Iconic indie stalwarts James were welcomed back to Bournemouth this week via a warm up gig at the 02 Academy ahead of their UK tour which culminates at the 02 in London on the 15th June.
Having released their latest album ‘Yummy’ last month – a follow up to 2021’s ‘All The Colours Of You’ this tour was the perfect opportunity to showcase both tracks from their fantastic new album as well as playing some fan favourites from their career-spanning discography.
Lead singer, the very likeable Tim Booth explained to the sold out crowd (a few songs in) that he had been sick all week and this clearly had an impact on his and the rest of the band’s performance at times where they had a couple of false starts, the odd wrong notes and other technical troubles.
However, the joy of a warm up gig is its rawness in its entirety and despite a slightly rocky start for the band, they quickly found their form as they navigated through to the second half of the gig.
The fantastic ‘Better For You’ was still a highlight despite a small false start, however it was the band’s first live debut of this track as was ‘Stay’. The band’s first six tracks were all from the recently released ‘Yummy’ which included ‘Shadow Of A Giant’ and ‘Life’s a Fucking Miracle’ which celebrates the every day and encourages us to find optimism in the ordinary things.
Life imitated art with Tim Booth with trademark humour declaring that the issues that had plagued them from the start set the tone of the evening joking that “Those who have seen us before know this happens regularly but the thing is… we have actually been rehearsing!”
A band of James’ credentials are entitled to have off moments and no one could deny their charisma, attitude and showmanship which had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands.
Despite his illness, Tim Booth did not disappoint the crowd and soon elevated the energy with his trademark moves. Can you say you have seen James play live if Tim Booth doesn’t dance as if his life depended on it? We don’t think so!
There were some James classics thrown into the mix which included ‘Born of Frustration’, ‘Waltzing Along’ and the triumphant ‘Come Home’. The band found their groove with the older material but sadly had to abandon ‘Nothing But Love’ from 2016’s ‘Girl at the End of the World’ due to the aforementioned technical issues.
The band shone in key moments like the beautiful ‘Sometimes’ where they performed an extended version, as well as a slowed-down version of ‘Sit Down’ and ‘Sound’ with the former being a new arrangement for the band. It was moving and it was refreshing to hear a different take on the gargantuan anthem that is normally played. It was fantastic to hear them thrive on the ever-brilliant ‘Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)’ which is always a wonderful track to hear live.
James as a band is a collective and everyone has their unique part to play. They are a group of consummate professionals who all bring something special to both a live performance and the records themselves.
The band shouldn’t be disappointed with how the gig went. Yes, there were a few erroneous notes and mistakes, but largely they should be proud of their performance which was solid and assiduous throughout.
If Bournemouth was the venue to cut their teeth for the remainder of their tour, then they have every confidence that the new material will resonate with the crowd and that they will put on one hell of a show!
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