James made their first ever visit to the Motorpoint Arena as their Love Is The Answer tour rolled into Nottingham on Tuesday night. With an ever-evolving setlist they delivered a mix of the familiar, less-familiar and brand-new.
In a surprise move the customary opening video introduction is dispensed of for one night and James come on stage and open with Out To Get You, a crowd favourite but one that hasn’t featured on the arena shows this far. For many bands the start of the show is rehearsed, planned to within an inch of its life, with James they’re constantly trying to change things around, to keep it fresh, for themselves as much as us. Saul’s violin takes centre stage, propelling the song’s momentum and intensity. Oft cited as a reluctant violinist, he’s threatening to steal the show with it on this tour.
Waltzing Along and I Know What I’m Here For follow, perfect examples of the great indie pop songs with irresistable hooks that James were so adept at in the late 1990s. They’ve retained vital energy through the band’s insistence that they move with the times and the evolution of James into a nine-piece rather than stand still in the moment they were created. Tim’s out and about, prowling the stage and heading down to the barrier searching for connection. He tells us they’re making it up as they go along as they believe a gig should be as unpredictable as life itself.
Come Home’s signature siren call is an invitation to let loose. It may be sixty plus years rather than thirty but the song’s self-assessment still hits hard, the contrast between the uplifting music and the dark lyrics is as harsh as ever as Tim and Chloe bounce in unison at the breakdown.
James then take us on a creative diversion with Greenpeace and Attention. The former gets stronger each night, the rumbling bass, the transition from Tim’s half-spoken half-sung lyrical threats to the planet to Chloe’s mega-phoned chorus is stark and adds weight to the message of environmental manmade catastrophe. Attention, by contrast, has a long mid-section where the only sound is Mark’s keyboards bringing the song back after the song stops dead in its tracks. It’s a bold choice of song in an arena but the live version feels like a realisation of the song’s potential that the recorded version didn’t achieve.
Tim comments that the audience are so respectful and quiet between songs and are a listening crowd rather than one that’s constantly talking. He throws a grenade into that by heading into the crowd for Say Something and Born Of Frustration. He almost misses a line of Say Something when caught unawares by an incoming hug after singing to one of the access platforms. He ends up on the bar at the back of the arena, stood atop the counter before heading back into the seats and inviting a fan to yodel with him as Frustration comes to a close and he scoots back to stage.
When he arrives the band have already kicked into the extended intro to a glorious Five-O, a song they’ve elevated, even by their own high standards, to an arena-ready monster that many of the crowd might not even know.
It’s followed by Tim announcing that they’ve got a terrible truth and they’ve gathered us together for this moment. That moment is Zero’s foreboding opening line “we’re all gonna die” set to intense atmospherics and with a build that feels like the song is about to implode under its own tension before dropping down to Tim singing “oscilllator, oscillator, up, oscillator oscillator down, oscillator oscillator round and round” as it fades down. Their control of the song’s dynamic is exquisite.
Two songs from 2024’s number one Yummy follow and both feel like immovable forces in a modern-day James set. The duet between Tim and Chloe that is Shadow Of A Giant has grand ambition in its atmospherics and the way the song grows, shedding skins on its path as Tim and Chloe move down to the barrier for its end. Way Over Your Head may not have been a single (or focus track using today’s parlance) but the audience reaction helped it bulldoze its way onto even the most concise 2LP of last year’s Nothing But Love Definitive Best Of. On this tour it’s cemented that place and stands its own ground among the big hitters around it at the tail end of the set. Four of those big hitters conclude the main part of the set.
Beautiful Beaches, arguably the most popular post-2007 song James have released, makes its first appearance of the tour and has an extended drum duet between Dave and Debbie that stops dead and kicks back in as the rest of the stage is shrouded in darkness as two green spotlights illuminate them at the back of the stage. At the end Tim comments on “the power of the goddess” and that Debbie has a three month old baby backstage being looked after by her wife.
Tomorrow has been a revelation this tour and tonight is no exception as the interaction between Jim and Saul controls the pace of the song, building the tension to the point of a communal explosion of the song’s intense message, making it an even more potent statement than ever.
If more proof were needed of James’ desire to reinvent and reshape songs, they start Sit Down with Mark’s keyboards rather than Dave’s power drums that have led into it every night before this. The crowd take the first verse off Tim, the band holding their finger in the dam through the first chorus and second verse before throwing everything at the second chorus, lights illuminating the stage fully as everyone kicks in. They won’t have had time to rehearse this on the day, but their ability to fundamentally change a song on the hoof is testament to their brilliance and why they’re selling more tickets than ever.
They conclude the main set with another arena tour debut in Sound, an old favourite which they always put a new spin on. Andy ends up in the seats, illuminated as he delivers his signature trumpet solo as Tim climbs onto the drum risers to encourage Dave and Debbie to let loose.
The encore starts with Nantucket, Tim explaining playing a brand new song could be seen by some as an act of stupidity but to them it’s a statement of their confidence in it. It’s warranted as the audience reaction to it is once again very strong as it takes them on a magical mystery tour that has more ideas entwined together seamlessly than many bands manage in a lifetime. It’s a spectacular statement of intent that James are looking forwards. Tim thanks the audience for their attention and respect and tells us they wouldn’t be James if they didn’t do such things.
They send the crowd out into the night with two favourites - Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) and Laid. The audience take both songs from the band at points. Tim and Debbie dance at the barrier on Getting Away With It whilst Laid has the crowd bouncing from front to back and the seating area up on their feet.
They take their bows with “LOVE IS THE ANSWER” displayed in capitals on the screen behind them. For two hours James had distracted us from what’s going on in the world and the breakdown of society by channeling love in to the hearts and minds of six thousand of us.
James played Out To Get You, Waltzing Along, I Know What I'm Here For, Come Home, Greenpeace, Attention, Say Something, Born Of Frustration, Five-O, Zero, Shadow Of A Giant, Way Over Your Head, Beautiful Beaches, Tomorrow, Sit Down, Sound, Nantucket, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up), Laid
James' official website can be found here and they are on Facebook and Twitter.
The Love Is The Answer tour with Doves calls at 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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