"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.
