On Halloween in 1992, at the tender age of 19, I saw the most remarkable thing I had witnessed up to that point. It was James’ first U.S. tour and they were performing at the re-opening of a club called The Channel with the Tom Tom Club and the Soupdragons. I can’t remember much about what the other bands did that night but that James performance possibly changed my life. Seriously. In 1997, when James returned after a 3 year hiatus with their Whiplash album, I let a friend in England talk me into flying over for a couple of shows. So I talked another American friend into coming with me. On that tour I fell in love with Manchester, decided to apply to graduate school at the University of Manchester, came over to study, met The Ledge and never looked back (or went back, for that matter), all this because of my youthful obsession with James.
James simply are one of the foundations of my musical experience and even though they were never quite the same after Larry Gott departed to study design at Manchester Met in 1997, watching them play always gave me a thrill. So much so that I’ve probably done that around 70 times at this point. Along the way, with the help of a mate, I founded a James website, made some amazing friends, and travelled the length and breadth of Britain with a group of like-minded people. At every James show between 1997-2001, wherever we turned up, there was always a group of people we knew offering us a bed for the night, up for a friendly drink and ready to enjoy the show. When Tim left in 2001, we made our final tour of the country after them, cried our eyes out at Wembley Arena and started taking bets on when the comeback tour would happen.
So, when the announcement arrived that the band were reforming with the 1994 lineup to release a new Best Of, a new album and, play a tour, intercontinental arrangements were hastily made, gig tickets bought and the anticipation has been rife. Bearing this in mind, imagine my excitement and my surprise when Dave over at One of the Three sent me a text at about 11am on Thursday morning telling me that James were playing a secret gig in London the following night and there was a link to buy tickets on his website. A hasty conversation with Su from the Change of Scenery fanzine and some minor pleading with my boss later, I had a bus ticket, a gig ticket and plans to make my way down south the following morning. The Ledge, on the other hand, told me I was mental and said that they only way he’d go all that way for one gig was if there was a chance they were going to play his favourite James track, ‘If Things Were Perfect.’ But, he said, we both knew that would never happen again.
So there I was about 30 hours later standing inside the Hoxton Bar and Grill with a group of familiar faces waiting to get into the room where the gig would take place listening to James soundcheck ‘Seven’ and ‘Stripmining.’ We knew it was going to be special, and not just in a watching-an-arena-band-play-their-first-gig-in-six-years-to-250-people sort of way.
Sure enough, we were in for a special night. Upon taking the stage, Tim Booth, wearing a sling on his right arm for a shoulder injury, told us that we were in for an unusual set as they were going to play a range of songs from their whole career, including a couple of new songs and a couple they had never played live. True to his promise they launched into ‘Seven,’ a track we’re pretty sure they haven’t played on stage since 1992. It sounded odd, a bit lacking in punch, but the band looked a bit nervous to be back on stage and the crowd did not quite know how to react, holding unusually way back for a James gig as there was none of the usual elbows to the head and chanting. ‘Destiny Calling’ saw the band pick up a bit of pace and some confidence, as Larry Gott in particular was finding it hard to disguise his enjoyment and Tim struggled to keep from dancing and doing himself further injury. By the time they reached the first new song in the set, ‘Who Are You,’ they were ready to reveal their future to the crowd. It opened with a serious rock riff, driven by Larry Gott, and sounded quite a departure from the muddy MOR pop-rock of the final two James albums.
The first real treat of the night, however, arrived with ‘Play Dead,’ possibly my favourite track off Whiplash, and one I do not ever remember having seen them perform before. They followed it up with a rowdy version of ‘Fine’ off Pleased to Meet You, also receiving its first ever live outing. The crowd still seemed subdued but Tim gave us all a big smile as he announced an old song before launching into ‘Stripmining.’ And oh wow! Not only did I never expect to hear anything that old live ever again, but in such a manner, standing three feet from them as Saul twisted back and forth madly on his violin and Larry looked intense. They followed it up with ‘Really Hard’ off Stutter, just Tim, Jim and Larry, the rest of the band standing back and watching their founding fathers. ‘5-0’ was an absolute corker, despite being so serious and quiet, both Tim and Larry couldn’t contain giant grins as they sang.
It was, surprisingly, ‘Getting Away With It’ that finally got the crowd dancing and singing along. Now, I don’t know if the crowd were unfamiliar with the earlier songs, I’d be surprised if they were, but I never expected the biggest reception of the night to be for one of the later, poorer singles. It absolutely sparkled on the night as we all sang and danced in unison. The band used the momentum to throw in a second new song, called ‘Chameleon’ and tipped to be the next single released in conjunction with the new Singles package in April. It was another guitar-driven rock stomper with a catchy chorus and I’m looking forward to hearing it without loads of accidental feedback.
As the band brought themselves into the home stretch it was going to be hits all the way as they cracked on with ‘Say Something’ and ‘Sometimes’ before deciding to forego leaving the stage before the encore as they’d have had to walk through the crowd to do so. So they went straight into, yes, ‘If Things Were Perfect,’ thereby making The Ledge eternally jealous and me incredibly gleeful. The electric version of ‘Protect Me’ followed, a song I’d only seen done acoustically during the Laid tour in 1994. They finished off with resoundingly joyful renditions of ‘Ring the Bells’ and ‘Laid,’ despite the set list indicating ‘Come Home’ instead.
This was such a surreal night in general that I don’t know if I’m more surprised by the shocked and subdued crowd and band or the riskiness of such an unexpected setlist but even though it was one of the least wild James gigs I’ve seen, it will probably be one of the most memorable. On the basis of last night’s performance, I am more excited about their upcoming gigs than I ever thought I would be because it looks like they’ve rekindled their love of just playing together. If they really make it about being on stage playing the songs they want to play rather than churning out the hits and trying to write top 40 smash singles then maybe we will see James make a return to form. On the evidence of the two new tracks, they’re certainly trying something a little different and maybe the new material will show a bit of that old spark and see a real welcome return to form.
Now, one last thing for the James faithful. It looks like Change of Scenery are going to produce a new paper-and-ink edition of their fanzine. This can’t happen without actual contributions from fans. If you’re interested in submitting something to the fanzine, an old review of a song, gig or album, or just an editorial about something you like or some personal James history, contact me on justhipper [at] indiecredential dot com and I will pass your details onto the appropriate party. If they get enough submissions to produce a full issue, you’ll be able to buy it outside the gigs in April and possibly via post as well. Personally, I miss the old paper fanzine and so it would be nice to see enough submissions come into bring this one back, at least.
All the photos from the gig are courtesy of Su Gardner at the Change of Scenery Fanzine. Thanks Su!
James – If Things Were Perfect
James – Play Dead