Live Review

James – Hammersmith Apollo, London

• 13th Dec 2010

All you need to know, really, is that if you haven’t seen James live, you haven’t lived.
I’ve (only) seen them twice, and it nearly killed me both times – it’s that intense. It helps if you’re a fan, of course. But it’s the way the band connects with each other and with the audience, in particular, which makes it so special. I’ve been to a lot of great gigs, but I’ve only ever experienced the same high at a Faithless concert. It’s very rare indeed.

Introducing the first song, Tim explained that “our wonderful hero” Larry Gott was in hospital the day before (with a slipped disc) and that they would start the show very gently and “make comical allusions to whatever was wrong with him as the evening goes on”. To which Larry responded: “I’ve had oral drugs, drugs up me arse, drugs shoved into me spine by hypodermic needle… Half an hour before the show I was still in agony… literally anything can happen tonight.” Considering the painkiller-and-wine cocktail he’d had, we believed him.

It’s practically impossible to imagine the band without Larry, but they were so certain he wouldn’t be able to play that, at one stage during the soundcheck, they even tried Tim on guitar. So I’m sure every single person in the audience was eternally grateful that Larry managed to hobble onto the stage, and that he put his heart and soul into the show despite his obvious discomfort.

For some, the opening of the set may have been a bit too Laid-back (pun intended, ha!). But it was classic James, and the reason I fell for them in the first place. First, the delicate and powerful Dust Motes (off their new album The Morning After). The introspective lyrics (about the pain and anger when a partner leaves) and beautiful slide guitar, taking us right back to the Laid-era. I, for one, wasn’t complaining when it was followed by two of my favourite songs off this very album (their greatest, until now?) – PS and Five-O. If they’d played Dream Thrum, it would’ve been the end of me. So, in a way, I’m glad they didn’t.

Tim got slightly emotional announcing Tell Her I Said So – a touching song dedicated to his mum, who is 90 and “living and dying in an old person’s home” (For the end, I’m in a home/All my friends have long since gone/The staff are cold but rules are rules/How can children be so cruel?). The song also sees one of Tim’s first forays into the audience. And here (from his point of view) is where the Hammersmith seats come in handy. It’s Hot (off The Night Before, released earlier this year) picks up the pace, and is another typical James number. Towards the end of the song, it sounds almost a bit Arcade Fire-esque, but as much as I love Arcade Fire, I secretly panicked that James too might end up in the O2. God forbid. Of course I want them to get the recognition they deserve. But it just wouldn’t be the same, would it?

Born Of Frustration (with Tim venturing into the crowd again), Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) and Tomorrow really gets the crowd going. And then, to announce Rabbit Hole (The Morning After), he tells the audience “you may as well sit down for this one, because I know you’re getting a bit old”. “You didn’t have the office party last night!” shouted one. It is a beautiful song, with stunning vocals. But pure adrenaline kept everyone on their feet. I Wanna Go Home builds up to a frantic pace, and sees Tim throwing himself around like a man possessed. Runaground is introduced as a song they haven’t played for 15 years (“apart from the soundcheck”). And Larry joked that they haven’t jammed in ages. But they do it magnificently. After Jam J, and Johnny Yen, the crowd are completely charged. Larry seems to have forgotten about his back problems – walking over and rocking with the drummer. A worried Tim tells the crowd to stop Larry when he tries to do it again. But Larry is God – everyone knows that!

Tim seemed to stop every so often, just to soak up the atmosphere. “I’m feeling guilty because I’m enjoying this concert too much,” he said. “You’re not allowed to have a smile on your face on stage – like you can’t mean it if you’re happy. But as I get older I’m beginning to understand the profundity of play and that’s just pure happiness.”

With that he sat down at the front of the stage, followed by Larry and the rest of the band, for a slow, anthemic and near-acoustic version of Sit Down. It was quite an emotionally charged moment, which left many proclaiming afterwards that it was the highlight of the show, and the best they’ve ever (ever!) seen.

Sit Down was followed by one of my favourite songs, Out To Get You, starting off slowly, and eventually – for almost half of the song – focussing on Saul’s violin and building up into such a frenetic climax, that when Tim encouraged Saul to accept the crowd’s appreciation, it looked like the whole experience left him slightly concussed, while the audience seemed similarly stunned with the sheer emotional effort.

Laid was as raucous as usual. It started with Tim picking a few girls from the crowd, and ended in a total stage invasion, which just left the (seemingly very chilled out) security guys laughing. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if one of them decided to get on stage too. With no room left on stage, Tim went wandering off into the audience once again.

Say Something followed, which I thought had slightly less energy than the rest of the set. But it picked up again immediately with Ring the bells, accompanied by flashing lights which nearly blinded everyone. The lights were very impressive throughout the set – adding extra atmosphere or intensity to the songs, making the whole experience very absorbing.

They closed the set with another huge song – Stutter – which ended manically, once again, with Saul playing drums on Larry’s guitar. Afterwards, Larry and Tim in particular looked very reluctant to leave the stage. But then they came back and played a great version of Sound – with Andy taking a turn to walk through the aisles and into the crowd. Sometimes (dedicated to WikiLeaks) was left for last, ending the night in a truly epic way, with everyone (including the band) spent but wanting more.

Catch The Night Before The Morning After Tour in Leeds, Leicester, Glasgow or Manchester this week. (Or regret it!)