When he eventually could be arsed he had a listen to about 30 seconds of one song on Spotify and gave me a grunt, which I didn’t take to be full of enthusiasm.
I asked my Sister if she was interested and got a much more positive response and so when I saw an ad in Gumtree for 2 standing tickets, as they were all sold out from the ticket office, I decided to go with her and leave him to rot in his cave staring at his devices for the evening.
This had the added bonus of having to only pay for my own ticket.
I offered to drive which meant I couldn’t drink, which was good as we went early and there is nothing worse being at the front of a crowded gig and needing to go for a pish halfway through.
The reason we went early was because in true James unique style, they decided to be their own support band.
Or maybe they just wanted to save some cash, but in any regard they played a 30 minute acoustic set before the main affair.
Tim Booth, the lead singer and all round charismatic frontman had damaged his ankle ligaments so done most of the opening set from a swirly chair.
He had a crutch with him that he explained the doctors told him to take to remind him not to start gyrating too much and losing the plot completely as he often does.
Sis and I thought the set was pretty good but not long after we took this photo, what I can only describe as a ‘mouthy git’ from Glasgow appeared behind us and started telling a couple that ‘It wiznae great and Tim better sort it oot’.
He didn’t elaborate on what would be the consequences for Tim if in his eyes he didn’t sort it oot but thankfully it didn’t take Tim long to raise his game…apparently.
A couple of days before the gig my Sister told me that Tim had hurt his ankle and that would probably curtail him from crowdsurfing, as is his usual want.
I joked that is good because after the amount of potatoes I lift at the food factory I don’t want to lift Tim as well.
So, after the first song Tim comes to the front of the stage and looks me dead in the eye before moving a bit to the side. Then he comes back and looks me in the eye again before shrugging his shoulders, opening his arms, grinning and falling directly on me.
I saw this photo of me under Tim, which they were using on Facebook to promote James’s summer gig in Edinburgh.
I had a good laugh with Sis about that but not long after I hear her say loudly, ‘Fuck Off!’. I would like to say that is so unlike her but it isn’t but still, I wasn’t expecting it at the gig.
This time another bampot, a lady one, was trying to squeeze past her to get to the front and Sis was having none of it. I tried to pull her away and she just looked at me like ‘Fuck off, I can fight my own battles’, so I just left her to it.
Anyway, the lady took the hint and off she fucked, leaving us able to focus on Tim trying to his shamanic dancing crutch in hand.
For the encore they dropped a curtain to reveal a local choir to help with the last couple of songs.
One of them was their new single, Many Faces, which the day after Christchurch was perhaps a bit more poignant than we’d have hoped.
They were a very professional lot and didn’t try to copy Tim’s dance moves.
They had a technical hitch which botched a couple of attempts at the final song, Sometimes, but that only seemed to make it more special when they managed to get through it the last time without any hitches and the crowd continued singing it for a while after the band had stopped playing.
My Sis sent me this photo which makes playing spot Billy’s Barnet a lot easier than the Tangerine Dream one as she has circled the spot.
Here are the video highlights that I filmed.
I saw them in the Barrowland Ballroom on their Laid album tour many years ago when a friend and I took the chance on going through to get a ticket outside while another friends declined to come, saying we had no chance. How we laughed at him the next day.
This gig was another great James experience and I would happily go see them again at some point in the future. They are a band who probably don’t get enough recognition for their efforts but great to see them still making good records and touring them after all these years.
The Photos
Cheers!
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