Tim sang The Passenger with Johnny Marr during his set
“The newer materials and their often anti-Trump messaging are strongly received. New love song Leviathan surprisingly just sweeps away the crowd. It’s a shame that James hadn’t the opportunity to promote this album when first released last year as it really seems to connect with North Americans. That said, the newer songs sound a bit different than on record and during last spring’s UK tour, perhaps due the elimination of the two backing singers / percussionists, likely due to the economics of this North American tour. However, if James had started the night with Hank, which introduces their new sounds featured on Living in Extraordinary Times, and included Better Than That in the setlist they would have taken no prisoners.”
Read the full review on EvenTheStars.co.uk
None.
Queuing quietly outside the soldout Phoenix with family/friends, I muse to myself that I’ve been waiting a decade to see James play in Toronto. In fact, their impending break up and long awaited reunion in this new millennium led me to the UK twice for numerous James shows. Inside, the venue is large, with a balcony at the back. We stake out a spot centre stage about 3 or 4 meters back from the front barrier. Its your typical well behaved Toronto audience, right into the music but not much pushing in at the front once the main set starts; a bit of a relief really when compared to a UK show which often has a few dozen lager louts who crowd in up front mid-show and purposefully stomp on toes when they’re not spilling their beer on you on the way back from the bar.
The long awaited moment finally arrives – James are on stage. They’re just brilliant – they kick off with Born of Frustration and just sweep away the audience for the next couple of hours. The crowd in Asbury Park the previous weekend were really into James but they’re walking in the dark when compared to Toronto tonight. The band gets caught up in the enthusiasm and even Jim Glennie bops and dances a bit through the show.
James promptly launch into two well received new songs, Oh My Heart and Waterfall, the latter in particular getting cheers of recognition, with the crowd joining the chorus and howling appreciatively at Tim’s extended note towards the end. As in other cities during this tour, the Hey Ma songs are warmly received and fit seamlessly into the setlist, whether it’s the rolling march crescendo of I Wanna Go Home led by Dave’s great drumming or the Vegas histrionics of Upside with Andy’s trumpet colouring. James underestimate the power of the new catalogue and their audiences by not including a Whiteboy or a Of Monsters and Heroes in their encores. Later in the set, Hey Ma with Larry’s great acoustic intro, which turns into an audience sing-song, finds a natural home in Toronto, the anti-war-in-Iraq capital of Canada, one of the few NATO countries NOT to send troops into the Bush/Blair expeditionary oil war.
Everything goes up a notch when ex-James member and now Toronto resident Michael Kulas is introduced on stage by Tim Booth. Kulas and Just Like Fred Astaire both get huge cheers of recognition, with Michael adding bass and vocals to the song – this truly a James one-off with duelling basses on stage. The warm reception of Fred Astaire is curious as the “Millionaires“ source cd was never released in North America; its obvious that James have short-changed their audiences by not including at least a couple of “Millionaires” in their tour setlist.
After having enjoyed a number of James shows in England and the US this year, its obvious that tonight’s guest addition to the band has raised Tim’s enjoyment and enthusiasm. As Fred Astaire progresses, its plain to see that Tim is truly inspired having former bandmate Kulas matching his vocals; you can see it in Tim’s eyes. Its further proof that Brian Eno knew what he was hearing in 1997 when he advised James they needed to add then guest vocalist Kulas to the band. James are again complete for a few songs tonight. The short and pithy Destiny Calling, now that we are older, is then warmly received, followed by the elegant and extended Five-O. The latter is raised to a new level with Michael’s warm vocals and acoustic guitar, which in turn incite Saul’s charging violin. The audience goes barmy as Kulas departs the stage at the song’s close.
A few songs later, Out To Get You seems to intersect the collective heart of the crowd, turning into another singalong, brought to a climax by the ever amazing Saul and his song closing violin piece; almost brings tears to the eyes. Just amazing. Just a bit later in the set, as the opening verse of Sometimes starts off, the audience joins in en masse drowning out Tim; the song seems to have filled that special place for North American fans that Johnny Yen held in UK fans hearts for years; the crowd transcends the moment. Then Laid breaks loose, joined by Kulas mid-song, bringing the main set to a breath taking close.
Encore opener Don’t Wait That Long, one of my favourites from Seven, sweeps the crowd off its feet with its building intensity and Larry’s great guitar work. I’ve never been able to figure this song out as I’ve always heard it as a musical genre outside of the broad James cannon; and another road they could have easily followed. All of a sudden the opening chords of tonight’s single Whiplash sampler She’s A Star breaks out – where’s Kulas when James needs him! As the song closes Tim thanks the audience for their great reception and to great cheering announces that James plan to return to Toronto in the new year; he asks everyone to bring friends along next time so that a bigger party can be had. Then Come Home snaps to a start – indeed that’s what James have done tonight – and then crashes to a cheer filled close.
After an elongated pause, James return for a final encore to bring us to the Top of the World – indeed. Like Pavlov’s dog, during the opening chords I look around the floor and the balcony, wondering where Tim will appear; I guess there’s no clear spot as he turns up centre stage. I close my eyes to the song and memories of great James concerts bounce through my head; I centre in on a recollection of the then last James show ever, December 2001, wandering by Wembley Arena looking for the box office, we could hear James doing Top of the World at the end of their pre-show soundcheck, sublime. Tonight has been added to that catalogue of great personal memories.
First things first. Tim Booth – the lead singer of James – looks really, really bad in a skirt. It was one thing for Booth and the five other members of James to don baggy, calf-length pant-suits and dresses while munching bananas, for the cover of their recent album Laid – did they mean laid, as in the French word for ugly?
But to see Booth take the Ontario Place Forum stage last night, with wild and wooly Malcolm McLaren-like hair and a dowdy dress that Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies might wear, well, let’s just say if his goal was to be the centre of attention, he succeeded. And let’s not forget his crazed and manic dance routines throughout the 90-minute performance. He’s either in line for a spot as lead dancer on the Electric Circus show, or a candidate for a strait-jacket and a room with four padded walls. Despite, or perhaps because of it all, the show worked gloriously well.
Strong, rhythmically propulsive and melodically dynamic songs like Sometimes, Say Something and Sit Down were perfect musical pivots from which Booth could flail wildly.
The 3,500-member audience loved it. Fuelled by the singer’s energy and herky-jerky antics, many in the crowd spent the show on their feet or dancing on the hills.
Other high points included a couple of new tracks that fused techno-pop with grinding industrial sounds, made all the more effective with the vocals sung through a megaphone.
It wasn’t entirely a night of throbbing rock. As with their two shows earlier this year at The Opera House, the group mesmerized the crowd with dreamy, cerebral and richly-textured mood pieces, most notably on the song Lullaby. And the band’s superb delivery of the title track from the Laid album, complete with Booth’s mid-song yodel, nearly raised the forum’s roof.
The performance was a terrific start to the summer season. But Booth needs a new fashion co-ordinator.
It was a two-bands-in-one event that Manchester sextet James presented over the weekend in two sold-out nights at the Opera House.
James is a folk band. James is also a dance-pop band. And the way the group convincingly shifted between the two styles was tribute both to its skill at reinventing itself, and to the crack musicianship of its players.
The group has been around since the early ’80s, almost as long as fellow Mancunians New Order. But whereas New Order nailed down a moody, dance-rock sound early on, the James gang has constantly experimented, swelling from its original four members up to seven, more recently becoming an even six-pack.
They’ve dropped horns from the lineup and stripped down to acoustic basics for their superb new album, Laid, encouraged by timely advice from admirer Neil Young and producer Brian Eno.
The band has a new confidence and focus that was seen, heard and felt right off the top at the first show Saturday, as James confidently tore into “Out To Get You”.
Standing festival style in a line at the front of the stage, dimly lit by blue lights that barely revealed faces, this was a group determined to subvert individual stardom in favor of team strength, although each member shone in his own right.
Singer Tim Booth poured on the emotion, with a voice and tousle-haired stage presence that mixed the messianic intensity of pre-Zoo TV Bono with the vulnerability of ’60s hippie guru Donovan.
Drummer David Baynton Power and bassist Jim Glennie held down a tight rhythm section, with Baynton Power maintaining a tribal beat with brushs and sticks, driving out demons at the end of “Ring The Bells” and throughout the early anthem “Sit Down”.
Lead guitarist Larry Gott handled both six-and-12-string acoustics and a Stratocaster electric with equal assurance, adding chiming, stirring runs and fills to songs like “Sometimes”, “P.S.” and “Say Something”.
Guitarist/violinist Saul Davies (he’s particularly impressive on violin, especially for “Johnny Yen”) and keyboard player Mark Hunter completed the winning team.
The switch to dance-pop came five songs in with “Gold Mother”, complete with a colorful slide show, blinding lights (but still not on the band) and Booth singing through a bullhorn. It was a vision true to the band’s roots in the Ecstasy-fuelled “Madchester” club scene, and a sound that explained why Toronto club act Rail T.E.C. was chosen as the well-received opening act.
And for the James gang, it was just like business as usual, a switching of gears without skipping a beat. The debut of the experimental new “Honest John” late in the set, with its industrial beats and renewed bullhorn bleats, indicated James is ready and willing to pursue this direction more in the future, after it enjoys its current predominantly acoustic phase.
The band is apparently also enjoying this tour, judging by the choice of the rarely played early hit “Come Home” for the encore, which included another crowd-pleaser, “Frustration”.
If the term “folk rave” hasn’t been coined yet, it should be after seeing what James is up to.
No longer six characters in search of an author, this is a group that has found itself, and a distinctive, unified sound.
tbd
Rail TEC
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
It was a two-bands-in-one event that Manchester sextet James presented over the weekend in two sold-out nights at the Opera House.
James is a folk band. James is also a dance-pop band. And the way the group convincingly shifted between the two styles was tribute both to its skill at reinventing itself, and to the crack musicianship of its players.
The group has been around since the early ’80s, almost as long as fellow Mancunians New Order. But whereas New Order nailed down a moody, dance-rock sound early on, the James gang has constantly experimented, swelling from its original four members up to seven, more recently becoming an even six-pack.
They’ve dropped horns from the lineup and stripped down to acoustic basics for their superb new album, Laid, encouraged by timely advice from admirer Neil Young and producer Brian Eno.
The band has a new confidence and focus that was seen, heard and felt right off the top at the first show Saturday, as James confidently tore into “Out To Get You”.
Standing festival style in a line at the front of the stage, dimly lit by blue lights that barely revealed faces, this was a group determined to subvert individual stardom in favor of team strength, although each member shone in his own right.
Singer Tim Booth poured on the emotion, with a voice and tousle-haired stage presence that mixed the messianic intensity of pre-Zoo TV Bono with the vulnerability of ’60s hippie guru Donovan.
Drummer David Baynton Power and bassist Jim Glennie held down a tight rhythm section, with Baynton Power maintaining a tribal beat with brushs and sticks, driving out demons at the end of “Ring The Bells” and throughout the early anthem “Sit Down”.
Lead guitarist Larry Gott handled both six-and-12-string acoustics and a Stratocaster electric with equal assurance, adding chiming, stirring runs and fills to songs like “Sometimes”, “P.S.” and “Say Something”.
Guitarist/violinist Saul Davies (he’s particularly impressive on violin, especially for “Johnny Yen”) and keyboard player Mark Hunter completed the winning team.
The switch to dance-pop came five songs in with “Gold Mother”, complete with a colorful slide show, blinding lights (but still not on the band) and Booth singing through a bullhorn. It was a vision true to the band’s roots in the Ecstasy-fuelled “Madchester” club scene, and a sound that explained why Toronto club act Rail T.E.C. was chosen as the well-received opening act.
And for the James gang, it was just like business as usual, a switching of gears without skipping a beat. The debut of the experimental new “Honest John” late in the set, with its industrial beats and renewed bullhorn bleats, indicated James is ready and willing to pursue this direction more in the future, after it enjoys its current predominantly acoustic phase.
The band is apparently also enjoying this tour, judging by the choice of the rarely played early hit “Come Home” for the encore, which included another crowd-pleaser, “Frustration”.
If the term “folk rave” hasn’t been coined yet, it should be after seeing what James is up to.
No longer six characters in search of an author, this is a group that has found itself, and a distinctive, unified sound.
See attached newspaper clipping.