Tag Archives: Glasgow
Glasgow SEC Armadillo – 1st May 2023
Setlist
Magic Bus / The Shining / She's A Star / The Lake / Dust Motes / Someone's Got It In For Me / We're Going To Miss You / Hymn From A Village / Hello / Ten Below / Tomorrow / Sit Down / Beautiful Beaches / Say Something / Love Make A Fool / Alaskan Pipeline / Moving On / Riders / Seven / Medieval / All The Colours Of You / Many Faces / Sometimes / Nothing But Love / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)Support
N/AMore Information & Reviews
Review: EvenTheStars.co.uk
“A light appears up on the balcony, but as Andy plays his first note, Tim asks him to “hold that trumpet” before commenting how weird it is to get to Glasgow and play on a Monday night to a seated crowd rather than the usual chaos. He notes the two security sat at the front of the stage and says they’ll be moved for the second half, but how beautifully quiet it is and how it makes them play better. Andy fashions to play again and then Saul jokes that maybe the audience thinks they’re shit. Whilst Andy gets impatient and tries again, Tim tells us 500 people got kicked out of their last Glasgow gig at the Hydro. When Hymn From A Village finally starts, it’s fast and frenetic and a few very old school heads stand up and dance to the James that they first fell in love with. It finishes with Debbie on the drums standing up as the song accelerates to its conclusion.”
Read the full review at EvenTheStars.co.uk
Glasgow The SSE Hydro – 30th November 2021
Setlist
Zero / Isabella / Born Of Frustration / Five-O / Seven / All The Colours Of You / Many Faces / Walk Like You / Curse Curse / Honest Joe / She's A Star / Wherever It Takes Us / Hymn From A Village / Sound / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Come Home / Beautiful Beaches / Sit Down / LaidSupport
Happy MondaysMore Information & Reviews
Review: Fiona Shepherd @ The Scotsman
“We’re ageing like wine,” sang Tim Booth on opening number Zero – fair comment for a canny band who remain a limber live collective even if parts of their set were drawn out.
Read the full review at TheScotsman.com
Review: EvenTheStars.co.uk
“The thrilling energy of a nine-piece James that is on a mission and having the best time accomplishing it.”
Read the full review at EvenTheStars.co.uk
Glasgow Playground Festival – 24th September 2021
Setlist
Isabella / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Ring The Bells / All The Colours Of You / Wherever It Takes Us / Born Of Frustration / Honest Joe / Come Home / Tomorrow / Sound / Beautiful Beaches / Sit Down / LaidSupport
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Glasgow Hydro – 19th May 2016
Setlist
Out To Get You / Move Down South / Catapult / To My Surprise Walk Like You / Waking / Ring The Bells / Sometimes / PS / Bitch / Dear John / She’s A Star / Just Like Fred Astaire / Come Home / Surfer’s Song / Tomorrow / Sound / Attention / Sit Down / Moving On / Nothing But Love / Say Something
Support
Jack Savoretti
Review
n/a
Glasgow BBC Quay Studio – 23rd March 2016
Setlist
Girl At The End Of The World / Just Like Fred Astaire / Daddy's Gone / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Feet Of Clay / Catapult / Dear John / Say Something / Nothing But LoveSupport
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A promotional gig to promote Girl At The End Of The World live at the BBC’s quayside studio in Glasgow.
The set included a unique cover version of Glasvegas’ Daddy Gone, the only time the band has played this in front of an audience.
And so on to the BBC. James have an impressive record of BBC session recordings. First recording for the corporation way back in 1983, their sessions are always interesting. Recorded within a short timescale, the band had to produce several songs often in just a few hours. As such, we find the band at possibly their most natural and raw. There were never times allocated for overdubs and so on during their sessions. Tonight, they are recording in front of an audience, making it even more of an exciting prospect. The band deliver a semi-acoustic performance. Girl At The End Of The World is upbeat and vibrant despite its lyrical content. The audience – about two hundred people are crammed in – love it. A truly beautiful Just Like Fred Astaire follows surprisingly.
I was expecting a big new album promo push but in true James style, they pull out all the stops to deliver a classic curve ball set. The audience love it. Tim then confesses they are going to do something James and something stupid and they attempt to cover Daddy’s Gone from a favourite Scottish band of Jim’s, the seminal Glasvegas. Jim always played Glasvegas albums before the band hit the stage on their tours of America. Tim reveals that the band have only spent twenty minutes rehearsing it and Saul jokes that they have always wanted to ruin a Glasvegas song. You can guess the rest. They pull it off in fine style and it would be a real shame if they don’t release it. Dominated by Jim’s bass, they make it their own and it is almost unrecognisable. Adrian stars on cello, Saul stars on violin and Ron maintains the beat. He is a welcome addition to the ranks.
An extensive interview follows where we learn about Tim’s dancing, the origins of the band name, Brian Eno (there’s another song they are working on with him that wasn’t ready for the album), the connection between Manchester and Glasgow, recording in Scotland and the possibility of the band playing experimental, improvised gigs in London, Glasgow and Manchester. We can’t really put into words just how much we are looking forward to that prospect.
Getting Away With It follows with Adrian this time on his trusty Fender Jaguar. It is a slowed down, relaxed version, sounding as fresh as it did when debuted back in 2000. The ability of the band to make their old stuff sound as fresh and contemporary shouldn’t be undermined.
Feet of Clay opens with a great raw, bouncing Glennie baseline competing with Adrian’s cello. Add in some stunning violin from Saul and the band have created something quite beautiful. Tim isn’t happy with the result as he feels he has forgotten how it goes. As the band are recording for future broadcast then there is a welcome opportunity to hear Feet of Clay again. It already sounds like a classic. It maintains a gallop in the same vein as Sometimes and is a much welcome addition to the James catalogue.
Catapult has a subtle, slow, discrete opening. Tim is concerned as to how it will sound as they have never played it in such a style. He needn’t have worried. It retains a charm and a groove. As it progresses, the song builds and builds like the very best of James songs. In the end, it sounds like Saul and Adrian are competing in the friendliest way possible on their respective guitars.
Tim reveals that Dear John will be a single at some stage but the more you listen to the new album, the more you can make a case for most of the tracks being singles. It bounces along with some great ensemble vocals from the assembled cast. Jim’s bass for Dear John and, indeed for most of this evening, is almost played as a lead instrument.
Say Something is dominated by Adrian’s cello and all the better for it. He has come off the sub’s bench in the last year and he has delivered. Tonight’s semi-acoustic set up has allowed Adrian to shine. He switches effortlessly from cello to guitar and contributes to backing vocals too. His return has added an unexpected dimension to the band. He isn’t really filling in for Larry Gott but stamping his own style all over tonight’s proceedings. He is my man of the match although it’s as always a team game.
I came along tonight with some reservations about the band. My reservations were blown away by a country mile. The band demonstrated a passion, commitment, dedication and love for their craft tonight like I haven’t seen for a long time. That’s not to say that any of these qualities have been missing. It just seems like they have really upped their game.
Ending with Nothing But Love, it sounds as though it has been around for years. It has a simplicity and a familiarity to it. It already sounds like one of the best James songs ever. Mark’s keyboards sound fantastic and Tim’s vocals are as passionate as I have ever heard.
Four thousand people applied for tickets tonight and only two hundred got in. This is one of the very best performances I’ve ever seen from them. This way of working, in a semi acoustic way, clearly works very well for them. They don’t just churn out a formulaic set but instead constantly challenge themselves and the audience like only James can. They need to work like this again. And so, the great James at the BBC reputation continues.
Glasgow HMV – 23rd March 2016
Setlist
Feet Of Clay / Dear John / Girl At The End Of The WorldSupport
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An in-store promotional gig to promote Girl At The End Of The World on the day of release. Fans were required to queue on a first-come first-served basis to attend the show and a signing.
The final day of promo duties for Girl At The End Of The World sees James on top form in their second city of Glasgow. Ever present Glaswegian James aficionado Stuart Ralston was there as the band aim to hold on to their midweek number one slot in the album chart.
Despite being well into their third decade, this is the first ever Scottish in store appearance from James. It is short and sweet but the assembled masses on a Wednesday afternoon love it. A three-song stripped back set opens with a delicate yet beautiful Feet of Clay from the album they are here to promote. Saul has sound issues with his violin – the audience don’t however as we can hear it perfectly but Saul shares a few expletives which results in a ribbing from Tim as they have just had a briefing about their choice of words for the impending radio session.
Dear John is even better than the opener. New(ish) boy Ron joins forces with Tim to provide some haunting vocals. Mark uses his little air-powered keyboard to great effect. It is clear from the songs and the mid song banter that the band are as tight as ever. The final song of this incredibly short set is the title track of the new album, Girl at the End of the World. Tim explains the meaning behind it – a particular death trap road where he resides in the States. Despite cries for more, time doesn’t allow it. Job done though. Stripped back these new songs are mightily impressive and any doubters in the room must have been won over.
Glasgow Hydro – 15th November 2014
Setlist
Lose Control / Seven / Walk Like You / All Good Boys / Sound / Curse Curse / Laid / Hymn From A Village / All Im Saying / Quicken The Dead / Out To Get You / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Greenpeace / Stutter / Just Like Fred Astaire / Moving On / Gone Baby Gone / Come Home / Tomorrow / Born Of Frustration / SometimesSupport
StarsailorMore Information & Reviews
Saturday night in Glasgow is no place for the faint-hearted and so James got (most of) their hits out for one of the biggest shows of the La Petite Mort tour.
The Hydro has garnered itself something of a bad reputation for sound since its opening last year, but there’s no real problems with the sound tonight where we’re stood is fine and the venue works in the sense that there’s a decent vantage point pretty much everywhere.
Tonight’s set is geared towards the Saturday night crowd. Whilst there’s still six songs from the new album and All Good Boys and Greenpeace retain their place, the rest of the set aims to generate a celebratory atmosphere rather than a listening crowd. This comes to a crux when Tim stops All I’m Saying because, despite requesting a few minutes silence so he can sing this song that’s very difficult for him because of the subject, the crowd don’t and he can’t carry on over the noise. It’s a shame that the crowd couldn’t respect that wish, but then it’s difficult to shut up eight thousand people for a few minutes when a large chunk of them have been on the lash all day.
The tone of the show is set by the opening Lose Control when Tim, Larry and Andy walk through the crowd. The venue layout doesn’t really lend itself to this working as the only seats that can access the route to the stage are not raised very high so most of the floor can’t see what’s going on. But they just take the song and make it their own almost drowning Tim out in the process. Seven has a sea of arms raised in unison and Walk Like You, with its many different sections and improvised outro keeps the atmosphere at fever pitch. All Good Boys surprisingly works in this environment, it feels made for these bigger stages, particularly as it builds to the five-voice crescendo at the end. It feels and sounds like a lost classic.
Sound has Tim musing on the fact that there’s something beautiful about men singing the “mah bah ooh” part of the song. Tonight it fills the hall, dark and rumbling, slightly menacing, lit up by stunning use of the backdrop and the big lighting rig. Curse Curse, which Tim later says he should have changed to “Maloney shoots and scores” in the presence of friend and Scotland manager Gordon Strachan, really turns the heat up, people losing themselves in a heady mix of the electronic vibes of the song, ferocious lighting and a hazy fog of alcohol. Tim goes crowd-surfing half way through the song as well yet still manages to hold everything together as he sings lying chest-down on a sea of arms. Laid has Tim down on the barrier again and helping a crowd surfer up on to the stage to dance with him. The reaction of the audience tells you why many bands see Glasgow crowds as one of the best to play to. Hymn From A Village hammers that point home as well.
Then things turn slightly sour with the All I’m Saying incident. Thinking about how often Tim went down into the crowd tonight, far more than he normally would, suggests that the distance and height from the crowd meant he was having trouble getting the connection he wanted. They play Quicken The Dead as an alternative and then it all gets forgotten as the venue is turned into a mass of waving arms as they go into Out To Get You, a song that’s been on quite a journey from its initial place on the Lose Control b-side to one of the band’s most loved songs and one that guarantees a fabulous reception whenever they play it. Getting Away With It, with Tim humming the intro section, has the whole place bouncing again and everything is forgotten.
Greenpeace looks and sounds stunning, but as Saul alluded to in the soundcheck, it does feel like it gets slightly lost in these big arenas. It’s not a song an audience can do a lot with given the contrast in pace and volume of the various sections except stand and stare at its sheer power. Stutter is a very different beast as it rumbles its way to its manic conclusion, bulldozing everything in its way.
Just Like Fred Astaire is simply jaw-droppingly beautiful, the song, more than any other, they’ve absolutely captured the essence of on this tour. Gorgeous swooping keyboard, vocals that enhance the expression of love apparent in the words. Moving On gets the warmest reception of all the new songs tonight, the sentiment touches most of the people in the room in some way and there must be a cathartic effect of thousands of people singing back to you something incredibly personal. Gone Baby Gone, once again, is the highlight of the new songs though and Tim helps another dancer up on stage for this one.
Come Home and Tomorrow finish the main set and see Tim back down in the crowd surfing, although some people get a bit too close and personal prompting him to ask if “the person who stole my penis can give it back”, a change from when someone stole his shoe at the Barrowlands in 1990. Come Home gets stretched out as Tim can’t sing because of the attention he’s getting so it loses its way a little as they scrabble to keep the song going, but they manage to rescue it.
Born Of Frustration sees them all stay on stage tonight and allows us to focus on the sheer power of the song without being distracted by people in different corners of the arena. It’s a song that drifts in and out of the setlist, but really was the calling card for the Seven album, especially when the crowd can participate in the hollering Indian call of the intro of the song.
They finish with Sometimes which almost descends into farce, they play the song with an interesting opening where Tim sings the first line without the band having started the song, the audience stops, are called back into action by Tim stomping his feet, prompting a sing-along section, but before the band can come back in the crowd stop singing and it doesn’t get carried into the mass celebratory communion it’s been on other nights. It’s one of the great things about having Sometimes at the end of the set, although the structure of it might be well-known to people, it’s never the same because of the crowd and how they take it.
All in all, a gig very much geared to the audience and the night of the week, but still enough in there that goes beyond what the casual fan of the band might know and expect from them. With concerns about the venue and Tim’s voice, which sounded in fine fettle despite issues with his throat over the past few days, it was the right set for the evening and the place, but hopefully we’ll see some changes this week.
Glasgow SECC – 13th April 2013
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 / LaidSupport
Echo And The BunnymenMore 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.
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall – 25th October 2011
Setlist
Set 1 - Dream Thrum / Lookaway / Fairground / Really Hard / Say Something / Dust Motes / Hello / Just Like Fred Astaire / Of Monsters And Heroes And Men / Hey Ma / We're Going To Miss YouSet 2 - William Tell Overture / Boom Boom / The Lake / She's A Star / Fire So Close / Alaskan Pipeline / Hymn From A Village / Sometimes / Space
Encore - Top Of The World / Medieval / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
VIP Soundcheck - Boom Boom / Riders / The Shining
Support
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Glasgow is always an interesting place to see James. The gigs here are always on the edge. The Glaswegian crowds can be the best or the worst on the tour – when the energy they have that is unrivalled anywhere in the country is channeled, there’s no other gig experience like it, but there’s sometimes that enthusiasm can boil over which can ruin the atmosphere or the more risky sets might not get the response they deserve. The band talk of legendary nights at the Barrowlands, so it was always going to be intriguing to see the reaction to this set-up and the line up of songs that were to be presented to them. By the end, Glasgow proves that if you can isolate the odd dickheads in their seats rather than letting them run amok in a standing crowd then the result is something extraordinary – I doubt there will be a response like there was to Sometimes anywhere else in the country. The lesser-known songs also get the reception and respect that they deserve.
The Concert Hall doesn’t possess the acoustics of the halls of the previous two nights and for that reason the first half of the set, which is pretty much the same except for the swapover of Hey Ma and We’re Going To Miss You at the end, doesn’t quite scale the same heights. It’s not that it’s played badly or sung badly, you can see how the songs are developing and how the three parts of this journey are coming together, just that when Tim is singing along in Dust Motes or when Mark is playing the piano on Hello, it doesn’t get right through to the marrow of your bones as it had on the other nights. You really have to feel for the sound engineers pulling all this together.
For that reason, the start is a little subdued. Dream Thrum is still a thing of fragile beauty and Lookaway, despite some purists claiming it doesn’t have a chorus, has a singalong refrain to match most of the 90s “hit” output, which the choir take on and turn into a mantra.
Tim is a playful mood tonight, as will be demonstrated later. He steals lead violin David’s sheet music again, and draws him from his seat, before scrumpling the paper up and throwing it into the crowd. He describes Really Hard as their hit before they became famous and was written when Jim was in nappies, aged 16, the same age as the two girls from the choir who come down from the back to accompany Tim on Say Something. If they are 16, they wouldn’t have been born when Say Something came out, but they add so much to a song that in its usual live form had become in grave need of a rest. The audience reaction to it is predictably the loudest so far. So much so that Larry needs to quieten them down before the haunting duo of Dust Motes and Hello so that Mark’s piano can be heard.
For Just Like Fred Astaire, Tim jumps into the crowd again, a risky business in Glasgow as he acknowledges at the end, sits on someone’s knee, embraces a big guy, evades an over-enthusiastic fan with a swivel of his hips, high fives part of the front row of the upper stalls, dances with a girl at the back, and still manages to sing the whole song and make a full tour of the downstairs seats and get back to the stage by the end of the song.
Of Monsters And Heroes And Men is a dramatic song in its own right already and the addition of the orchestra and choir to it make it even more so. The Hey Ma songs work so well in this environment as is proven by the title track which ends with Joe dancing with Tim as the song powers its way to the end. We’re Going To Miss You makes more sense as the end of the first set, although the ending of the band, orchestra and choir leaving the stage and fading the song down as they do, doesn’t quite work in the way it was intended.
The start of the second set has the first changes of the tour so far. It starts with the orchestra coming back on stage, followed by Tim, who looks around for the rest of the band and calls for Jim. He picks up two conductor’s batons and the orchestra play which makes Tim drop them. He looks around, calls for Jim again, then picks up the batons again and starts conducting the orchestra who then break into the William Tell Overture whilst Tim dances wildly whilst still conducting.
Boom Boom sounds beautiful, the ending is made for the orchestra and choir harmonies, and once the crowd realise that they shouldn’t be clapping in this bit, it soars to its climax.
I’m going to run out of ways to describe The Lake very soon – the strings, the brass, Tim’s vocals reaching the very back of the hall augmented by the choir.
She’s A Star, with its guitar-free arrangement, is fast becoming a favourite too. The crowd now really start to get going and get into the gig at this point as well. Fire So Close gets more frenetic every night, Larry losing at least one guitar string mid-song, Tim and the four boys from the choir holding notes longer each night and the duel between violin and guitar more threatening every time.
Tim tells the crowd that they’re making the band feel at home and that they do wonder how someone coming wanting to hear that “nice Sit Down” song is reacting to the set. There’s a massive roar back that answers that one. Alaskan Pipeline, like The Lake, benefits from the orchestral arrangements and tonight, the choir are adding a lot more to the slower songs, whether it being more confidence or just simply a volume switch being turned up, but their contribution is as vital to this whole experience as the orchestra as they prevent Tim being lost in the midst of all the musicians on stage.
Larry then takes the microphone and makes a beautiful dedication to the memory of John Milne, aka Paranormalhandy from the James and other forums, who sadly passed away just weeks ago before this concert. It’s fitting with John’s love of early James that it’s before Hymn From A Village, albeit a version a million miles away from the recorded version John would have fallen in love with. Andy starts the song on the balcony with a minute or so of trumpet, before the orchestra kick in with plucked strings and by the end there’s brass in the mix too, and Joe ends up dancing with Tim again.
Tim then stops a heckler who’s been shouting for Johnny Yen all night by telling him they can’t just improvise songs that the orchestra won’t have heard (even though you get the feeling they’d only need to hear it once and be able to have a go at it) and Larry says that they’ll like the next one. Tim takes the mickey out of Dave for being sat in a goldfish bowl. There are no words to describe how Sometimes finishes. Yes, the ending with everyone singing back has been done to almost death, but, and it is a massive but, when it happens like it did here, the choir taking over first, turned right up volume wise, then the crowd, then the choir again, then the band and orchestra kick back in. The response at the end is overwhelming, it must have gone on for 2 or 3 minutes and would possibly still be going on now had Tim not spoken. I think the band didn’t know what to do after that, Tim said Joe suggested going off, but in order “to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory” they play Space, which cannot be anything but an anti-climax after what had preceded it, but which hides the fact it works beautifully tonight.
The encore starts with a gorgeous Top Of The World, led by Jim’s bass and Saul’s violin. For Medieval, the choir are brought to the side of the stage, next to Jim and Mark, who like Saul is playing drums. As in previous nights, it’s a real highlight, what could be chaos down there on stage holds together and the choir continue the song after the band and orchestra stop playing, beautifully improvised, spontaneous and the crowd, probably a lot of them wondering what the hell the song is, going wild. It segues almost seamlessly into Getting Away With It, a fitting choice to finish the set off, as, and I’m stealing this from Alex’s review of Birmingham, almost the perfect definition of orchestral rock.
So overall, it definitely felt like a show of two halves. The first half felt subdued compared to previous nights, not helped by the acoustics of the venue (this makes the Concert Hall sound like it has awful acoustics, it doesn’t, it’s just relative), but the second half blows the rest of the tour so far out of the water. Heavens knows how much further they can take this – the connection between band and orchestra is strengthening and throwing out wilder and more wonderful moments and the choir, that given their tender years could be overawed by their company, are coming into their own and stamping their mark on this as well.
Glasgow Oran Mor – 21st April 2011
Setlist
As Far As I Can See / Monkey God / Wave Hello / Bless Them All / Consequences / Man Of A Thousand Faces / Old Ways / You Can’t Tell How Much Suffering (On a Face That’s Always Smiling) / Monsters / Bone / Dance Of The Bad Angels / The Point Of Darkness / Shatters / Falling Down / All About Time / Fall In Love With Me / Buried Alive
Support
Unkle Bob
Review
review by oneofthethree
This could have gone so badly. A late arrival, two amps blowing up at the start of a very long and frustrating soundcheck, a 10pm curfew imposed ridiculously late by the venue and a small stage that made a lot of movement difficult. However, cheered on by a Glasgow crowd that took a little time to win over but by the end were refusing to leave, none of that really mattered at the end of a glorious night.
As in Manchester, the gig started with Tim and the band walking through the crowd and Tim found a table at the side of the venue on which to stand and sing the second half of the song, having “too much fun” to get everyone to the stage by the end of the song. Monkey God and Wave Hello set the scene for what’s to follow – right on the edge, riding by the seat of their pants and with a chemistry between the six on stage that draws everyone in. The material from Love Life is extremely well received and has a slightly harder edge than it does on record, although Bless Them All has a delightfully beautiful opening section that pierces the chatting at the back. Consequences is dark and brooding, with Neil’s bassline driving the song. The band have a great presence on stage, most of them have played in venues bigger than this and there’s no deference to the obvious love that Tim and Saul attract from the crowd due to James. The Regina Spektor cover Man Of A Thousand Faces takes the mood and pace down a little, but sounds beautiful and has the great sight of Neil playing a child’s glockenspiel.
Old Ways is a real highlight – the band, and then the crowd, go absolutely wild over the extended outro. Tim loses himself in dance in the middle of everything and the lights, whilst quite simple, feel like they’re an additional instrument. It’s the moment that shuts a lot of the chattering up. You can’t tell how many of the crowd know How Much Suffering is a James song, but it doesn’t matter. Between Old Ways and Monsters, it fits perfectly. Monsters is wild – I’m not sure quite what the City Life reviewer of the Manchester gig didn’t like about the shouted ending, but it works wonderfully as the song feels deranged and dark. It’s preceded by the comedy moment of the evening. Lee’s amp blows and Tim jokes about the tour being a budget tour, at which point Mr A Bunting hands over his wallet as a contribution and a conversation ensues about birthmarks on bottoms and armadillos as Lee is linked up to a small emergency amp.
Bone sees Dan on melodica with Tim holding the mic next to it as it drifts over the instrumental section of the song – it sounds jaw-droppingly beautiful and haunting, as does Dance Of The Bad Angels, which demonstrates that this band live isn’t just about raw power.
What happens next is quite astonishing. The Point Of Darkness is beautiful, but Tim encourages a couple of people from the VIP soundcheck at the front to sing with him and most of the venue ends up singing “light shines, across this world” for a couple of minutes. It’s unexpected and Tim looks genuinely taken aback Shatters takes off and soars to a climax.
Falling Down is only a James song in title, the music is completely different, it stops and starts in different places and is wild. Dan ends up standing on his stool to play the end section, whilst Saul throws violin into the mix. It’s followed by All About Time, which is making its play for the radio song from the album, with its fun, rampant chorus. By the end Tim’s dancing and half the crowd are dancing with him.
After all that, it’s an optimist that would expect the venue to be quiet for Tim to play Fall In Love, but they give it a go, and between the shushs and the shut-ups, it still carries that fragile poignancy that it has always had. Buried Alive, like so much of the new material, connects with the crowd, and the chaos on the stage transfers to a heaving crowd. As they leave, the crowd sing “we’re not going anywhere” demanding more, but the draconian 10pm curfew kicks in and that’s the end.
Truly special. Again. There’s a buzz, an infectious energy, musical connections in this band that’s making these gigs unmissable.
Glasgow SECC – 17th December 2010
Setlist
Born Of Frustration / Seven / Ring The Bells / Tell Her I Said So / PS / Lookaway / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Jam J / Out To Get You / I Wanna Go Home / Sit Down / Rabbit Hole / Just Like Fred Astaire / Laid / Sound / Stutter / Say Something / Tomorrow / SometimesVIP Soundcheck : Just Like Fred Astaire / Rabbit Hole / Lookaway / Destiny Calling
Support
Pigeon DetectivesMore Information & Reviews
Sometimes James deliver against the odds. Not content with having a lead guitarist with a serious back injury, Glasgow sees James with a singer with a throat infection / cold that makes the soundcheck difficult as certain songs aren’t going to work despite audience requests. It feels like a bad sign when they play James-by-numbers-not-actually-that-different Destiny Calling in the soundcheck and you almost expect a greatest hits set that could be explainable in the circumstances. But that’s not James. They come out with the most unusual looking set of hits, new, old, hits, favourites, new that you could think of, and it works.
The trio of Seven singles kicks off the set and gets the expectant Glasgow crowd going. It gives the space then for some indulgence, but people continue to clap along and respond to Tell Her I Said So, before relaxing for PS and for Lookaway, although the latter is really a killer single in the wrong era, although the big screen camera focus on Tim’s guitar playing is a bit unfair. The set then moves from hit to obscure track to album track that everyone knows and loves to more recent track that everyone’s getting to know and love and it’s all brilliant. The Glasgow crowd, of which I’m not normally so complimentary, is superb, attentive, excited, up for it. Sit Down is the trump card in the set, you can see the audience rise as one to sing along but then sit back and admire as the band play the joker of something that’s unexpected and isn’t just a run of the mill hit on the way down to the encore. Rabbit Hole is simply beautiful. Just Like Fred Astaire sees Tim and Saul standing on the monitors, before Laid kicks in and sends the crowd wild and then we’re into an extended fresh-sounding version of Sound and the catalysmic coming together that is Stutter.
The encore starts with the James-by-numbers of Say Something, but tonight it feels right, not contrived. Tomorrow is loud and brash and quite wonderful, before Sometimes, with an ending that noone seems to know how to do finishes off the set.
The best show of the tour so far, a great appreciative audience and a brilliant performance despite the illnesses, or maybe because of. James thrive from that adversity and tonight was an example.
Let’s just hope on home turf tomorrow they follow this through, give the crowd something that represents their Mancunian roots of the late eighties and early nineties (What For, Hymn From A Village, What’s The World) rather than the hit-fodder of the mid to late nineties – we can see you Destiny Calling, which showed in the soundcheck to be a bit of a one-trick pony or similar later singles.. A show as good as Glasgow that says thank you Manchester would just top off the best set of shows since the reunion.