JAMES : MANCHESTER ARENA 7.12.01 page 1
Setlist : Say Something, Waltzing Along, Sometimes, Laid, I Know What I'm Here For, God Only Knows, Someone's Got It In For Me, Vervaceous, Protect Me (acoustic), Out To Get You, Hymn From A Village, Johnny Yen, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up), Tomorrow, Born of Frustration, Ring The Bells / Top Of The World, Sound / Space, She's A Star, Come Home, Sit Down
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Andrew James' Manchester gig pictures
Webmaster Review
This was the best James gig for a very very long time. Marred, if that's ever the right word to use with this band, by technical problems when Saul's equipment was lost completely half way through the set, they proved once again that when they really want it, they still have the capacity to stun and astound that marks them apart from all their contemporaries. Adrian in particular was on fire adding movement around the stage to his undoubted playing talents.
From the first bars of Say Something, it's evident that whatever had been affecting them before on this tour had been blown away. Maybe it was the announcement that James will continue after Tim removing any residual bad feeling or fear in the band, but they were functioning as a unit, as one, but without the constraint of fitting into a pattern. Waltzing Along, Sometimes, Laid and I Know What I'm Here For shot past, each imbued with a sense of urgency and the feeling of real power. Manchester loved it as my sore ribs from the barrier will testify.
Tim prefaced God Only Knows with the dedication of "a regurgitated James song for regurgitated older James fans". There certainly wasn't anything vomit-inducing about this track, Tim playing the preaching messiah in the improvised middle section, before Andy's trumpet kicked in, adding to the already building melee.
Slowing things down, James swooped into Someone's Got It In For Me, a song that benefits exponentially from the live treatment, building to a crescendo that was simply stunning in its power and emotion. Vervaceous followed suit and was rightfully given the respect it deserves by an educated Manchester crowd. James are, were and probably always will be in whatever form they continue, more than just a singles band and these two songs won over any doubters.
Most of the band now left the stage to be replaced by Larry Gott, guitar hero to the older masses of James fans. Tim introduced him to a rapturous response, cracking a joke about Larry's self-designed chair requiring cushions. What followed next was a simply stunning acoustic version of Protect Me from Jim, Tim and Larry, with the two guitar partners gazing at each other past Tim throughout the song. Larry proved he had lost none of the unique style that made him so integral to James on Laid and before, adding little flourishes to a wonderfully poignant acoustic song.
Out To Get You followed, played by the 1993 line-up of Tim, Jim, Saul, Larry, Mark and Dave. Tears were shed around the arena as Larry strummed the stunning lines that made this song so close to the hearts of so many James fans and won over so many on the Best Of. His backing vocals took the song still further into the stratosphere.
Temporarily without Saul who had lost all power to his amps (and who, to his credit, handled it in true Jamesian fashion by wandering on and off stage, adding what he could), James burst into Hymn From A Village. Manchester went ape, proving what we've been telling the band for years that these older songs are not out of place in the set, Tim hammering out the lyrics like a man possessed with Larry's guitar again taking centre stage. From folk-driven angst in front of a few hundred in 1985 to 16,000 hit-thirsty punters in 2001, the song sits proudly alongside anything James have ever written since.
And then it just got better. All the debate about the best-ever Johnny Yen was swiftly dismissed. Mike and Adrian returned and the stage was full with nine Jameses. Saul's violin fought with Andy's trumpet which fought with Larry and Adrian's twin guitars with Kulas adding more shade to the sound. Dave beat the drums like a madman and Mark's understated keyboards merely provided the framework that held the whole thing together. Tim strutted the stage, prowling, tracking down the band one by one and confronting them, forcing them to take it up a notch. Simply stunning.
Larry and Andy left and James 2001 launched into Getting Away With It, the band's adopted theme tune and what a tune it is. Criminally ignored by the public (and Mercury if we're going to name names), the song is a uniting rallying call from band to fans and they respond wildly.
Andy returns to add his trumpet flourishes to a massive possessed Tomorrow endowed with a power all of its own. Born of Frustration is huge, again the trumpet taking the song to new higher plains. Tim went walkabout stage right, climbing way into the first tier. It'll look good on the DVD, but it's a shame that by doing so, it took the attention away from a stunning band performance. Ring The Bells followed, this time with Tim firmly on the stage, and built again to a stunning cresecendo, the highlight being a rap by Andy over the closing guitar-fuelled section.
For the first encore, Jim, Mark, Adrian and Larry returned to play the opening bars of Top Of The World without Tim and Saul. The vocals came in and the lights spun round to reveal Tim high up in the seats from where he proceeded to sing the whole song. Saul came in with violin directly opposite in the arena to Tim.
As the two made their way back to stage, the band extended the intro to Sound with a superb piece of improvisation by Larry. Back to the full complement of nine, Sound was even more powerful than ever. A song of ten minutes plus has to maintain the interest throughout and James succeed tonight. The band stop playing to enable Jim and Saul a wonderful piece of interaction before building to a stunning climax.
Coming back for a second encore, Space is a strange choice to open it, but the lyrics have gained an extra poignancy given recent announcements and the power of the performance is simply stunning. She's A Star follows and whilst ecstatically received doesn't quite match the highs of the rest of the set.
Come Home sends the crowd in a heaving mass, the band ratch everything up and it's like Madchester had never gone away.
So to the final song, Tim acknowledges Mark's understated and often ignored contribution to the band by insisting the crowd listen to his elongated intro. Saul dashes off stage to drag Larry from the seats to join in. The first verse is minimalist with Tim and the crowd singing before the band crash in, sending the crowd wild. An extended ending with all nine on stage is a fitting end to a wonderful night and Tim's long association with James in Manchester.
So you've probably worked out that I enjoyed this show. The problems of previous nights were simply blown away. Larry's presence was an undoubted highlight and Andy's contributions pushed the sound yet further. They added that extra dimension that, despite consistently outstanding performances from the band since 1997, has been missing. That in no way denigrates Adrian or Michael's contribution to James, but James since 1997 have been a band rather than a collection of musicians. There's a very fine line between the two and James stepped back over that line last night. How many bands can overcome such terrible technical problems and turn it into a success?
They still didn't play What For though. Oh well, we can forgive them that.