James opened their Love Is The Answer UK arena tour on Friday night at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham with a set that contained many of their biggest hits, a few surprise curveballs and two brand new songs.
“Buckle up” Tim Booth tells us a couple of songs into the set after an opening blast of Come Home, I Know What I’m Here For and Ring The Bells might have lulled the Birmingham crowd into a false sense of expectation that James might be rebelling against their DNA and giving us a greatest hits set. Those three songs though did tell us that this was going to be one of, if not, the biggest arena production to date with six huge screen projecting images of band, audience, selected video and some stunning effects that morph Tim into some spiritual Hindu guru.
Any such fears or expectations, depending on your point of view on such matters, were quickly assauaged by Greenpeace, a rumbling beast of a song that the band donated to the organisation in the late 1990s that they’ve resurrected from the same gene pool as live favourites Jam J and Honest Joe that have proved so enduringly popular in sets over the past nearly twenty years (yeah, makes me feel very old too) since James returned. With Chloe taking the falsetto parts as an artistic reinterpretation of the song, a move that’s repeated later, it takes on new life and acts as a warning that James will be going off-piste even if they’re in an arena on a Friday night.
Shadow Of A Giant and Way Over Your Head sit together as the sole representatives of 2024’s Yummy in tonight’s set. It’s interesting that neither were released as a single - although the incredible fan response to the latter meant that it manoeuvred its way onto the double lp version of the Nothing But Love definitive (such a record label PR term) Best Of that came out last winter. Both possess a slow build with an explosion in the end, but that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. Shadow Of A Giant sees Tim and Chloe step down to the barrier and perform its outro on the walkway just in front of it within touching distance of the front rows.
The unmistakeable drum intro to the most recognisable version of Sit Down kicks in and the band deliver their biggest UK hit with a wonderfully lop-sided version that manages to feel both like a huge arena crowd pleaser, replete with singalong section, and a song that they’re still playing around with rather than simply playing by numbers.
That’s part of James DNA and what comes next comes from the sleeper cells of their genetic make-up, a nod to their 1980s post-punk inspired stance of not just doing the obvious and living by their own rules. It’s been a long time since James played new songs ahead of recording them, the internet meaning the song’s there for all to see within minutes of the final bars. Tim describes Nantucket as the “craziest thing we’ve ever done in an arena” as he’s handed the lyric sheet as he’s still working on them (and sections have even changed since last week’s warm-up shows). The song itself is a glorious triumph, a seven and a half minute epic journey song that could cut off at three or four points but continues on its path. It manages the magic trick of immediacy, being quintessential James in that it showcases the whole of the band and it still bears its visible birthmarks, something that the very best James songs do as part of their intrinsic beauty. If they can avoid overthinking it in the recording studio, it could sit right at the very top of their body of work. The audience response around us matches anything any other song gets tonight. The craziest thing is yet to unfold though.
First there’s a moment of introspection as Tim leaves the stage to Chloe to take the lead on Skindiving, as she did when the band revisited the Laid album in North America last year. It’s as big a setlist risk as Nantucket was as its intimacy isn’t built for huge arenas like this, but its beautiful atmospherics win the day.
The intro to Born Of Frustration fills the room as does Tim’s yodelling and then a solitary spotlight locates him at the top of the first level of seating. He makes his way round the bowl, stopping to hold hands, dance and have cameras shoved in his face as he takes the show out to those distant from the stage where it’s often easy to feel disconnected, his journey followed by an intrepid cameraman and Tim’s security guard.
He’s only about two-thirds of the way round when the song finishes so he asks Jim what’s next and decides to stay out. Say Something might not be one of James experimental moments but it’s one that connects most deeply, an anthem for mental health and the need to talk about what’s going on in your head wrapped up in a three minute pop song from a time where talking about your feelings as a man was seen as a weakness.
As it ends Tim and his entourage discover that the Utilita Arena’s floors aren’t particularly well connected and most seating areas empty out to the outside so he’s stuck. We next see him back almost where he started on the other side of the arena having delivered a glorious She’s A Star, hitting those high notes to perfection, whilst wondering how the hell he’s going to get back to the stage. It’s testament to the spontaneity of their performance that this happened, the chaos of it, living on the edge and going with the flow.
“Improvise something” Tim tells the ret before disappearing to try and find his way back. Another brand new song’s extended intro might not be the wisest choice at this time but fully in keeping with the band’s ethos. Whilst it has the potential to be a big single when it comes out, presumably at some point next year, it’s still got very visible birthmarks, the lyrics again changing nightly, but it’s simple chorus of “yeah yeah yeah, it’s love, watch out” is playful, deeper than first impression and risks you singing along second time round.
Conscious of the chaos his walkabout created, Tim initiates a setlist change to restore order and the more familiar ground of Five-O which concludes with a stunning violin solo from Saul. We’re unsure on first impression by the echo effects on Tim’s vocals which are new to us but the soaring beauty of the song as it hits the chorus swiftly lifts us.
We’re then into a trio of hits to finish the main set as it started. Tomorrow, powered by Jim and Saul combining to give the song a renewed intensity. Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) has Tim and Debbie down at the barrier feeding off the crowd response and with what feels like another impromptu setlist change they conclude with Sound and Andy up in the seats, wisely choosing not to venture too far from his entry point.
The two-song encore starts with a glorious Out To Get You, a once-discarded b-side that has become one of their most loved songs and one that withstands most setlist changes and never feels tired.
We’ve already written Laid down and closed our notes app but they surprise us once more by finishing on Sometimes and not playing their biggest streaming song for the first time in what seems like an eternity. It ends with a communal singalong as they take their bows.
Unpredictable, chaotic, never the same, moments of intimate beauty and huge spiritual communion, a James arena show starts with dots and makes perfect sense when you join them and colour it in.
James played Come Home, I Know What I’m Here For, Ring The Bells, Greenpeace, Shadow Of A Giant.Way Over Your Head, Sit Down, Nantucket, Skindiving, Born Of Frustration, Say Something, She’s A Star, Yeah Yeah Yeah, Five-O, Tomorrow, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up), Sound, Out To Get You, Sometimes
Photos - Sam Sparling
James' official website can be found here and they are on Facebook and Twitter.
The Love Is The Answer tour with Doves calls at Leeds First Direct Arena (4), Aberdeen P&J Arena (7), Glasgow Hydro (8), Newcastle Utilita Arena (10), Liverpool M&S Bank Arena (11), Cardiff Utilita Arena (13), Nottingham Motorpoint Arena (14), London O2 Arena (17) and Manchester Coop Live (18) before a series of summer shows.
Some of the band Tim, Andy and Dave - are also on Twitter.
We also run the One Of The Three James archive, the most detailed resource for information about the band, and the site also has a Facebook and Twitter page.
TimBoothLyricADay, whose posts often lead to Tim explaining his thought processes behind the lyrics, can be found on Twitter and Facebook
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