James @ The Refectory
By Nick KilcherHave you noticed that it's getting harder and harder to tell bands apart from their roadies? This is not necessarily because of the lack of true rock stars we possess at the moment (© NME), rather that bands are employing their own 'posse' as opposed to the black-leather clad roadies of the last few decades. Of course if this extended to every band then one would expect to see a bunch of carrot crunching hippies emerge on stage tonite, struggling to position James' Marshall stacks in accordance with feng-shui. What we get however is 'ye olde roadies of yore' come to steal our daughters and play bad eighties metal through the P.A. (I swear I heard some Whitesnake!); from their choice of roadies to their belief that three guitarists are absolutely necessary, from their reverence of 'the jam' to their prog-rock tendencies (witness tonites rousing version of 'God Only Knows' from 1990's 'Gold Mother'), James are definitely 'Old Skool'.
This has been both a blessing and a curse; by sticking stubbornly to their beliefs and never straying too far from their original sonic formula James have failed to achieve the sort of success that seemed inevitable after breakthrough hit 'Sit Down' offered them a prime seat in the 'Baggy' council of war. However, by refusing to accept such positions ("Rear-Admiral of Britpop? No thanks I'm crocheting myself a new hat") they have managed to outlive the majority of their peers who have being pulled under with the collapse of these 'scenes'.
Not that this sheer bloody-mindedness hasn't been hard to live with over the years; Just released a hit album in 'Laid'? I know lets release a double album of song fragments and ambient gubbins ('94's 'Wah, Wah')! Just started to get the momentum going again after '98's chart-topping 'Best Of' album and it's critically praised (if not overly successful) follow-up 'Millionaires'? I know let's release 'Pleased To Meet You' an album of U2 b-sides!?! And, of course, there's Tim Booth's decision to leave the band. This comes, not after the triumph of the greatest hits compilation, but just when the band need to prove themselves again! (a promise that 'the others' will carry on without him seems spectacularly ill-advised). Following James? - not easy, yet here we are in our thousands on a rainy Monday nite....
And we get a show to remember- 'Waltzing Along' and 'Come Home' are highlights of a triumphant set that covers most of the singles and fans favourites. Although early material is neglected (there's pretty much nothing from the first two albums - repeated calls for 'Johnny Yen' going unheeded), there's plenty for the devoted fan (The first ever live performance of Sinead O'Conner duet, 'Vervaceous', with Michael Kulas in the role of Ireland's maddest Priest) and the casual admirer alike (a rare airing of 'Sit Down' outside the festival circuit).
A rather shaky version of 'Laid' seems to please the pissed up muppets next to me who appear to have come purely so they can shout "Manchester, wank, wank, wank" at lead singer 'James' (good to see humour's not dead lads) but it's the lesser known songs such as 'Born Of Frustration' and 'Ring The Bells' that really click with the crowd. All the while Tim Booth hovers round the front of the stage looking genuinely stunned at the impact the band are having.
As an elongated 'Sit Down' draws the nite to a close, Booth stands centre-stage, arms aloft, taking in the adulation of the James devotees for one last time. If, after twenty years, you can still connect with this number of people, then chart positions, reviews and even patchy albums don't mean a thing; perhaps there was nothing to prove after all.
