance of the tour proper. It has one idiot singing the opening words to Sit Down at the start, but other than that the audience stand and listen to its funereal beauty. Dust Motes is equally stunning, Tim keeps making references to foreplay as if these slower numbers are there to tease the audience. I’ve never been a huge fan of Dream Thrum and there is still some issue with the bass sound on it that makes it boom in parts of the song, but it fits the building mood well.

You feel it’s getting to a point where the crowd want to explode, but it doesn’t quite happen with Seven and Waltzing Along, which sound fantastic, but aren’t quite the big hit that people want to bounce around to although there are pockets dancing along merrily to it. How Was It For You brings the house down though, Tim jumps down onto the barrier, then into the crowd, where he proceeds to sing half the song and then finishes it firstly sat on the barrier then dancing in the pit.

Sound has been shorn of its extended middle sections and outro on most of the tour so far, but tonight it’s allowed out in all its glory. Andy ends up in a box by the side of the stage, leaning out over the audience playing trumpet and the song gets taken down and back up a couple of times, and it ends with Tim asking all the men in the audience to sing “mah bah ooh” back to him. Stunning.

The two new tracks that follow, All In The Mind and Interrogation, are both well-received, the first bass and drum driven and the latter has a new end section and you can see Tim losing himself in the music half-way through. Five-O has its wonderful violin / trumpet dual/duel opening and then has Larry’s stunning slide guitar running through it.

Andy’s trumpet calling card marks a glorious ragged Waterfall, one of those Hey Ma singles that never really was, whilst Fred Astaire prompts more dancing out in the crowd. Tim jokes that Sit Down was written by Peter Kay and tonight it has a much harder edge to it, the crowd, as in other nights, taking the song from the band by the end and making it their own.

Rather than go hits all the way to the end, it’s taken back down again for an eerie, haunted Of Monsters And Heroes And Men and the crowd are won over by this point and allow what would be for other bands an indulgence, but for James is just how they roll. I’ve waxed lyrical about Moving On, but you feel that if there’s a James revival and resurgence next year and they get the recognition that the music press has given their inferior peers then this is the song that will drive it.

We finish with a trio of We’re Going To Miss You, Come Home and Laid, proof that whilst they know how to pace a set and blow the crowd away at the end, they’re no longer resting on that Sometimes/Laid duo at the end to do it. Come Home is as spectacularly wild as it’s ever been, the band unafraid to take risks and try something slightly different with it so you never get two versions the same.

Johnny Yen hadn’t quite worked for me so far on its couple of appearance but tonight the improvised middle section is brilliant, slow, then building, Larry’s guitar taking the lead as Tim namechecks dead stars such as Winehouse, Joplin and Hendrix. The only real disappointment after this is that Getting Away With It, for the first time I can ever remember, feels a little flat – perhaps as it was a late add back in instead of Born Of Frustration, or maybe just compared to how good the rest of.

James send Bournemouth home with a massive inspired Sometimes. The singalong doesn’t need to be prompted, it seems to go on forever and is a fitting way to conclude an evening that’s different from the others on the tour so far, but no less successful.

London Brixton Academy – 20th April 2013

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Waltzing Along / How Was It For You / Ring The Bells / Oh My Heart / Interrogation / Five-O / Sit Down / The Shining / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Why So Close / Space / Just Like Fred Astaire / We're Going To Miss You / Moving On / Born Of Frustration / Come Home / Sound / Johnny Yen / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Sometimes / Laid

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James London gigs are always odd for me. There never appears to be the same love and passion in the crowd that you get at the Northern and Scottish shows. This show was an exception. Right from the start of Waltzing Along there’s an expectant buzz and people are dancing from the front right to the very back of the hall. There’s none of the chatter that could be heard over the quieter or less well known songs from the previous night. The set as well is probably the best of the tour so far – never too far away from a hit but with enough curveballs for the hardcore fan, a set of songs that work perfectly with the choir and some moments of true ecstatic connection between the audience and the band, no more so than when Tim walks out into the crowd on the shoulders of some of the fans during Just Like Fred Astaire. When Tim conducts the audience singing Sit Down, it feels like five thousand people have become one. It also feels like the band have decided that it’s something they should celebrate and let live, rather than be a bit reticent to play it. There’s a sing-off between audience and choir on We’re Going To Miss You as well.

All the elements that have made sets so far this tour so special are in there – the welcome return of a fiery How Was It For You, the two new songs that bode so well for the next album with Moving On already guaranteed classic status and Interrogation going into new sonic areas for the band with Tim’s vocals leading the end section, a beautiful, dreamy Five-O with its extended violin and trumpet intro, tracks like Why So Close and Johnny Yen dating back nearly thirty years but sounding as fresh as ever and the choir, even more so than the previous night and in Glasgow, adding so much to the songs they sing on and Larry nailing those Millionaires and Pleased To Meet You songs that he was not involved in.

The crowd reaction is astonishing and you can see how touched the band are. Bands of the age of James shouldn’t be creating this type of energy and passion, there’s no resting on their laurels, playing the hits, which would the easy route. Another great night.

London Brixton Academy – 19th April 2013

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Waltzing Along / Seven / How Was It For You / Sound / Dream Thrum / English Beefcake / Interrogation / Sit Down / She’s A Star / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Fire So Close / Just Like Fred Astaire / We’re Going To Miss You / Five-O / Moving On / Born Of Frustration / Come Home / Medieval / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Sometimes / Laid / Tomorrow

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Review

First night of two in London and these types of double header show are always interesting set-list wise as the band always want to put on a different show each night. This will often lead to some less familiar songs in the set, which can test the audience. So let’s get this out of the way. I’ve never heard Tim tell an audience to shut up before and he stops Fire So Close to tell them to, and then ask if they’re the sort of people who’d film themselves having sex on the iphone rather than enjoying it. Saul adds something a bit more direct. But the crowd tonight is fairly awful in parts, you can hear the chatter above all of the quieter songs, and it’s not just the paying punters, there’s a security guard who seems to ignore her duties for most of the evening to talk loudly to a bloke she’s trying to chat up and responding to a request to not talk so loud by telling us we’re not at the theatre. We only wanted to hear the conversation about good shopping the woman in the yellow wristband was having behind her, for god’s sake.

Right rant over. The band themselves fought against that wall of noise with their usual defiance of playing by the conventions. Sure they ended the set by rolling out big guns like Born Of Frustration and Come Home before the encore and Getting Away With It, Sometimes, Laid and Tomorrow during it, which finally shuts people up and has the whole place buzzing, especially when Tim bellyflops gracefully over the crowd during Sometimes. However, the rest of the set is designed to challenge an audience, two new songs which sound more like they’ll deliver on a continued legacy when the new album comes early next year and a beautiful poignant English Beefcake.. I’ve gone on about the reworked Waltzing Along enough already, the curtailed sleeker Sound and the welcome return of How Was It For You. The middle section sees the Manchester Consort Choir return to support James and when you can hear it, they sound stunning, some beautiful harmonies on She’s A Star and Just Like Fred Astaire, adding to the build and menace of Monsters and giving that extra lift to Fire So Close and We’re Going To Miss You. Apart from some horrific bass feedback during Dream Thrum, the sound is good and the it’s great to see so much interaction with the band on stage – Jim, Andy and Saul huddled together for the intro to Five-O, Andy on his knees waving his tambourine up towards Larry, Tim standing on Dave’s drum riser at one point.

Tonight will be interesting. The sensible response to the crowd issues tonight would be to play a safe set, full of crowd-pleasers, but you sense James will go the other way. They’re not a band that just churns out their hits, they would be half the band they are if that’s what they did. This was the least enjoyable gig of the tour so far, but not because of them.

Bristol Colston Hall – 17th April 2013

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Dust Motes / English Beefcake / Just Like Fred Astaire / Waltzing Along / Seven / Dream Thrum / Quicken The Dead / Johnny Yen / How Was It For You / Were Going To Miss You / Sound / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Interrogation / Five-O / Moving On / Sit Down / Born Of Frustration / Come Home / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Sometimes / Laid

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The last of three gigs in a row, Bristol Colston Hall is sold out and the standing area rammed full.

The band take to the stage at 9 and Tim tells them that they’re going to start with a slower song to test their listening, which is befitting of the more glamorous surroundings than the O2 Academies of the previous two nights.

Dust Motes sounds beautiful with an interesting reverb effect on Tim’s vocals and the crowd stay mainly quiet and respectful. It’s followed English Beefcake, which again has been nailed. For Just Like Fred Astaire, Tim goes out into the audience on walkabout, getting kissed on the head as he makes his way through to the back of the standing area.

Waltzing Along speeds the tempo up a little, its rocked-out extended intro again leading into the much-improved heavier version. Seven is every bit the huge hit it should have been, with it’s chorus call of “understand the world we’re living in, love can mean anything”. Dream Thrum slows things down again and has some beautiful Saul violin in it. In the soundcheck it’s remarked that Saul is a reluctant violinist, but at some points tonight he absolutely steals the show.

Quick And The Dead is the first of the new songs and already sounds a world away from how it did a week ago in Stirling. It has a charming almost nursery-rhyme quality to it and a simple “dodge the bullet, rejoice” calling card

Johnny Yen makes a return to the setlist after a bit of an absence. Although beforehand, Saul starts playing his intro riff to How Was It For You, getting ahead of himself. True to the tour, it has some re-invention, this point in the middle improvised section which is slower and more instrumental than previous versions.

We do then get How Was It For You making a welcome return to the set after what seems like forever. Saul’s opening riff sets the mood for a fun romp through an old favourite. It’s followed by another old single that was neglected live for years. We’re Going To Miss You was resurrected for the orchestra tour and stuck in the set for this tour. It’s one of those classic James singles (ruined by an awful single edit) that everyone knows, but hardly anyone bought. Sound gets a warm reception, and benefits again from being shorter than the set-closing epics of previous tours.

Of Monsters And Heroes And Men is the Hey Ma song that has been most played in recent years and with good reason. It never disappoints as it broodily builds and ebbs and flows. It’s followed by Interrogation, which is one of those classic James non-single tracks that have an unusual structure without a verse-chorus-verse pattern, which is developing show by show as they become more familiar with it.

Five-O starts with an incredible extended intro with violin with some subtle trumpet, keys and bass backing, but it’s Saul that steals the show over several minutes as Tim sits on Dave’s drum riser and just watches in awe at his bandmates. Moving On is again the pick of the new songs, sounding every bit the big single in waiting.

The set is then completed by six of their most famous songs. The crowd sing along to Sit Down in the right places, Born Of Frustration benefits from the rockier take the band are approaching their back catalogue with and Come Home is as mesmerically insane and all over the place yet still together as it always is. The encore starts with Saul chiding Stuart Pearce for saying there weren’t enough hits last time they played here. Getting Away With It precedes a slightly all messed up Sometimes, which they have given a rawer edge and dispatched with the singalong. Laid is as wild as ever to close the set off.

Overall it was a lot more subdued than the Glasgow and Newcastle shows, partially down to the seats, the audience being quieter but also the setlist chosen for the evening and possibly the fact it was third night of a stint. Despite that it was an interesting set with a few songs new to the tour and a different running order.

Sheffield Academy – 16th April 2013

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Waltzing Along / Sound / Ring The Bells / Seven / Dream Thrum / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Dust Motes / Space / Interrogation / Five-O / Just Like Fred Astaire / Medieval / Moving On / Whiteboy / Sit Down / Born Of Frustration / Come Home / We're Going To Miss You / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Laid

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Review by Tim Allan

Sheffield, 16th April 2013 – a gig that is James in a nut shell. A ballsy set list, more evidence of that tireless desire to keep evolving and challenging themselves, and proof once again of their unfailing ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

They open up with a blistering salvo of Waltzing Along, Sound, Ring the Bells and Seven. Structurally each remains pretty true to its studio version (Sound being the exception), but as with so many James songs, in the live arena they become completely different beasts – more energetic and forceful. Larry has clearly got a lot to do with that and not for the first time I’m struck by just how much he has changed and developed his contribution to these songs over the years. As a long-time wannabe guitarist, it’s intriguing to watch him go about his work.

It’s a euphoric way to kick off, but at the same time I can’t help thinking “there are two hours to fill here……this is going to dip, surely”. And I’m right. Dream Thrum is just too stark a contrast to work and the chatter levels rise audibly. It’s followed by Of Monsters and Heroes and Men – easily one of my top 10 James songs – although somehow I’m disappointed when the choir isn’t there to add the layered vocals that made it so spine-tingling on the orchestra tour. Dust Motes and Space come next and both are done excellently, although being honest neither has ever been a favourite. I also can’t help noticing the effect that four lesser known songs in a row has had on the atmosphere. It’s pretty flat and for the first time in 23 years I find myself seriously questioning their judgement.

Next up is Interrogation, a new one, which from memory has an unconventional structure and musically evokes memories of their more spiky stuff from the mid 80s. Work in progress for sure but encouraging nonetheless. Five-O follows and has been given a new dimension with the violin intro which works really well. It builds and builds and is yet another example of how what you hear on record with James is very rarely on a par with what you are treated to in the live environment.

But by now we’re at six songs with no single and there’s no question that it’s showing in the crowd. For large sections around me it’s become a night out to have a natter with friends whilst some music plays in the background. Fred Astaire is therefore welcomed like an old friend (although personally I would have preferred the stripped back version as opposed to the full band one), but the momentum is halted again by Medieval – ironic given its rhythmic nature – after which is new song Moving On, which I like, but perhaps not as much as some of the forum/Twitter chatter suggests I should. It sounds, dare I say it, a bit like a b-side at this stage, but I’ve learnt not to be too judgemental with this band when it comes to new material, so let’s give it time.

Whiteboy is evidently not recognised by most of the crowd, although for me will always be welcome in any James set. It also marks the end of the ‘difficult’ part of the set and from here on in it’s singles all the way. Six of them in fact, and they’re all celebratory and uplifting. The only blemish is the attempt to orchestrate the audience participation in Sit Down (no, no, no!) but that aside it’s a fitting crescendo.

So in summary, let me just reiterate that I adore this band because of the risks they take, because they’re not a greatest hits machine, because they play album tracks, because they play unfinished new songs and because they do the unexpected. But from looking around the crowd, listening to the unprecedented chatter levels (in my experience at least) and ear-wigging a few punters on the way out, I can’t help thinking that whilst they may have done all the right things tonight, they almost certainly did them in the wrong order.

Newcastle Academy – 15th April 2013

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Setlist

Waltzing Along / Seven / Ring The Bells / Sound / Dream Thrum / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / She's A Star / Just Like Fred Astaire / All In The Mind / Interrogation / Five-O / English Beefcake / Moving On / Waterfall / Born Of Frustration / Sit Down / We're Going To Miss You / Come Home / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Laid

Support

Echo And The Bunnymen

More Information & Reviews

With the opening night of the tour proper out of the way in Glasgow and a well-earned day off, James hit Newcastle for a sell-out show at the Academy. The venue’s already heaving for Echo And The Bunnymen, who perform a well-received set of most of their best known songs. It’s nice to have a support band of their quality on board for a tour rather than some of the droller record company suggested supports of previous years.

Waltzing Along opens the set again and continues its transformation from the song that you’d go for a piss during if you needed one to something that I’d be upset if they left out. It no longer feels like James by numbers, the band start it with Tim not yet on stage, it sets the crowd mood for the evening and it sounds completely reinvigorated. Seven makes a welcome return to the set and Tim ends up on top of the speaker stack in front of us. He’s clearly having a blast this tour. Ring The Bells and Sound maintain that momentum, it’s a heavy opening salvo designed to win the crowd over first and, coming a year after the last tour with the orchestra, show that there’s still a rockier heavier edge to James.

The mood is slowed down for Dream Thrum and it’s the one and only low point of the set. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just played a way it’s been heard each tour since it was resurrected in 2008, and to be honest, it’s not the greatest song they’ve ever written either. The band clearly love it though. There’s no such issues with Of Monsters And Heroes And Men, which builds and builds like an unstoppable wave. She’s A Star is another song that’s benefitted from its treatment on the orchestra tour. Elements of what was learnt on that tour have stayed in the set (as well as some of the songs) but they’ve also been revitalised, Star has a beautiful piano line that sets the hairs on the back of the neck on edge. Just Like Fred Astaire is a euphoric tale of love, with Tim going to the barrier and leaning into the crowd, even allowing some of them to sing parts of the song. It looks at one point like he’s going to be dragged out across the venue.

We then get two new songs and it’s clear immediately that All In The Mind is one they’re working on and getting more comfortable with the more they play it. It’s not an immediate song, which would explain the more muted reaction it got in Stirling, but on second hearing, it’s going to become a favourite if it survives the cull of live previewed songs that befell Traffic and initially Not So Strong on Hey Ma. Interrogation is an interesting piece, it’s not got a traditional song structure, but James have a knack of that not actually being an issue.

Five-O, like Waltzing Along, benefits from the beefed up sound, but also maintains that emotional maelstrom that makes it the centerpiece of the Laid album. English Beefcake is an absolute revelation – it’s never quite been done justice before, but Larry has finally nailed it and the crescendo at the end has the crowd singing along, almost drowning out Tim.

Final new song of the evening is Moving On. They mess up the start (again), but already it feels like it’s going to be the biggest song they’ve done since they got back together. One or two listens is all it needs to be completely engrained in your brain that you’ll find yourself singing along to it in your sleep. It’s a song about dealing with the death of someone close to you, but it can equally be interpreted to be about changing your life for the better. It’s probably going to be a single.

Waterfall had been neglected somewhat live back when Hey Ma came out, it felt like they never quite mastered it, sometimes focusing on the shortened radio version. Tonight they let go completely, led by Andy’s battered brass acting as a clarion call and Tim holding a note for about thirty seconds longer than the rest of us mere mortals can manage without permanent damage to their vocal chords (I tried).

Born Of Frustration almost brings the house down, an dark brooding extended intro, Tim hollering over the start and then crashing into a chorus that sees the floor raising it hands in union and trying to imitate Tim’s calling card yodel.

Then it happens. Possibly the greatest version of any song I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. It’s Sit Down. It’s fiery and fierce, reinvigorated perhaps by the recent Comic Relief video, but as it hits the end of the second chorus and the key change, the crowd take it on and for five minutes sing it back to the band, accompanied only by Dave’s kick drum. There’s been thousands of singalongs of this after the “those who find themselves…” section, but this is in new territory. The band look visibly shocked, amazed and delighted.

You almost can’t follow it. We’re Going To Miss You gets the unenviable job of opening up the encore, with its new choppy opening section. Given what’s happened with Sit Down, the band almost seem hellbent on there not being a singalong at the end, so they go into Come Home. The great thing about James today is that they’re so in tune with each other on stage that they could turn up and play this song twenty or thirty times and you’d get a very different version each time. The chemistry on stage is more like a nuclear reaction. Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) sees a see of arms and again everyone in the place is singing along. Musically it’s not changed a lot over the years live, but it’s one of those songs that doesn’t need to.

There’s no Sometimes tonight, a sign that the band aren’t going to rest on their laurels and use it as the big showstopper at the end. What we get is a Saul-inspired slow opening to Laid, that is, like it was in 1994 a completely different song, the crowd love it and then they go into the fast version, repeating the first verse and the place erupts. The break it had on the orchestra tour means it’s got new life, a new vigour and it’s lots and lots of fun.

It’s very easy to say best gig ever, but they are absolutely on a high already on this tour. This could have been an easy wheel the big hits out and play them the way they’ve been played before, but this feels like another reinvention, reinvigoration of the band. They’ll have their work cut out to beat tonight, but you wouldn’t put it past them.

an encore of We’re Going To Miss You, Come Home, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) and Laid

With the opening night of the tour proper out of the way in Glasgow and a well-earned day off, James hit Newcastle for a sell-out show at the Academy. The venue’s already heaving for Echo And The Bunnymen, who perform a well-received set of most of their best known songs. It’s nice to have a support band of their quality on board for a tour rather than some of the droller record company suggested supports of previous years.

Waltzing Along opens the set again and continues its transformation from the song that you’d go for a piss during if you needed one to something that I’d be upset if they left out. It no longer feels like James by numbers, the band start it with Tim not yet on stage, it sets the crowd mood for the evening and it sounds completely reinvigorated. Seven makes a welcome return to the set and Tim ends up on top of the speaker stack in front of us. He’s clearly having a blast this tour. Ring The Bells and Sound maintain that momentum, it’s a heavy opening salvo designed to win the crowd over first and, coming a year after the last tour with the orchestra, show that there’s still a rockier heavier edge to James.

The mood is slowed down for Dream Thrum and it’s the one and only low point of the set. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just played a way it’s been heard each tour since it was resurrected in 2008, and to be honest, it’s not the greatest song they’ve ever written either. The band clearly love it though. There’s no such issues with Of Monsters And Heroes And Men, which builds and builds like an unstoppable wave. She’s A Star is another song that’s benefitted from its treatment on the orchestra tour. Elements of what was learnt on that tour have stayed in the set (as well as some of the songs) but they’ve also been revitalised, Star has a beautiful piano line that sets the hairs on the back of the neck on edge. Just Like Fred Astaire is a euphoric tale of love, with Tim going to the barrier and leaning into the crowd, even allowing some of them to sing parts of the song. It looks at one point like he’s going to be dragged out across the venue.

We then get two new songs and it’s clear immediately that All In The Mind is one they’re working on and getting more comfortable with the more they play it. It’s not an immediate song, which would explain the more muted reaction it got in Stirling, but on second hearing, it’s going to become a favourite if it survives the cull of live previewed songs that befell Traffic and initially Not So Strong on Hey Ma. Interrogation is an interesting piece, it’s not got a traditional song structure, but James have a knack of that not actually being an issue.

Five-O, like Waltzing Along, benefits from the beefed up sound, but also maintains that emotional maelstrom that makes it the centerpiece of the Laid album. English Beefcake is an absolute revelation – it’s never quite been done justice before, but Larry has finally nailed it and the crescendo at the end has the crowd singing along, almost drowning out Tim.

Final new song of the evening is Moving On. They mess up the start (again), but already it feels like it’s going to be the biggest song they’ve done since they got back together. One or two listens is all it needs to be completely engrained in your brain that you’ll find yourself singing along to it in your sleep. It’s a song about dealing with the death of someone close to you, but it can equally be interpreted to be about changing your life for the better. It’s probably going to be a single.

Waterfall had been neglected somewhat live back when Hey Ma came out, it felt like they never quite mastered it, sometimes focusing on the shortened radio version. Tonight they let go completely, led by Andy’s battered brass acting as a clarion call and Tim holding a note for about thirty seconds longer than the rest of us mere mortals can manage without permanent damage to their vocal chords (I tried).

Born Of Frustration almost brings the house down, an dark brooding extended intro, Tim hollering over the start and then crashing into a chorus that sees the floor raising it hands in union and trying to imitate Tim’s calling card yodel.

Then it happens. Possibly the greatest version of any song I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. It’s Sit Down. It’s fiery and fierce, reinvigorated perhaps by the recent Comic Relief video, but as it hits the end of the second chorus and the key change, the crowd take it on and for five minutes sing it back to the band, accompanied only by Dave’s kick drum. There’s been thousands of singalongs of this after the “those who find themselves…” section, but this is in new territory. The band look visibly shocked, amazed and delighted.

You almost can’t follow it. We’re Going To Miss You gets the unenviable job of opening up the encore, with its new choppy opening section. Given what’s happened with Sit Down, the band almost seem hellbent on there not being a singalong at the end, so they go into Come Home. The great thing about James today is that they’re so in tune with each other on stage that they could turn up and play this song twenty or thirty times and you’d get a very different version each time. The chemistry on stage is more like a nuclear reaction. Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) sees a see of arms and again everyone in the place is singing along. Musically it’s not changed a lot over the years live, but it’s one of those songs that doesn’t need to.

There’s no Sometimes tonight, a sign that the band aren’t going to rest on their laurels and use it as the big showstopper at the end. What we get is a Saul-inspired slow opening to Laid, that is, like it was in 1994 a completely different song, the crowd love it and then they go into the fast version, repeating the first verse and the place erupts. The break it had on the orchestra tour means it’s got new life, a new vigour and it’s lots and lots of fun.

It’s very easy to say best gig ever, but they are absolutely on a high already on this tour. This could have been an easy wheel the big hits out and play them the way they’ve been played before, but this feels like another reinvention, reinvigoration of the band. They’ll have their work cut out to beat tonight, but you wouldn’t put it past them.

Glasgow SECC – 13th April 2013

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Setlist

Waltzing Along / Sound / Ring The Bells / Lost A Friend / Interrogation / Sit Down / She's A Star / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Fire So Close / Space / We're Going To Miss You / Five-O / Moving On / Waterfall / Born Of Frustration / Come Home / Medieval / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Sometimes / Laid

Support

Echo And The Bunnymen

More Information & Reviews

Review by OneOfTheThree.com

The first night of the tour proper and there’s an expectant mood in a heaving SECC. Echo And The Bunnymen open up proceedings and they get a decent reception from the crowd, but it’s just after nine by the time James take to the stage. Opening track Waltzing Along is a much beefed up version of the song that has figured regularly in the James set over the years and it sounds a whole lot better for it. It sets the precedent for the evening. James haven’t toured as a rock band since the end of 2010 and tonight they’re full on. Sound is thrown in earlier than usual and doesn’t have the extended outro, but is all the better for it, as Tim gets close and personal dancing with Larry. By the time we get to Ring The Bells, the venue is a heaving mass of bodies and James have already won everyone over.

Things are slowed down a bit for Lost A Friend, but there’s no loss of the vibrant urgency in the music or in Tim’s voice. Tim would later tell me there were technical problems and issues with on-stage sound, but there’s no such issues out in the crowd. They play the first of two new songs Interrogation and it’s clear that the recent writing sessions in Scotland have borne fruit to songs that will see the James legacy proud.

Sit Down brings the house down. It’s rough and raw and ready, and the 7000 or so crowd singalong to every word. It’s great to see the band are happy to play it this time round as, however many times you hear it on the radio, it never fails to ignite a crowd. She’s A Star is underpinned by a beautiful discrete piano line from Mark.

The band are joined on stage by a choir for the next part of the set and we get a looping lolloping Of Monsters And Heroes And Men which builds majestically to a climax, Fire So Close which has a stunning interplay between Larry’s guitar and Saul’s violin and a wonderful outro from the latter. Space has all the fire and fury that got mixed out in the production of the recorded version, and the choir lift We’re Going To Miss You into a mantra that the crowd sing back to the band. Five-O is as beautifully poignant as ever.

Second new song, and potential new single, Moving On with its chorus of “I’m on my way, leave a little light on” will go down as a James classic, it has the warm hug of familiarity, whilst maintaining its own personality and not feeling at all out of place amongst the bigger hitters in the set. Waterfall is simply magnificent, Andy’s trumpet throwing all sorts of shapes across the song, and Tim holding a note longer than you would think biologically possible. The main set ends with Born Of Frustration and Come Home, which get the four people in the venue not already dancing around with lunatic grins on their faces beaming and bouncing from side to side.

The choir come back for the encore and they start with Medieval, the marching beat and the chanted chorus mean that it’s irrelevant it’s a 25 year old album track. Getting Away With It has the same delirious effect it always has on the audience, before we get to that contentious double-header to close the set. Tonight Sometimes and Laid together feel like the perfect way to bring the set to a close as they fit the mood of what’s gone before, the singalong has started before Sometimes is taken down and Laid is more raw and raucous than ever.

Review by Stuart Ralston

Incredibly, this is their 7th visit to Glasgow’s infamous exhibition centre. Even more incredibly, some 6000 thousand people have ventured out to see James tonight. Not bad, considering that they haven’t released any new material in nearly 3 years. Bands tour to promote new records. Not James though. When dates were announced, I thought the size of some of the venues on the tour were a little bit ambitious. To my surprise, the large, soul-less shed is nearly full. Given their lack of record label, and promotion, this is a major result for James. In the last couple of years, many bands are struggling to shift tickets. James don’t seem to have that problem. In theory this is “the Gathering Sound Tour” but it is not. The only reference to the now legendary box set is on the posters advertising the tour. Instead of a Gathering Sound tour, it looks as though it is another celebration tour with a few new tracks being road tested, and a few more obscure tracks thrown in too.

Opening with Waltzing Along for the second night in a row is a master stroke. A well known Best Of… track, it gets the crowd going. Not only that, the band use it as a warm up, with all 7 of them coming in when they wish. Starting off as a jam, rather than the poptastic smash hit the crowd are used to breathes new life into what many of us see as the weakest track in their back catalogue. This jam approach gets the thumbs up from me. What a great start. The next re-evaluation is Sound. Pretty much always in the set, but never this early. Again, the band treat it as an extended jam but at the same time, for both band and audience, it is a triumph. Ring The Bells, another staple, particularly at Glasgow gigs is up next and there is a real feeling of “oh no, they’re going best of” for me. It does the job of keeping the crowd happy and James have clearly understood their audience tonight. Many James faces are in the crowd, with this being the first official date of the tour; some fans have travelled hundreds of miles to see James tonight and at this stage, it looked like James were going down the safe route. We needn’t have worried though as the experimental set debuted in Stirling the night before is echoed this evening, although it is not as left field as that set. Lost A Friend, the single that never was from 1997 keeps its place in the set. A welcome return. Jim’s baseline dominates. Like the legendary John Entwistle of The Who, It is as though he is playing lead. It is not familiar though to many of the crowd. In true fashion, there are many people here tonight talking all the way through the gig. Why pay £40 and £4 a pint to stand about and talk all night?

Through no fault of their own, they have lost a little momentum as they try out Interrogation. One of the new songs demoed recently by the band. In truth, if I asked someone in the crowd which of the 2 songs was the new one, I suspect many wouldn’t have known. To get the crowd going again, the band wisely launch into Sit Down. It keeps the punters happy. Another good move. This is followed by the big hit from the Whiplash lp, She’s A Star. However, it has been totally reworked, and features Tim’s vocals, Mark’s piano, and Saul’s violin predominately, with only a little Larry guitar. Wow. A superb arrangement. Beautiful. Of Monsters and Heroes and Men sees the introduction of the Manchester Consort Choir, who were special guests for the evening, and joined the band on 8 of the songs. Sadly, this is the cue for 100s of punters to try to get a drink at the bar. That was their loss.

Tim dedicates Fire So Close to the Barrowlands fans in the audience tonight. Delivered with a real passion from Tim, Mark, Larry and the choir. Up next is Space, from one of my favourite LPs, Pleased To Meet You. Overlooked by many, it was the opening track from the final album (first time round) back in 2001. It is encouraging to see the band revisit some of these songs, especially as a certain band member isn’t keen on that LP or its predecessor Millionaires.

We’re Gonna Miss You from Millionaires gets an airing tonight, and is another song with a new arrangement. Larry plays a more choppy guitar part, which is completely unrecognisable from the recorded version. I prefer the original to be honest but fair play to them for trying something else with it. We’re Gonna Miss You is boosted by the backing vocals of the choir though, who were welcome guests this evening. An inspired choice of guests. Hopefully, they can collaborate with James in the studio at some stage.

The Record Store Day single that never was Moving On is the 2nd of 2 new songs aired tonight. It is easily the best of the new ones, with a catchy chorus and some excellent trumpet from Andy. As far as I know, it has been recorded and mixed. It is set to become another fan favourite.

If you ask any of the James faces about their finest work, many will say the Hey Ma LP from 2008. Tonight we are treated to 2 songs from it. Waterfall is usually always spectacular. On release, I found it incredible that a 25 year old band could produce their best LP. Unfortunately tonight though Waterfall sounds a little tired. Perhaps the band were feeling it. After all, it is 8 months since they last played any gigs. I trust Waterfall will improve as the tour progresses.

Come Home is a triumph though. As I listened it struck me that James never really play it the same way twice. Famously, they never play the same set twice (if you ignore the 1998 Best Of… tour) but it is also true that they don’t really play a number of their songs in the same way either. Extraordinary, considering there are playing to audiences of 1000s. They pull it off though, and that is what makes James so special. Their working methods are completely unorthodox.

The choir once again join for the end of set celebrations, including a trio of big hits. An incredible performance tonight given the circumstances: no new record to promote, 3 years since the last proper album, and their first big gig in nearly a year. Not their best gig ever, but an excellent performance. Ok, so they didn’t play Count Your Blessings or I Defeat (the latter was played in, and adored by the Stirling audience) but they delivered. Curiously, Jimmy picked up his set list at the end of the gig, folded it, and put it in his pocket. I suspect he is going to fine tune it to create the ultimate set for later in the tour. Enjoy.

Stirling Tolbooth – 12th April 2013

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Setlist

Waltzing Along / Sound / Lost A Friend / Bubbles / Shes A Star / Quicken The Dead / Five-O / Interrogation / We're Going To Miss You / Space / Lose Control / All In The Mind / Moving On / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Born Of Frustration / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / I Defeat / Say Something / Come Home / Sit Down

Support

n/a

More Information & Reviews

Stirling Tolbooth is the smallest venue James have played, and are likely to play, for a long time. Holding about 200 people it’s packed for this warm up for their tour with Echo and the Bunnymen that starts tonight in Glasgow.

In true James tradition, the opening night of the tour is always experimental, the weirdest and most unusual set you get to hear on a tour and tonight is no exception. There’s four new songs played, there’s some of the more obscure less well-known album tracks, an old b-side and, as it’s James and they get away with it, all messed up, the odd technical hitch. The set isn’t as flowing as it’ll be on the tour, but then that’s the beauty of these evenings.

Although there’s nothing pre-1990 in the set, we do get a mixture of songs from their catalogue since then. With a list of hits the length of your arm, you’re not going to hear everything, but we get a mix of songs from Gold Mother through to Hey Ma and four new songs, which whilst not necessarily having the sing-along choruses of some of their bigger hits, bode extremely well for the album the band are in the middle of writing and recording. They’re so new that Tim is reading the latest version of the lyrics from a sheet.

The sound in the venue isn’t really suited to a band with the set-up and power of James and it does sometimes take the edge off some of the louder and also the quieter numbers in the set. There’s a technical issue where the bass amp packs up before All In The Mind and we’re treated to an impromptu Lose Control with Andy on trumpet. That’s the real beauty of them, they deal with such issues effortlessly, there’s no recourse to just churning out hit after hit.