Catching James live tonight in Birmingham for the first time, and it was obvious of the new age/trippy vibe, with figgerty hip swivelling Tim Booth in charge of these very talented but ragamuffin looking band.

With no actual setlist, just ideas what to play, it included quite a few of their big hits, ‘Born Of Frustration’, ‘Say Something’, ‘Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)’, ‘Tomorrow’, ‘She’s A Star’ and during, ‘Born Of Frustration’, Booth reappeared on the upper level picked out by a spotlight. Working his way around the arena, greeting fans, dancing and exchanging yodelling with band mate, Chloe still on stage. On the way, getting himself basically stuck in one area, informing the band, “just improvise something”, which fitted in with the feeling of tonight. And of course it wasn’t the only time he went rogue, with a couple of brand-new tunes thrown in, which went down really well.

After a slightly chaotic, unpredictable concert, (probably normal to be honest), keeping their biggest streaming song, ‘Sometimes’ until the end, it was an extremely enjoyable experience. Aided by some weird but visually stunning video effects on the six video screens, it was a big production, although it didn’t suffocate the music.

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe