JAMES : GETTING AWAY WITH IT LIVE - Q REVIEW

It started with a fight and ended with tears at their farewell gig.

At an early 80s student disco in Manchester, undergraduate Tim Booth was dancing away the heartache after splitting with his girlfriend. Seeing their chance, three local scallies tried to steal his beer. Confronted by Booth, they decided against fighting. In fact, they had a proposition for him; since he was a clever university lad why didn't he join their band and help write some lyrics.

"I was, like, this middle class ponce," he opines. "And they tried to intimidate the fuck out of me."

Given such inauspicious beginnings, it's nigh-on incredible that 20 years on we have Getting Away With It Live, the farewell concert for Mancunian veterans James who finally decided to bow out on 7 December last year at the Manchester Evening News Arena.

Despite testimonials from their producer of nine years, Brian Eno, a half hour documentary and various promo videos, this package really works when the farewell throwdown begins. Say Something and Sometimes ("One of the great pop songs of all time", says Eno) are highlights, while the blistering angular Johnny Yen is a timely reminder of just how good the "indie" years were.

By the time they reach the swooning keyboard intro to the last ever Sit Down, the cameras capture swathes of glassy-eyed fans fighting lumps in throats. Booth tackles his big moment with his skullcap removed - and with a pate of bulging veins he looks like something dreamt up by George Lucas to cause trouble in the next Star Wars movie.

So why did Booth walk away? "I don't really know why I'm leaving," he shrugs, somewhere backstage. As speeches go, it's hardly a Churchillian valedictory, but never mind, by now you've enjoyed a 20-track reminder of their greatness and the box of tissues is empty.

4 stars (out of 5)