James
The Gov, Monday 19^th November 2018

(Reviewed by John Glennie)

James were very ably supported by Nadeah who has a brilliant voice and great stage presence. Excellent voice range covering the quiet soulful riffs then hitting the big, powerful notes. This young lady has massive potential and would be exceptional with a good backing band. As it was she only found out she was touring with James a week earlier as she was just finishing school exams! Keep an eye out for her and support her when she comes back.

To the main act, and James did not disappoint the sell-out Gov crowd. Must admit I was not hugely familiar with their music even though they have been around since the mid-80s. Was pleasantly surprised how many of their songs I recognised.

They kicked off with a couple of tracks from their latest (2018) album – ‘Hank’ and the title track ‘Living in Extraordinary Times’. Front-man Tim Booth was brilliant and certainly knows how to keep an audience enthralled. Several times he disappeared from the stage to wander around the audience “serenading” the packed house.

James played a great selection from their many albums – my favourite being the 1993 hit ‘Laid’ from the album of the same name. Other great tracks included ‘Stutter’, ‘Picture of This Place’ and ‘Don’t Wait That Long’ – though with so many great songs it seems selfish to only name a few of them! The main set was rounded off by a couple of songs from the 1990 Gold Mother album – ‘How Was It For You?’ and ‘Come Home’.

The encore kicked off with ‘Many Faces’ from their latest album and was another favourite of mine then finishing with ‘Sound’ and the grand-finale ‘Sometimes’.

An outstanding concert and I have risen from relative ignorance to become a big fan! Only fault were several technical issues with the sound systems. I was hoping to get close enough to catch the bass player’s attention – would love to know if we’re related somehow through our family-trees J.