Four track live session and interview to support the USA and Canada summer tour. The video replay of the session is below.
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“Things then take a sinister turn. Picture Of This Place is a verse in when Tim stops everything. There’s a fight in the middle, he tells security to get in and sort it out which they do eventually, but not before he moves to go in himself to resolve it before Saul tells him not to. He’s visibly shocked though and the blood mixed into beer on the floor at the end suggests it wasn’t pretty. But from it comes a moment of beauty. A woman grabs his attention, whispers in his ear that she lost her husband a year ago and life’s too short and not worth doing that for. They change the set and play Moving On instead. Tim goes on what looks like a very brave and bumpy crowd surf to the sound desk and back, risking his foot to the alcohol-fuelled crowd, but safe for one idiot who grabs him towards the back, he’s returned safe and sound.”
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“Against the heavy odds stacked against it by the venue’s physical restrictions and some of the audience’s reluctance to engage with the spirit of the acoustic performance, the night feels like a triumph, one of those hard-earned ones with backs against the wall with a last-minute winner taking the spoils of battle.”
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“Extraordinary Times, with its rumbling guitars and the contemporary feel that U2 wish they could still create, is an impressive introduction to the album it gives its name to’s material that forms a major part of the set. The live version of James 2019 feels hell-bent on challenging any perception of them being a hits-churning heritage act and the next three-song salvo provides compelling evidence to back up any waverers on this matter. In the soundcheck Saul described Jam J as post-industrial folk and it’s a pretty apt description for a song that has such a sharp-edged metallic bass line that feels like it’s warning of an impending apocalypse. Set to a wonderful strobe-lit background and Tim barking the verses through a megaphone, it might be twenty-five years old this year, but you wouldn’t know if you weren’t aware of their history.”
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“The encore might be one of the worst kept secrets of the night as a curtain is pulled back to reveal the Love Music Community Choir who recently posted a video of How Hard The Day from Living In Extraordinary Times online and were invited by the band to perform with them. It’s How Hard The Day that starts the encore, the song lifted in the chorus by several dozen voices that transform the impact of the song’s chorus.”
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Even though Tim’s restricted in his movement by damaged ankle ligaments, the power of these new songs, the most strident set since they reformed if not ever, still shines through brightly. “I can’t dance, but I can do a good hobble” he laughs, before replying to a query about the health of his leg with “it’s a foot.”
Ring The Bells gets more people up, you watch Tim look desperate to let loose as he waves his crutch up in the air and the top half of his body gyrates in time to the accelerating pace of the song. He urges those still seated or who thought they were coming to watch James Arthur to join in or go home at the end of it. He then sits down and sings Five-O in his chair, spinning round making it part of the act.
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“You could hear a pin drop. I’ve never been to a James gig that has stunned the audience in to silence. This was it.
In many, many James gigs I’ve never seen him [Tim] breakdown and unable to finish a line. He did tonight. Clearly the stripped back acoustic set allows him to reach deep inside.
In these moments of public but personal soul searching it’s great to see how tight and connected the band members are these days. There is lots of eye contact and support as they adapt to allow Tim to recompose. The final line of ‘See you next time’ leaves the audience raw and stunned as the band leave the stage. It was a jaw dropping set.”
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“Waltzing Along (and later Say Something) may get huge roars of recognition, you sense the band have to push themselves right to the limits to give these songs the same adrenaline rush as their belligerent younger cousins. Picture Of This Place confirms that thought, Tim right on the edge of the stage channeling his energy outwards and being met by a huge wave coming back at him, particularly where the song stops dead and then explodes back into glorious life before Andy joins him for the “root toot toot toot” ending. Even those around us who’d said they knew little of the new record lose themselves in it.”
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“‘Heads’ transforms this cavern into a full-on rave, the incredible trance-like middle section transcending the usual parameters of what a band of this longevity can do – before merging into ‘Stutter’ for an astonishing tribalistic meltdown, with the combination of three drummers and the duo of Adrian Oxaal and Saul Davies on guitars driving it to a ferocious crescendo. That dazzling musicianship from the rest of James is the perfect match for Booth who, whether it is taking long journeys through the crowd and over seats, or by crowd surfing halfway through the hall, proves impossible to tear the eyes away from.”
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