AWmusic

For regular readers of this blog, you will know that there are really only a couple of bands that make me go all fan-girlie gooey inside and James is on the top step. They had me at the closing lines of the first song (Skullduggery) on the album, Stutter and I have since followed their crazy ride for the past two decades. When I couldn’t get their albums here I begged friends in England to send me stuff and I’m not ashamed to admit I may have grovelled and used tears to get the odd album or two…or four. But in all those years of unabashed manic fandom I had never managed to see them live. The Universe conspired to keep me away from the one band who could reduce me to tears by merely playing. That is until Thursday, September 30. I went through hell getting a ticket and even broke my self-imposed boycott of the dreaded Ticketba…I mean Ticketmaster (I hate Ticketmaster with the heat of a million fiery suns) but it was so worth it.

The show opened with Ed Harcourt who, I hate to admit, I had never heard of and judging by the crowd (it’s always hard to be the opening act) I wasn’t alone. He is an accomplished English singer/songwriter who, by all accounts, has five albums, two EP’s and thirteen singles to his credit. His album, Here Be Monsters, was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize. I did feel sorry for him because he was the opener and therefore subject to an audience that had other things on it’s mind – finding seats, talking to friends, and anticipating James’ arrival on stage. For me he was just ok but my seat (row A, seat 1) wasn’t the best with a partially obstructed view and situated in front of the speaker stack. He had a few fans there who were very appreciative of the opportunity to see him and left after he played . I think, though, a smaller venue would have suited him better. The problems with my seat placement was a bit of a concern to me until I overheard the security guys saying that the front row was allowed to approach the stage but the other rows were to be kept back. This was great for me, seeing as how I’m short, so I got the ideal spot in the end.

James started the show promptly with Tim Booth and Larry Gott standing in the crowd doing an acoustic version of Sit Down. As they walked through the crowd to the stage you could feel the audience become electrically charged and by the time the full band (Jim Glennie-bass, Mark Hunter-keyboards, Saul Davies-guitar/violin/drums, David Baynton-Power-drums and Andy Diagram-trumpet) kicked in the crowd was a powder keg ready to explode. And explode they did singing loudly and boisterously throughout the night. Favourites such as Sometimes, Ring The Bells, Out To Get You, Sound, Tomorrow, Stutter, Say Something, Getting Away With It, Seven and Laid (Booth invited the audience to come on stage and dance with the band) were met with such loud cheers that it’s a wonder the QE Theatre’s walls are still standing. I read later that the manager hadn’t heard such a noisy crowd ever in any place he’s been to. Booth obviously fed off the crowds energy and during Getting Away With It jumped down from the stage, landing right beside me, and waded into the crowd. It is a testament to the respect his fans have for him that he didn’t get mobbed or mangled but was helped from seat back to seat back by the appreciative fans.

The set also included a good mix of new material from the bands newest releases, The Morning After and The Night Before, two albums every James fan should own. However songs such as the heartbreaking Dust Motes, Crazy, It’s Hot, Porcupine and Tell Her I Said So were met with smattering recognition. The fact that the audience didn’t know the newer material sometimes seemed to take some of the energy away but the band didn’t let that affect them and performed them with as much passion as they did the older material. The newer songs, I must say, fit in well with the older stuff which is a testament to the strength of the songwriting. I love the new material and was thrilled to hear Crazy and It’s Hot live.

But the highlight of the night for me was Sound. This is my very favourite song and the guitar/bass duet is probably my favourite piece of music ever. The version on the DVD, Getting Away With It…Live, can make me cry. And the fact that Glennie and Davies performed this beautiful piece right in front of me made my night. Heck it probably made my year. The band, known for it’s improvisational writing style, did several extended versions of their songs with Davies passionate violin jam stealing the show. Booth, who is known for hitting some incredibly high notes still has a strong and flexible voice however, he kept the timber of his voice down in a more comfortable range most of the time. He also kept his frantic dancing at a minimum, which I have to admit was fine by me because it can be distracting at times.

James hail from Manchester and were part of that whole Madchester scene of the late 80s early 90s. Although they received many accolades from the press, problems with record companies and personal problems prevented them from ever gaining momentum and becoming the “next big thing” they were touted to become. Over the years they have worked with Brian Eno, Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith) and Gil Norton (The Pixies); opened for the likes of The Smiths, The Smashing Pumpkins, Neil Young, Duran Duran and New
Order; were signed by Factory Records; played at some of the largest (and most esteemed) festivals – Glastonbury, Wembley, Reading & Leeds, Woodstock 2, Lollapalooza; were supported by The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Inspiral Carpets, Stereophonics and The Happy Mondays; appeared on Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien; recorded two albums simultaneously (Laid and Wah Wah. Wah Wah is basically tapes from the recording of Laid but is really a documentary of the process of free-jamming that James used on all their recordings); had a triple platinum selling album (Best of…); were one of the first bands from the West to play China (the Heineken Festival in Beijing), and have released some twenty albums. They could easily rest on their laurels but, instead, they continue to make exceptional music and to tour, much to the appreciation of their many, many fans.

You can find all the news and information about James on their website; MySpace and Facebook. You can also find them on YouTube and Flickr and you can find Tim Booth on Twitter.

You can buy The Morning After and The Night Before from their website or purchase their full catalogue from Amazon or iTunes.

Thanks to Panicmanual for uploading some of the concert:

Some tunes to enjoy:

James – Sit Down (live)
James – Laid (live)
James – Tomorrow (live)