 | | James |
Unexpected it may have been but a sold-out Arena was enough to show that the appetite for the thinking Manc’s band is still very much there. Yet what people got for their money was probably not what they expected. This was stadium rock on a shoestring. Forget the fancy stage dressings and intoxicating light show; but for a few back projections and an ill-conceived marching band, this could have been taken straight to the stage of a much smaller venue with little hassle. Indeed, the quality of the sound seemed to suggest it already had. With responsibility split directly between the band’s somewhat under-rehearsed renditions and the inability to actually get the levels right on stage, there were a myriad of moments when things were mistimed, the vocals dropped out or it all just resembled a bit of a thrown together shambles. Still, maybe it was the genuine love that flowed between the band and the fans, maybe it was the sheer volume of the singalongs or maybe it was just Tim Booth’s freaky dancing – so vibrant it could still knock Bez into next week; whatever it was, somehow, it actually worked. Rampant versions of Johnny Yen, Tomorrow, Chain Mail and Laid probably helped, as did Booth’s clawed-at wander through the seats during the encored Say Something and his clambering onto the crash barriers for Sometimes. But it wasn't just about the past. This being the ever unpredictable James, not only did we get both new tracks from their recent singles collection, there was even space for a song so new that Booth had to read the freshly written lyrics from a sheet of paper. He’d claimed it was because it was "too good for you to miss". The jury is out on that but it certainly showed that there’s plenty of life in the old dogs yet. After two encores, closed inevitably with How Was It For You?, the band huddled for a bow. "This is not a comeback," beamed Booth, "this is the way forward." Providing they actually spend some time rehearsing and sort out the sound, he might be right. | 
