Post by Sean in Otley on Dec 15, 2010 6:10:38 GMT -5
Last night was my 25th James gig and it’s fair to say that I've yet to see 'James' live and come away feeling disappointed or that they weren't on top form. And the gig at the Leeds Academy was no exception. The VIP show was brilliant even if it did feel like several ice ages had passed before we were allowed entry, the fact that we arrived at about 16:15 and it was pretty damp and unpleasant outside the venue didn't help. The sudden burst of hot smelly exhaust fumes from the bands coach we was stood next to was quite enjoyable mind you. However, we were finally allowed entry at just before 17:00 by which time my feet had started to ache a tad from the coldness of the concrete that was slowly making it’s ascent up through my Doc Martens
My young son (Daniel James) and I were given our own place to view the show at Tim's insistence, (cheers Tim!) and we both really enjoyed the sound check immensely. The Q&A session was a bit hit and miss although not at any fault of the band, it’s just that the questions were quite random to the point that even the band struggled to answer them fully! Even though my young son was wearing professional ear protectors he still jumped at the sudden burst of noise from the PA system as ‘Lost A Friend’ was blasted out, minus Larry of course who was self medicating somewhere snug and warm.
According to Saul Davies I look like I'm the kind of man who swears a lot at home in front of my children and drinks copious amounts of canned lager whilst sat on the sofa. Yes, exactly. (I’m a real ale drinker and I don’t swear or drink in front of the kids in case anyone from Social Services ends up reading this!)
At the end of the sound check I asked Dave if I could get a couple of drum sticks for my lad as Father Christmas is hopefully bringing him his first drum kit, (it’s currently in the loft and I’m quite jealous!) but Dave indicated that there is currently a world shortage regarding drum sticks and that if he gave us a pair then Dave would have to perform that evening using a couple of wooden spoons nicked from the venues sumptuous hospitality area. (He never said this of course, he just shook his head and mouthed something indecipherable at us). After the sound check we had to quick march it back to the train station, catch the train to Horsforth and then drive to Otley so that I could get my son ready for bed before jumping back in the car and driving back to Leeds with my wife.
My wife an I ended up watching the gig from the balcony, (I always have to buy seated tickets if I'm taking her to a gig as she's only just over 5 foot tall) and because we didn’t arrive until about 20:15 we struggled a bit to find somewhere decent to sit. Without sounding ageist we was surrounded on all sides by quite a few old crumblies, a couple in front of us in particular were extremely ancient but God damn, they knew all of the material including stuff from The Morning After so fair play to them.
A woman who was sat fairly near to us went absolutely mental when some people a few rows in front stood up, thus obscuring her view. She was literally screaming at them, frothing from the mouth whilst frantically clawing the air with her sharp pointy talons, desperately trying to gain the attention of the security guy to sort them out. He never did though and just looked at her instead with a sympathetic look in his eyes. She gave a big old sarcastic slow clap when they eventually sat down at their own accord. My wife and I almost had hernias from laughing so much!
The set list as you will no doubt have seen by now was a decent varied collection of songs played by a band at the top of their game. OTGY was easily the best version I've ever heard live before, my wife’s comment about Saul was "Oooh, I bet his arm will be sore after that!" and Saul did the traditional thing that all violin players do when feeling very excited and he kept lifting his leg off the floor and holding it suspended in the air for a few moments. It was quite a touching sight to behold and I felt a few beads of sweat on my back and brow. 'Jam J' rocked da’ house as did 'Stutter' which was sublime and rather punishing. I genuinely had goose bumps during 'Tell Her I Said So' and in particular 'Rabbit Hole' which is currently my sons' favourite James song!
The unexpected second encore of 'Top Of The World' was the icing on the cake as far as I was concerned and it was a fantastic ethereal curve ball to end the set on, it left a lot of people on the balcony stood there shivering at the sudden change in the venues atmosphere. A great night out, roll on Saturday!!!
Daniel's all time ‘James Top Five’
1 Getting Away With It
2 Rabbit Hole
3 Tomorrow
4 Laughter
5 Born Of Frustration
My young son (Daniel James) and I were given our own place to view the show at Tim's insistence, (cheers Tim!) and we both really enjoyed the sound check immensely. The Q&A session was a bit hit and miss although not at any fault of the band, it’s just that the questions were quite random to the point that even the band struggled to answer them fully! Even though my young son was wearing professional ear protectors he still jumped at the sudden burst of noise from the PA system as ‘Lost A Friend’ was blasted out, minus Larry of course who was self medicating somewhere snug and warm.
According to Saul Davies I look like I'm the kind of man who swears a lot at home in front of my children and drinks copious amounts of canned lager whilst sat on the sofa. Yes, exactly. (I’m a real ale drinker and I don’t swear or drink in front of the kids in case anyone from Social Services ends up reading this!)
At the end of the sound check I asked Dave if I could get a couple of drum sticks for my lad as Father Christmas is hopefully bringing him his first drum kit, (it’s currently in the loft and I’m quite jealous!) but Dave indicated that there is currently a world shortage regarding drum sticks and that if he gave us a pair then Dave would have to perform that evening using a couple of wooden spoons nicked from the venues sumptuous hospitality area. (He never said this of course, he just shook his head and mouthed something indecipherable at us). After the sound check we had to quick march it back to the train station, catch the train to Horsforth and then drive to Otley so that I could get my son ready for bed before jumping back in the car and driving back to Leeds with my wife.
My wife an I ended up watching the gig from the balcony, (I always have to buy seated tickets if I'm taking her to a gig as she's only just over 5 foot tall) and because we didn’t arrive until about 20:15 we struggled a bit to find somewhere decent to sit. Without sounding ageist we was surrounded on all sides by quite a few old crumblies, a couple in front of us in particular were extremely ancient but God damn, they knew all of the material including stuff from The Morning After so fair play to them.
A woman who was sat fairly near to us went absolutely mental when some people a few rows in front stood up, thus obscuring her view. She was literally screaming at them, frothing from the mouth whilst frantically clawing the air with her sharp pointy talons, desperately trying to gain the attention of the security guy to sort them out. He never did though and just looked at her instead with a sympathetic look in his eyes. She gave a big old sarcastic slow clap when they eventually sat down at their own accord. My wife and I almost had hernias from laughing so much!
The set list as you will no doubt have seen by now was a decent varied collection of songs played by a band at the top of their game. OTGY was easily the best version I've ever heard live before, my wife’s comment about Saul was "Oooh, I bet his arm will be sore after that!" and Saul did the traditional thing that all violin players do when feeling very excited and he kept lifting his leg off the floor and holding it suspended in the air for a few moments. It was quite a touching sight to behold and I felt a few beads of sweat on my back and brow. 'Jam J' rocked da’ house as did 'Stutter' which was sublime and rather punishing. I genuinely had goose bumps during 'Tell Her I Said So' and in particular 'Rabbit Hole' which is currently my sons' favourite James song!
The unexpected second encore of 'Top Of The World' was the icing on the cake as far as I was concerned and it was a fantastic ethereal curve ball to end the set on, it left a lot of people on the balcony stood there shivering at the sudden change in the venues atmosphere. A great night out, roll on Saturday!!!
Daniel's all time ‘James Top Five’
1 Getting Away With It
2 Rabbit Hole
3 Tomorrow
4 Laughter
5 Born Of Frustration
