Setlist
Slow Laid / Bone / Dance Of The Bad Angel / Eh Mamma / What Goes On / Sometimes / Down To The Sea / Wave Hello / Butterfly’s Dream / Monkey God
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Slow Laid / Bone / Dance Of The Bad Angel / Eh Mamma / What Goes On / Sometimes / Down To The Sea / Wave Hello / Butterfly’s Dream / Monkey God
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Tonight’s headliners James survived Britpop and now find themselves arguably more popular then they’ve ever been. And despite declaring on this very website that they’re not “a safe bet” that’s not the impression their audience gives off.
Aside from Tim Booth’s manic, man-battling-internal-demons dancing, this is pop, albeit cloaked in stories of sexual politics and paranoia. It’s pretty fine pop, too, with the opening ‘Say Something’ firing the audience into a sea of hands as rain begins to cascade from the sky.
Tracks from new album ‘Pleased To Meet You’ are slotted in alongside the hits in a festival-friendly set that ebbs and flows – from the slow whirl of new song ‘Senorita’ to the euphoric high of ‘She’s A Star’.
‘Born Of Frustration’ sees Booth missing his cue but he soon makes up for it by spinning around like a dervish, hand cupped to his face as he screams out the track’s signature “Woo-woo-woo-woo”.
They even deign to play ‘Sit Down’, although the verses are delivered in a subdued fashion which only reinforces the anthemic nature of the chorus. As the crowd sing and jump, the band stare out with barely concealed smiles of pride.
As they take their bows at the end, the band look mightily pleased with life. “We didn’t deserve this,” Booth admonishes the crowd, perhaps too mindful of a few glitches. He’s being unfair as, a few drawn-out jams aside, they plundered their back catalogue for maximum crowd pleasers.
James may not have the credibility of their contemporaries, but when it comes to pure pop with a sting in the lyrics, few do it better. And that’s why they’re so loved.
James entered the stage in a haze of red–lighting that certainly added an element of atmosphere to the start of the proceedings which were to follow.
James are very adept at producing a complicated and engaging sound, and they certainly know how to belt out a good tune or two. We were taken on a vocal roller coaster, as Booth’s voice spanned from soul-inspiring falsetto to a gutsy provocative tone. We were treated to favourites like “Sit Down” and to some exciting new material (one particularly memorable song about “sexual addiction”).
I’ll admit I set out only knowing and liking about two James songs, but now I’m irretrievably obsessive. This is doubtless indicative of the genius of the band, that they can take a mild interest and make the audience love them.
As far as the visual aspect of the performance goes, Booth can certainly move. With pelvic movements other performers can but dream about, he moved and shaked (with a look of effortless satisfaction on his face) to the amazement of all.
To gauge the reaction to James, one need only look to the mosh pit. Beginning small at the start, the jumping crowd grew till it met with the very extremities of the stage.
James have proved themselves capable of covering almost every kind of human emotion. Joy to melancholy, sexuality to exploration of soul, all seem to be dealt with employing versatility and brilliance.
James left the audience dying for more, and it was only noise-control that stopped them from delivering it. An audience left soaked with rain, satisfied, and totally euphoric.
From the moment they stepped onto the stage on Saturday night, James held the Guildford Live audience in the palms of their hands.
Expectations of favourite songs ran through the crowd, and when James launched into ‘Say Something’ there was a reactionary cheer.
Three songs in, and at the words, “This is a song about being hit by lightening”, the crowd erupted again to sing along with ‘Sometimes’, jumping fiercely and singing their hearts out despite the rain that was beginning to pour down on them.
Running through the hits that have secured James a place as arguably one of the greatest indie bands of all time, including ‘Laid’, ‘Born of Frustration’, and the instant crowd pleaser ‘Sit Down’, lead singer Tim Booth added his unique dance style to the set. Like a man possessed, he captivated the crowd, flinging his arms about passionately, jumping across the stage, the centre of attention.
Proving that they are still producing some great new material, the band blasted out songs from their new album, ‘Pleased to Meet You’, including the new single ‘Getting away with it (All messed up)’.
But it was the old favourites that made the night such a success. And as the rain gave way to a cool breeze, James rounded off a perfect performance with ‘Ring the Bells’, the final chorus building up to an amazing crescendo of whooping and cheering from the crowd.
Our only complaint was that James didn’t have time for an encore – timing restrictions meant that the band had to be offstage by 11pm.
Which do you prefer playing, gigs or festivals?
Probably gigs, just because of the volume. There’s something about having a wall behind so that the sound bounces off. It’s a contained space where you can generate more energy. Having said that, I love festivals, but it’s just not quite as easy. You don’t get a sound check, and we’re a very musical band so we need to hear each other. When we hear each other well we play better. So festivals sometimes can be a bit challenging, tonight was quite hard work.
What’s the worst gig you’ve ever been to or played?
I don’t stay at bad gigs, I walk out very quickly. The worst gig I’ve ever played? Some of our early ones weren’t that hot. We used to be terrified on stage. At some of our early gigs we used to rush off stage after 20 minutes. We were very shy.
If a gig’s going badly do you get off or soldier on?
Oh, always soldier on, always look for a way out of why the gig’s going badly. Tonight it was hard because we were having so many technical things going wrong. My best trick is to look out into the audience, and find someone who’s really enjoying it and just sing to them for a bit. Their enthusiasm bounces back.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Steve Harley in Cockney Rebel in Leeds town hall.
What’s the best piece of tat you’ve ever bought at a festival?
We were playing at the Lola Poluza festival, going on before Korn, and the audience were all shouting “faggots” at us. After the second day I went out into the festival arena and found this amazing clothes stall that had sparkly mirror ball shirts and dresses and so we bought one for every member of the band. They were selling them off because no one else was going to buy them at a macho festival, so they were about 5 or 10 dollars each. So we decked the whole band up in these mirror ball outfits [laughs] so we could be “true” fags. I mean we didn’t look like “fags”, I don’t want to offend people, but we ended up looking like their idea of what “faggots” were meant to be, which is what they were screaming at us every day. We were just playing to it and we had a great time, it was wonderful.
What’s the first thing James will be doing when they leave the festival?
Get back to our hotels, get some sleep, because we haven’t really slept for about a day and we’re going off to play Dublin tomorrow. I think we’re all looking like zombies today.
What are James drinking?
James are drinking whatever they can get their greedy hands on in the other room. I drink water. That’s just me, the others are all alcoholics. They don’t know it yet, they’re not trying to come off though [laughs], they’re just enjoying it.
“Nothing is capable of being well set to music that is not nonsense” do you agree or disagree?
They must have been tone deaf.
What’s your favourite instrument?
Today it’s the accordion.
What’s your favourite song?
Today it’s “Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. Tomorrow it’ll be something different.
What’s the first thing you do before going on stage?
Try to warm up my voice; I take some Chinese herbs for my throat. The other thing is dance, backstage.
What’s the first thing you do after you’ve been on stage?
Take of my earpieces and pull off bits of Sellotape from out of my ears, and off my body.
What’s you’re favourite place in the world?
San Francisco, or thereabouts.
“Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom, if you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn” Charlie Parker – do you agree?
[laughs] It won’t come out of your horn? [laughs more] I like the quote. Yeah, I mean that’s more my experience, and I definitely sing from my horn.But this is what we’re here for – James. They’re playing a greatest hits set, and ‘Laid’, ‘Sound’ and ‘Tomorrow’ sound fine. True, none of them is a patch on a dusted-down and frenzied ‘Johnny Yen’, but at least they haven’t been subjected to the torture they dish out to ‘Sit Down’ – their one true moment of communal resonance. Slowed down and speeded up in all the wrong places, it suggests they have come to detest the golden albatross.
But it’s what they’ve done since the heady days of Madchester that presents the real problems. ‘Destiny Calling’ and ‘She’s A Star’ play coy with a few nods towards dance rhythms, but mainly they just allow Tim Booth a pulpit from which to spin his morally superior sermons and fatuous home truths. Namely, we’re all stars at heart, underneath everyone’s a little bit weird, going home is nice once in a while, and we all like a good sit down now and again. If you’re looking for any greater insight, you’d be better off staying in and consulting your feng shui manuals.
It gets no better with a smattering of new songs unveiled from forthcoming album ‘Millionaires’. ‘Crash’ and ‘Fred Astaire’ (if it’s still called that after the singer’s estate get through with them) are just further bland excuses to allow Booth to dance like a wriggly worm. But they’re nothing compared with the incredibly obnoxious new song introduced as “a victim song – because everybody’s got a victim inside them”. It’s self-help manual rock, a mewling dilution of Radiohead’s bedrock, and quite possibly the worst thing they’ve ever done. Tellingly, Booth announces “we’re very proud of it”.
Towards the end, they throw a mild tantrum over a lack of wine onstage, yet remain as polite as the festival they’re headlining. Their mission to mollify, not challenge their audience, is complete. They know what they’re here for all right, and nothing as coarse as excitement is going to get in their way.
James are probably best known for their many hit singles and mega-selling “Best Of” album, but there is a lot more to them than that. From their first releases in 1985 until the as yet unreleased new album, they have never written a song in the traditional way. They have always just got together and jammed and whatever came out came out. This was how “She’s A Star” came about and “Sit Down” and “Destiny Calling”. Seems so simple, doesn’t it?
But, you don’t make records like those by just jamming unless you have got an awesome amount of talent in the band. Tim Booth as singer tends to be who people think of as “James”, but there is a lot more besides. Saul Davies plays violin and guitars and is becoming a more dominant force in the band. Dave Baynton-Power is the man behind the drum kit. Jim Glennie is on bass while Adrian Oxaal, from Canada, provides lead guitar and also plays cello. Mark Hunter plays keyboards and Michael Kulas gives us backing vocals and sometimes guitar.