Setlist
Waltzing Along, Seven, Ring The Bells, Sound, Dream Thrum, Of Monsters And Heroes And Men,
She’s A Star, Just Like Fred Astaire, All In The Mind, Interrogation, Five-O, English Beefcake,
Moving On, Waterfall, Born Of Frustration and Sit Down
Encore: We’re Going To Miss You, Come Home, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up), Laid.
Review by One Of The Three
With the opening night of the tour proper out of the way in Glasgow and a well-earned day off, James hit Newcastle for a sell-out show at the Academy. The venue’s already heaving for Echo And The Bunnymen, who perform a well-received set of most of their best known songs. It’s nice to have a support band of their quality on board for a tour rather than some of the droller record company suggested supports of previous years.
Waltzing Along opens the set again and continues its transformation from the song that you’d go for a piss during if you needed one to something that I’d be upset if they left out. It no longer feels like James by numbers, the band start it with Tim not yet on stage, it sets the crowd mood for the evening and it sounds completely reinvigorated. Seven makes a welcome return to the set and Tim ends up on top of the speaker stack in front of us. He’s clearly having a blast this tour. Ring The Bells and Sound maintain that momentum, it’s a heavy opening salvo designed to win the crowd over first and, coming a year after the last tour with the orchestra, show that there’s still a rockier heavier edge to James.
The mood is slowed down for Dream Thrum and it’s the one and only low point of the set. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just played a way it’s been heard each tour since it was resurrected in 2008, and to be honest, it’s not the greatest song they’ve ever written either. The band clearly love it though. There’s no such issues with Of Monsters And Heroes And Men, which builds and builds like an unstoppable wave. She’s A Star is another song that’s benefitted from its treatment on the orchestra tour. Elements of what was learnt on that tour have stayed in the set (as well as some of the songs) but they’ve also been revitalised, Star has a beautiful piano line that sets the hairs on the back of the neck on edge. Just Like Fred Astaire is a euphoric tale of love, with Tim going to the barrier and leaning into the crowd, even allowing some of them to sing parts of the song. It looks at one point like he’s going to be dragged out across the venue.
We then get two new songs and it’s clear immediately that All In The Mind is one they’re working on and getting more comfortable with the more they play it. It’s not an immediate song, which would explain the more muted reaction it got in Stirling, but on second hearing, it’s going to become a favourite if it survives the cull of live previewed songs that befell Traffic and initially Not So Strong on Hey Ma. Interrogation is an interesting piece, it’s not got a traditional song structure, but James have a knack of that not actually being an issue.
Five-O, like Waltzing Along, benefits from the beefed up sound, but also maintains that emotional maelstrom that makes it the centerpiece of the Laid album. English Beefcake is an absolute revelation – it’s never quite been done justice before, but Larry has finally nailed it and the crescendo at the end has the crowd singing along, almost drowning out Tim.
Final new song of the evening is Moving On. They mess up the start (again), but already it feels like it’s going to be the biggest song they’ve done since they got back together. One or two listens is all it needs to be completely engrained in your brain that you’ll find yourself singing along to it in your sleep. It’s a song about dealing with the death of someone close to you, but it can equally be interpreted to be about changing your life for the better. It’s probably going to be a single.
Waterfall had been neglected somewhat live back when Hey Ma came out, it felt like they never quite mastered it, sometimes focusing on the shortened radio version. Tonight they let go completely, led by Andy’s battered brass acting as a clarion call and Tim holding a note for about thirty seconds longer than the rest of us mere mortals can manage without permanent damage to their vocal chords (I tried).
Born Of Frustration almost brings the house down, an dark brooding extended intro, Tim hollering over the start and then crashing into a chorus that sees the floor raising it hands in union and trying to imitate Tim’s calling card yodel.
Then it happens. Possibly the greatest version of any song I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. It’s Sit Down. It’s fiery and fierce, reinvigorated perhaps by the recent Comic Relief video, but as it hits the end of the second chorus and the key change, the crowd take it on and for five minutes sing it back to the band, accompanied only by Dave’s kick drum. There’s been thousands of singalongs of this after the “those who find themselves…” section, but this is in new territory. The band look visibly shocked, amazed and delighted.
You almost can’t follow it. We’re Going To Miss You gets the unenviable job of opening up the encore, with its new choppy opening section. Given what’s happened with Sit Down, the band almost seem hellbent on there not being a singalong at the end, so they go into Come Home. The great thing about James today is that they’re so in tune with each other on stage that they could turn up and play this song twenty or thirty times and you’d get a very different version each time. The chemistry on stage is more like a nuclear reaction. Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) sees a see of arms and again everyone in the place is singing along. Musically it’s not changed a lot over the years live, but it’s one of those songs that doesn’t need to.
There’s no Sometimes tonight, a sign that the band aren’t going to rest on their laurels and use it as the big showstopper at the end. What we get is a Saul-inspired slow opening to Laid, that is, like it was in 1994 a completely different song, the crowd love it and then they go into the fast version, repeating the first verse and the place erupts. The break it had on the orchestra tour means it’s got new life, a new vigour and it’s lots and lots of fun.
It’s very easy to say best gig ever, but they are absolutely on a high already on this tour. This could have been an easy wheel the big hits out and play them the way they’ve been played before, but this feels like another reinvention, reinvigoration of the band. They’ll have their work cut out to beat tonight, but you wouldn’t put it past them.
an encore of We’re Going To Miss You, Come Home, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) and Laid
With the opening night of the tour proper out of the way in Glasgow and a well-earned day off, James hit Newcastle for a sell-out show at the Academy. The venue’s already heaving for Echo And The Bunnymen, who perform a well-received set of most of their best known songs. It’s nice to have a support band of their quality on board for a tour rather than some of the droller record company suggested supports of previous years.
Waltzing Along opens the set again and continues its transformation from the song that you’d go for a piss during if you needed one to something that I’d be upset if they left out. It no longer feels like James by numbers, the band start it with Tim not yet on stage, it sets the crowd mood for the evening and it sounds completely reinvigorated. Seven makes a welcome return to the set and Tim ends up on top of the speaker stack in front of us. He’s clearly having a blast this tour. Ring The Bells and Sound maintain that momentum, it’s a heavy opening salvo designed to win the crowd over first and, coming a year after the last tour with the orchestra, show that there’s still a rockier heavier edge to James.
The mood is slowed down for Dream Thrum and it’s the one and only low point of the set. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just played a way it’s been heard each tour since it was resurrected in 2008, and to be honest, it’s not the greatest song they’ve ever written either. The band clearly love it though. There’s no such issues with Of Monsters And Heroes And Men, which builds and builds like an unstoppable wave. She’s A Star is another song that’s benefitted from its treatment on the orchestra tour. Elements of what was learnt on that tour have stayed in the set (as well as some of the songs) but they’ve also been revitalised, Star has a beautiful piano line that sets the hairs on the back of the neck on edge. Just Like Fred Astaire is a euphoric tale of love, with Tim going to the barrier and leaning into the crowd, even allowing some of them to sing parts of the song. It looks at one point like he’s going to be dragged out across the venue.
We then get two new songs and it’s clear immediately that All In The Mind is one they’re working on and getting more comfortable with the more they play it. It’s not an immediate song, which would explain the more muted reaction it got in Stirling, but on second hearing, it’s going to become a favourite if it survives the cull of live previewed songs that befell Traffic and initially Not So Strong on Hey Ma. Interrogation is an interesting piece, it’s not got a traditional song structure, but James have a knack of that not actually being an issue.
Five-O, like Waltzing Along, benefits from the beefed up sound, but also maintains that emotional maelstrom that makes it the centerpiece of the Laid album. English Beefcake is an absolute revelation – it’s never quite been done justice before, but Larry has finally nailed it and the crescendo at the end has the crowd singing along, almost drowning out Tim.
Final new song of the evening is Moving On. They mess up the start (again), but already it feels like it’s going to be the biggest song they’ve done since they got back together. One or two listens is all it needs to be completely engrained in your brain that you’ll find yourself singing along to it in your sleep. It’s a song about dealing with the death of someone close to you, but it can equally be interpreted to be about changing your life for the better. It’s probably going to be a single.
Waterfall had been neglected somewhat live back when Hey Ma came out, it felt like they never quite mastered it, sometimes focusing on the shortened radio version. Tonight they let go completely, led by Andy’s battered brass acting as a clarion call and Tim holding a note for about thirty seconds longer than the rest of us mere mortals can manage without permanent damage to their vocal chords (I tried).
Born Of Frustration almost brings the house down, an dark brooding extended intro, Tim hollering over the start and then crashing into a chorus that sees the floor raising it hands in union and trying to imitate Tim’s calling card yodel.
Then it happens. Possibly the greatest version of any song I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. It’s Sit Down. It’s fiery and fierce, reinvigorated perhaps by the recent Comic Relief video, but as it hits the end of the second chorus and the key change, the crowd take it on and for five minutes sing it back to the band, accompanied only by Dave’s kick drum. There’s been thousands of singalongs of this after the “those who find themselves…” section, but this is in new territory. The band look visibly shocked, amazed and delighted.
You almost can’t follow it. We’re Going To Miss You gets the unenviable job of opening up the encore, with its new choppy opening section. Given what’s happened with Sit Down, the band almost seem hellbent on there not being a singalong at the end, so they go into Come Home. The great thing about James today is that they’re so in tune with each other on stage that they could turn up and play this song twenty or thirty times and you’d get a very different version each time. The chemistry on stage is more like a nuclear reaction. Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) sees a see of arms and again everyone in the place is singing along. Musically it’s not changed a lot over the years live, but it’s one of those songs that doesn’t need to.
There’s no Sometimes tonight, a sign that the band aren’t going to rest on their laurels and use it as the big showstopper at the end. What we get is a Saul-inspired slow opening to Laid, that is, like it was in 1994 a completely different song, the crowd love it and then they go into the fast version, repeating the first verse and the place erupts. The break it had on the orchestra tour means it’s got new life, a new vigour and it’s lots and lots of fun.
It’s very easy to say best gig ever, but they are absolutely on a high already on this tour. This could have been an easy wheel the big hits out and play them the way they’ve been played before, but this feels like another reinvention, reinvigoration of the band. They’ll have their work cut out to beat tonight, but you wouldn’t put it past them.
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