Tim sang The Passenger with Johnny Marr during his set
“The buzz in the room is electric as the lights go up. It’s rare for James to play a show this small these days, their June 2024 show is at the mammoth O2, 10 times the size of this. They make those arenas feel intimate, but tonight you could see the whites in their eyes, smell the intensity of the performance and revel in the fact that it could all coming crashing down in an instant. The song choice might have been more straight-forward than usual, but this band is all about the delivery of them. And that was as unpredictably unpredictable as ever.”
Read the full review at Even The Stars
“Headlined by indie icons James with very special guests The Snuts, all 2,000 tickets to the event sold out within minutes of going on sale in early September.”
Read the full review at Hello Rayo
“Moving On is dedicated to loved ones passed and with Tim and Chloe singing it to each other, the emotional resonance is strong particularly as the sun goes down. There’s then an amusing moment as Tim beckons the choir down to sing the harmonies of Nothing But Love, but Dave starts up Sit Down. Dave blames Saul for the mistake, who takes responsibility, before joking that it was really whoever wrote the setlist’s fault. The choir becomes one of five thousand for the rousing latter-period Nothing But Love, before losing themselves collectively in an uplifting Sit Down, a song that feels reinvigorated this year and a beacon of light in a dark world.”
Read the full review at EvenTheStars.co.uk
“Tonight’s show feels timeless, the rising sounds carried beautifully by Booth’s distinctive and textured voice, the agile and energetic frontman leading the band in rounding off their set with the hauntingly beautiful Sit Down, the somewhat spiritual Sometimes and the quirky yet wonderful Laid.”
Read the full review at The York Press
“The Manchester legends – who play at The Piece Hall again tonight (Saturday) – were on top form as they delivered iconic hits including ‘Born Of Frustration’, ‘Waltzing Along’, ‘Laid’, ‘Nothing But Love’, ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Sit Down’.”
Read the full review at The Halifax Courier
“Opening the set with ‘Johnny Yen’ the band take fans back to their early days with the song being a release from the band’s debut album ‘Stutter’ back in 1986. As the second song starts ‘What For’, both Deborah and Chloe join the band on drums as well as the Inspirational Voices Choir. During ‘Waltzing Along’, Tim comes off stage and greets fans on barrier before performing the song whilst stood on the barrier – holding a person’s hand in the crowd for support.”
Read the full review at Backstreet Mafia
“The band open with ‘Johnny Yen’, followed by ‘What For’ and then crowd favourite ‘Waltzing Along’. It was at this moment the crowd were in for a special treat as Booth leapt down from the stage and gracefully balanced on the barrier (with the support of a few bewildered fans). For the entire song, Booth perched on the railing holding onto a fans arm, with another steadying his leg. The crowd lapped it up and sang along.”
Read the full review at RGM
“James exited the stage to rapturous applause after the sun had set in Liverpool and the Liver Building stood tall on the iconic waterfront in all its glory. Liverpool is renowned as being a musical city but, as the jubilant scenes played out against the most stunning backdrop, I was more convinced than ever that there is surely no better place to watch live music in the country.”
Read the full review at Liverpool Echo
“Immaculately performed songs mixed with precious moments, gave us all, that James experience, an experience we all love. Having written so many iconic songs and witnessed so many different times, this is a British band to be cherished and heard but above all else, loved.”
Read the full review at All Music Magazine
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“The band are on good form throughout, Tim spinning Andy round on his chair during Sit Down and changing a line in Waltzing Along to reference Andy’s broken foot. Saul tells us he looks like a sinister accountant before Interrogation. The interactions between the band seem to drive them on, Debbie in particular being a driving force particularly away from her drum kit. Life does, it seem, begin at forty.”
Read the full review at EvenTheStars.co.uk
“Tim Booth is still a fantastic front man, his voice and hips still move like the 1980s, and Andy Diagram’s still playing a trumpet in a dress, they all seemed to be having fun on stage, perhaps they were cutting loose without an orchestra behind them demanding every note being perfect.”
Read the full review at Express And Star
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“James picked up the pace to headline the last night and close a brilliant weekend on the beautiful Ragley Hall estate.
The atmosphere exploded into life when they took to the stage with the effervescent frontman Tim Booth (now 62!) throwing shapes like he did in their late 80s/1990s heyday.
With an energy that defies his years and put us fortysomething dads to shame they did not disappoint.”
Read the full review at Redditch Standard
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Sporting a fake-fur coat, billowing yoga trousers and the kind of voluminous woolly hat that rastafarians store their dreadlocks in, Booth bulldozed through by sheer force of character, dancing as if electrocuted, and frequently orating between numbers.
Approaching 11pm, the band’s early-90s gems finally materialised, with Come Home, a cathartic venting of frustration, and Sit Down, a freaks-united anthem whose unifying message felt doubly meaningful, mid-pandemic. As their show rambled into its third hour, James’s feelgood factor kept on coming, with rare engagement and depth.
Read the full review at Telegraph.com
Booth’s stamina is laudable, throwing his wiry frame and loose clothes into extended dance moves where he looks to be breaking free of his own body. The band’s attempts to reach the back of the arena with their sound are successful, the bigger space giving us the chance to appreciate the band members more.
Read the full review at MusicOMH.com
James are continuing to find ways to evolve. In many ways they’re still that unique awkward defiant band that refused to play by the normal rules of the music business and the how to be a band handbook.
Read the full review at EvenTheStars.co.uk
Now four decades into their tenure, James continue to innovate and refuse to back down. Booth’s inimitable presence, with the quiet intensity of his free-flow dancing and his razor-sharp vocal cries through the megaphone, has the ability to sweep the audience up and take them anywhere he wants to go. Is it any wonder that James have found their place amongst a new generation of fans?
Read the full review at theupcoming.co.uk