Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know.....that I had a wicked awesome time in Boston yesterday at the James concert?? Well, you probably didn't know that until just now, but it's true.

First off, here's their set-list:
Laid / Seven / Oh My Heart / Ring the Bells / Waterfall / Bubbles / Say Something / Five-O / I Wanna Go Home / Out to Get You /Upside / Hey Ma / Sit Down / Sound / Whiteboy / Tomorrow / Sometimes

Encore:
She’s A Star / Born of Frustration / Lullaby / Don’t Wait That Long / Come Home

The band was tight. The new songs blended well with the old. I was surprised to see so many younger people at the show because, let's face it, American radio has virtually ignored this great English band during it's over 20-year career so I was surprised (and happy) to see that the music of James is still finding listeners. And while today (Tuesday) is the US release date of their latest disc, Hey Ma, it was obvious that many people at the Paradise Rock Club did what I did and ordered it back in April when it was released in the UK and were already familiar with the new tunes.

The club was much smaller than I expected. I figured the venue would probably hold about a thousand people, but this was only a guess as I had never been to the to it before. Boy, was I wrong. It only held about 500! AWESOME! It was a sold-out show, but with only 500 people, it was an up-close performance. I was third back from the stage, center/left.

During the playing of "Sometimes", the band faded out and stopped playing, and we all kept singing “Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes I swear I can see your soul”. The crowd sang alone for a couple of minutes as band watched on. Then they picked the song right back up from the crowd’s vocal performance and finished it. Tim Booth: “That was brilliant!”

In the final song of the encore (Come Home), Tim Booth looks into crowd and says “Where’s that guy who said he could play guitar on this song?” Turns out the guy had been standing in front of me all night with his girlfriend. He puts his hand up and says “HERE! HERE!” Tim Booth: “Well there you are. Get the fuck up here!” Turns out this fan by the name of Jonah could play the song and the band was right into having this guy play with them and the crowd loved it too. The dude was in his smilingest-happy-face-place, playing with a band he obviously loves. It was great.

Right before starting "Hey Ma", Tim Booth said, "Here's my feelings: if a leader of a country declares war on another country, he or she resign immediately. Because if you have to resort to war, you've failed as a politician and you should not continue." There was a decent amount of chatter between the crowd and the band...good chatter, like old friends getting reacquainted.

Look! The back of my head at the James concert as Tim Booth sings from atop the bar!

As the band makes their way to Philadelphia for their Tuesday (tonight) show at the Trocadaro Theater (one of my MOST FAVORITE PLACES to see shows when I was still a Philly resident), I want to let those in Philly who read this before they go: THE SHOW IS AWESOME! I’d love to have someone who goes to that show post the set-list here in the comments.

In a day or two, I hope to add some pics to this as a someone I met at the show (and who was also traveling down I95 to see the show in Philly) will hopefully be sending me a couple of the great pics she took while in the front row.

Show was awesome. I’ve waited over 15 years to finally see James. The wait, though difficult, was so worth.

The only thing that bummed me out was that they didn’t do anything from Millionairs or Pleased to Meet You, two albums that I really liked. Maybe next time they’ll dip more into those really decent James albums. And I really really hope there's a next time for them to tour the States.

Opening up for James was the Scottish band, Unkle Bob. I had no familiarity with their music, but got to the club in time to hear them play. Turns out to be a great music find. A sound that reminded me of the Psychedelic Furs, but during their later years...the Book of Days and World Outside sound. I really liked them a lot. Picked up their CD as I left the club at the end of the night and the singer (Rick Webster) and keyboard player (Geoff Widdowson) were there and chatted with me for a few minutes and also signed the CD. They were only about 23 years old, and very excited as this was the first time any of them had ever been to the US. They're supporting James for the three week tour. But for their Philly show they should've had my friends The Codes opening for them. The Codes are pretty awesome...er...wicked awesome...too. And James is known for having the foresight to pick great opening acts for their tours. Some of the bands who opened for James that you may have heard of: Stone Roses. Radiohead. Coldplay. The Corrs. Stereophonics. Third Eye Blind. And a little band I like to call Nirvana.

Yup...I had a great time at the show. I sure hope James comes back again. I'll make another road trip to see them. After all, if they can come thousands of miles to tour the States, I can drive 220 miles to see them.

9/19/2008 Update: Check out the vid for opening song Laid that someone at the show took. Whoever it was who took this had to be about 2 people away from me as I was just to the right side of where this was shot. Also, if you are the one who took this and either want credit or want me to remove it, let me know via the comments and I'll do that right away for you.