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Manchester Evening News

Entertainment

Dianne Bourne

James Come Home - and Manchester goes wild in the sunshine

James (Organization) Tim Booth Kenny Brown Manchester Alton Towers Castlefield Bowl

"So welcome to the 30 year old concert," laughs James frontman Tim Booth to a sold out crowd of deliriously happy fans at Manchester's Castlefield Bowl. The band have come home to the city where they first formed back in 1982, in full unstoppable force, to celebrate the anniversary of their famous Alton Towers gig of 1992.

Said to be one of those "I was there gigs", the fans who really were there have stretched on their 30-year-old James logo t-shirts like a badge of honour to prove it. A video of many of them also plays out before the gig starts, fans regaling the memories of their (mostly) teenaged years heading out to the Staffordshire theme park and all the funny stories along the way.

An abiding memory of that night appears to be the weather - something akin to a typhoon swept Alton Towers on the afternoon of July 4, 1992, leading many to fear the entire gig would be pulled. No such worries here in Manchester in 2022 though - with clear blue skies and dazzling sunshine leading the crowds to use their (pessimistic) brollies to shade from the blazing rays instead on Saturday night.

And while we all knew exactly what songs would be played from that setlist of 1992, James also did their own bit of disruption in springing them in an entirely different order. And with a delicious double encore of surprises thrown in for good measure too.

James on stage at Castlefield Bowl (Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)

Personally, I would have liked one of the big, anthemic bangers to set off proceedings as it did back in 1992. But naturally the band had their own ideas - preferring a slow build to the inevitable utter climax of a Saturday night in Manchester with everyone singing the entire capacity of their lungs to Sit Down at the finale.

Opening with Johnny Yen and America, frontman Tim throws his inimitable, convulsive dance grooves with wild abandon as he launches into Hymn From A Village. He does his bit to take us back to 1992 by wearing the baggiest blue jeans seen since Joe Bloggs was a thing, although his woolly fleece and hat are soon shorn given Manchester's unlikely sizzling Saturday.

Support on this night came with a thrilling set from The Snuts, as joyful, crowd unifying and altogether different from John Lydon and PiL's spiky support slot back in 1992, by all accounts. Even Tim's own.

"How many of you were at the original Alton Towers gig?" he yells to a huge roar from the audience. Looking at the skies he says: "Better weather. No John Lydon. Quite a few pluses."

James on stage (Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)

"For those of you who weren’t there… this is nothing like it."

Tim is one of those brilliant frontmen who is so assured in his own voice that he sure ain't afraid to use it. Whether that be with the soaring, triumphant refrains of the band's epic tunes, or to give America's Supreme Court (after that recent abortion ruling), and indeed all "self righteous arseholes", a piece of his mind.

He also isn't afraid to throw himself into the hands of his adoring fans either - doing his now iconic singing amid the crowds as though walking across water. It makes for a stirring sight as he belts out Say Something with hands clamouring to touch his shaman-like figure.

Tim heads into the crowds for Say Something (MEN)

It's also incredible to think of the journey the band have been on in the past 30 years. Tim points to Live a Love of Life being BANNED when it first came out "for being blasphemous". He belts it out and brings the song to a climax with what looks like Tim going through some kind of dance-jolting exorcism on stage.

As thrilling a live band now as they ever were, they are the masters of ramping and layering their instruments to a wall of sound, done particularly well on Next Lover and the pounding Gold Mother which is dedicated to "all the women who have presidency over their own bodies".

The show all builds to the inevitable roars of Born of Frustration and Come Home.

As guitarist Saul Davies poignantly puts it: “We have aged but these songs have not. We will all die but these songs will not and that’s f***ing great."

"We have aged, but these songs have not" (Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)

With the 1992 setlist complete, there's a frisson of excitement from the crowds pondering, hoping, if some other classics might get an airing. Most have been erupting into their own choruses of Laid and Sometimes in any quiet moment of the concert as it is.

They are all rewarded at the end of the first encore with a quite euphoric singalong to Laid. So much so that many, convinced the show is at an end, are happily starting to make their way out of the arena.

But no, James want to give us some more and back they come, post-curfew, to blast out a few more treats too with Waltzing Along, Beautiful Beaches and a stunning Getting Away With It to close this show.

There may not have been the fireworks finale and a theme park backdrop that Alton Towers delivered all those years ago, but James still gave us one hell of a rollercoaster ride. And made sure this night was another one for the band's history books too.

James at Castlefield Bowl on July 2, 2022? Yeah, I was there.