James + Jack Savoretti @ Barclaycard Arena, 20th May 2016
“I get the feeling that the room is divided”. So Tim Booth informed his adoring public after a few tunes and at least one bout of risky crowd-surfing; risky because our shiny-headed protagonist had arrived on stage wearing a kilt. He meant divided between the faithful who were here to listen to the new tunes from The Girl At The End Of The World, and the others who were here for the hits, and probably Sit Down. Well they were to be disappointed on that front, but I’m happy to say that I was definitely not; and that was unexpected.
You see I’m not a James fan. In fact in a long standing forum that I frequent there is a “bands that you don’t really get” thread and I have to say that James have been a top posting candidate for me. After my first prehistoric experiences of the band supporting The Smiths I had high hopes but they seemed to disappear into the mush of 90s and Noughties Indie stuff that people would hold hands to, and have played at their weddings.
So why the happiness? Well, as has been documented on the old social media they took a few risks on this tour; and I don’t just mean the goose magnet which is the crowd-surfing man in a kilt. They played a lot of their new album and these songs do not fit the sing-along template to which a lot of their standards seem to adhere.
There are some interesting things in there: Caribou-like backing tracks, almost techno style beats, and a more direct vocal style. As a result these newer songs seem more complex and more melodic and I really liked this stuff. In particular Catapult stood out as a fine tune.
Facebook was also the scene of a few chats about the virtues of a band like James playing the big arenas, SECC, Cardiff Arena, Barclaycard Arena etc. The consensus was that a couple of nights at a sold out Academy would be preferable (as would having Tim Booth dancing in our front rooms). It would be interesting to see how sold out the old NIA would be.
Jack Savoretti provided the support. For a guy born in the UK and raised in Switzerland he sounds a bit too American for his own good. Apparently this is down to his schooling but the musical result is an early Joe Cocker crossed with Paulo Nutini. His tunes were pleasant enough and he benefited from the excellent sound that the venue produced. The James fans were polite and appreciative but as I sat watching them standing still like statues there was one bloke in his suit, presumably straight from work, busting a load of moves along to Jack’s tunes. Fair play to that guy! The only issue for me was that, as with James later on, Jack and his band were not loud enough.
I don’t often complain about the interval music either, but that lack of volume drove me crazy. The longish break was filled by Inspiral Carpets Greatest Hits album. Come on guys on the sound desk; if you’re going to play it then at least do it justice.
To answer the capacity question: they had moved the stage about a third of the way in to the arena and the crowd filled the remaining floor and seats — around 4000 according to the security blokes – and at the end they were all on their feet as Tim Booth danced his wiggling dance, walked on top of the barrier, crowd-surfed again (the novelty had worn off for me at this point) and joined the crowd at various points in the room for the sing -along. No Sit Down – but they did get She’s A Star, Sometimes, Sound and a marvellous, acoustic, What For?
So was I converted? — No. But the new stuff opened my eyes to the fact that James really see themselves as a current and relevant band and not some sort of 80s/90s outfit looking to add a few tunes to the old standard back-catalogue. More power to their communal elbow.
James set list
To My Surprise
Move Down South
Catapult
Alvin
Waking
Ring the Bells
Sometimes
P.S.
Dear John
We’re Going to Miss You
She’s a Star
What For
Honest Joe
Surfer’s Song
Curse Curse
Tomorrow
Sound
Attention
Encore:
Just Like Fred Astaire
Moving On
Nothing But Love
Review: Ian Gelling
Photographs: Stephanie Colledge