James

It's Bank Holiday Monday and whilst most people are preparing to go back to the daily grind, the Scots at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange are getting their drink on, drowning the back to work blues with a spot of anthemic Mancunian brit pop from legends James who are kicking off their 'Mirrorball' tour this evening.

Frontman Tim Booth kicks off the show from the back of the venue, with band member Larry Gott as the rest of the band play from the pitch black stage and burst into 'Sit Down'. They make their way through the crowd with the light of a single spotlight and in the time it takes them to get the stage they have the audience in the palms of their hands. Kicking off with their biggest hit certainly got the audience sparked up, but, it also meant the band had to keep up the high calibre of songs. After 'Hang On' another classic, the band launched into several new songs from 'The Night Before', the first of two mini albums which is set for release later this month.



The songs were doubtlessly unfamiliar to the majority of the audience and unless you had cyber-stalked the band and previewed them everyday on the bands website in the two weeks before the tour you were pretty much clueless. However there is much wealth in the material, 'It's Hot', 'Dr Hellier', 'Ten Below' and 'Crazy' all scream classic James but without communal lyrical memory of a 'Laid' or 'Sit Down', the audience seem lost, awash in the foam of the setlist dotted with obscure oldies.

"Is this the Edinburgh crowd who came to hear some deep and sophisticated music?" asks Booth, "Or is this the Edinburgh crowd who came to hear some of our greatest hits?" which receives a much louder reception than the loaded former question.

The band then proceed to play a few familiar songs which prop the audience back up again, 'Destiny Calling', 'Johnny Yen' and 'Seven' give the fans just a small taste of classic James that they came to see.



The Edinburgh crowd are still slightly subdued, possibly each having a song they fear they will not hear, but when the band reappear they literally 'own' the Corn Exchange for their encore. Suddenly the whole of Edinburgh is singing every single word to 'Say Something' and 'Getting Away With It'. When they burst into 'Sometimes' the audience turns into a choir, overpowering Booth's vocals. The house lights come up for the chorus and every person is singing the words back to him. 'Laid' polishes off the set in a spectacular crescendo of joyous singalong glory.

FUTURE GIGS