James – Our World

Back in October I went to see Johnny Marr with James opening. I was familiar with James, knew and liked the singles from way back when, but I never really listened to them much. So it came as a surprise to me that nearly half the crowd came to see James with Johnny Marr. They wore old tour t-shirts and knew all the words to all the songs.

To prepare for the show I listened to their most recent album on the way to work. There are a number of timely songs, like this one, which made me appreciate them more than I had before.

I’d also heard that a big part of a James show is frontman Tim Booth’s dancing. He did dance in a kind of trance-like way sometimes but the thing that really struck me was the grasp he has on the audience when he ventures off of the stage. He did this a couple of times. Standing on seat backs and holding people’s hands for support, or out in the aisle right up in front of people. He would hold people’s hands aloft, like they were going to take a bow together, and he would stare into their eyes with this smile on his face, never breaking his gaze. It was kind of incredible to watch. At first people were excited or a little nervous but the longer he stood there, a foot in front of them, smiling, and just drawing them into his eyes, it was like he was imparting a message about his love for humankind, and in that particular moment his love for the person he was communing with, all with his eyes.

I’m glad they were on this tour with Johnny Marr because I don’t know if I would have gone to see them otherwise. It seems unlikely they’ll be back here any time soon but keep it in mind.