Aside from festivals, this is one of the biggest gigs that With Just A Hint Of Mayhem has had the pleasure of reviewing. I arrived quite early and was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had a great seat. I made a couple of initial posts on social media saying that I was in Leeds to review James and that I had to sit through Razorlight first, with hindsight that was a little mean, shabby, cheap and sarcastic. Razorlight in their time attracted a degree of bad press thanks to Johnny Borrell’s outspokenness. A favourite of mine was “Compared to the Razorlight album, Dylan is making the chips, I’m drinking the Champagne” from 2004. But he was still a young man back then and the arrogance of youth and success can negatively impact many people. This is largely the classic line-up of Razorlight with Borrell as a charismatic and energetic frontman, Björn Ågren on guitars, keys, and percussion, Carl Dalemo on bass guitar and keys, and Andy Burrows on drums and backing vox. The band is strengthened further by keyboard player Reni Lane. So did I just have to sit through Razorlight? No, I didn’t, they were on top form and Borrell played to the crowd faultlessly. They played their set as though they were headlining and it was more glorious and reslpendent as a result. Newer songs like “Scared Of Nothing” hinted at a slightly poppier Velvet Underground influence. But it was the canon of hook-laden hits and classics from three top 4 albums and 5 top-ten singles. Opening with the 2006 top 3 hit “In The Morning” set the scene perfectly for an impeccably played and well-structured set. The crowd was singing along noisily from the first chorus. “Stumble And Fall” was good, but the closing three songs set the bar incredibly high, and Razorlight knocked it out of the park. “Before I Fall To Pieces” and “Somewhere Else” were stunning while the final song “America”, surprisingly their only UK number one, was stirring, emotional, and had all of us singing once again. I completely take back what I said about Razorlight before their set. This was nonpareil and sublime from a band that is back on it in a wonderful way! But I would like to say to the hundreds of people filming on their mobile phones, particularly during “America”, what the fuck are you doing? Live the moment, take in the gig, appreciate the music. You cannot appreciate a live show through a tiny screen on an electronic device. Make memories, not videos!
Finally, it was time for the main course of the evening from James after a splendid and tasty starter from Johnny Borrell and the boys. How many other bands formed back in 1982 are still selling out arenas and releasing stylish new original music regularly? Tim Booth and Jim Glennie have been a part of the band since it was formed 42 years ago, while four of the other members have been a part of James since the late eighties. The band has been an influential and important part of British music since its inception and has been ever-present apart from a short hiatus at the start of this century. I have seen James a few times over the years, and they always put on a show, so I was expecting something good at the Leeds First Direct arena. The band started modestly enough with a song that is nearly 40 years old and is about a character from Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life”, “Johnny Yen”. The set was nicely littered with songs from the new album ‘Yummy’, eight tunes from the album were included in the 20-song set. The highlights from those were for me “Our World” and a spectacular stomp through “Life’s A Fucking Miracle”. Tim Booth made his first of many crowd-surfing excursions during that one. Booth’s own brand of dancing was clear throughout the show. No one dances with such unbridled fun and bendiness as Mr. Booth. He dances like nobody is watching but he absolutely knows that we are! “Butterfly” was beautiful, and this was the first time the band had performed it live. Before they took the stage there was an announcement saying that James would rather you did not use your mobile phone during their show. I wholeheartedly agree with that! But Tim Booth did make a concession when he introduced “Mobile God”, although I am not sure many in the crowd appreciated the irony in that. The older songs were, obviously, well received, especially the final two pre-encore tracks “Come Home” and “Sometimes”. The huge back-of-stage screen used some kind of AI (I assume) to turn the band into weird robotic characters, the really entertaining part was when they did the same to the crowd. Booth orchestrated the crowd singing an acapella take on “Sometimes” with an almost heavenly and ethereal crowd choir singing “Sometimes when I look in your eyes, I can see your soul” in almost perfect unison and harmony, with occasional support from the band and the four obscenely talented members of the Manchester Voices Inspirational Choir. The band left the stage very briefly before returning for a four-song encore beginning with “Way Over Your Head” from ‘Yummy’ and “Beautiful Beaches” from ‘All The Colours Of You’. Then it was time for “that song”, yes, the perennial anthem of the ages, “Sit Down” and clearly no one did sit down for it. We all sang along as loud as possible though. The song was stopped shortly before the end to help security and venue staff deal with a medical emergency in the crowd, with a compassionate and empathetic Tim Booth telling us what was happening. After they restarted most of the band sat on the front of the stage to listen to the crowd continue to sing this timeless tune. Booth then informed us that we were now on ‘Fergie Time’ which meant another song could be played. That song was “Laid”, perhaps my favourite James song. What a magnificent way to end an epic and dazzling set from a band that goes from strength to strength, even after all this time. I left Leeds an incredibly happy man after this show, I suspect everyone left with smiles on their faces. Roll on the next tour!
All photographs by John Hayhurst of snapagig.com
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