James Live Review @ Empress Ballroom (Blackpool) - 22 Apr 2008

James

Live Review

And so the James tour finally arrives in the party-town of the North and the old t-shirts are once again given an airing. The band have always played triumphant gigs in Blackpool. Maybe it's because shows in this particular seaside town tend to coincide with tours that miss out their hometown and there are certainly plenty of Mancunians in attendance tonight. Whatever the reason, it seems that everybody has a tale to tell about previous James shows in Blackpool, whether about missing the last train home in 1990, the dancing girls of 1999 or the fight between a warring couple at the back of the auditorium in 2000. It is almost odd that James are considered a good time band. The lyrics have always been fairly dark and deep in the extreme but the tunes are the perfect antidote and the gigs never fail to become celebratory affairs. A perfect example is the title track of the new album, 'Hey Ma', which is described by Tim Booth as a 'happy protest song'. There is something slightly twisted in hearing three-thousand people singing about 'boys in body bags, coming home in pieces'. Twisted and yet hopelessly uplifting.

In true James fashion, they open with 'Upside', a song from the new album, which deals with the pain of working away from home and missing loved ones. The keyboard intro is simply stunning and it very quickly becomes apparent that the audience have already taken 'Hey Ma' to their hearts. However, the band clearly feel that the paying public need winning over before any more new songs are aired and so two monster hits are unleashed. 'Born Of Frustration' pulsates and throbs and the audience moves as one heaving mass. 'Waltzing Along' never fails to raise the spirits and even the hardest heart couldn't fail to be lifted as Booth sings 'May your mind be wide open, may your heart beat strong'. With respect thoroughly earned, six of the next eight songs are new. The fact that the two 'oldies' are the breathtaking 'Ring The Bells' and the wondrous 'Come Home' clearly helps but you get the feeling that songs like the plea for a broken heart that is 'Oh My Heart', 'Bubbles', a song about the birth of Booth's son and the frenetic 'I Wanna Go Home' have already become classics in their own right. The trumpet of Andy Diagram is all over the new songs but never more so than on the aforementioned 'Come Home', which sees Booth venture onto the barrier and a hundred hands try to get a piece of him.

There is brief respite in the form of 'Out To Get You' before the pace is lifted again. 'Waterfall' is to be the next James single and if the reaction tonight is anything to go by, it could be massive. Then come a run of hits that most bands could only dream of having written. 'She's a Star' could have been a top ten hit at any point in the last thirty years and is greeted as such. 'Sound' is the standout moment of the set, with the stop start ending teasing the audience and Booth's vocal taking the set to new emotional heights. The biggest sing-along of the night is reserved for 'Tomorrow' and the band leave the stage to the kind of adulation normally reserved for Premiership footballers. They still have so many songs that would make a stunning encore but they eschew the very biggest hits in favour of 'Say Something', which again sees Booth down on the barrier. New song 'Whiteboy' is the most fun and throwaway song they've ever written and is as much about the lightshow as the song itself as the band swing huge lamps above their heads. Then comes the set closer, which sees the band walk the incredibly fine tightrope between success and failure. With the crowd expecting 'Laid' or 'Sit Down', the band not only choose 'Sometimes' but re-work it so that it starts slow and confuses the crowd somewhat until the drums drive the song into full anthem mode after the first chorus. An acapella ending is seized upon by the crowd who repeat the 'Sometimes when I look deep in your eyes I swear I can see your soul' line seemingly forever. Guitarist Larry Gott has the final word, stepping forward as if compelled to by the crowd, to sing the line for a final time and thus bring the sing-along to an end. This ending renders any cries for 'Sit Down' completely redundant and victory is complete.

So, James triumph once again in party-town despite leaving out the most obvious hits and you get the feeling that the warmest of welcomes will always be reserved for them in this particular corner of Lancashire.

Mike Nuttall