James, Glasgow review: "assuredly charismatic"

Addressing the “30 people who haven't seen us before”, James frontman Tim Booth warned “don't expect a slick show”. Yet slick was what it was. This Mancunian band have had 40 years to perfect the art of the concert and have been inhabiting arenas for at least half their lifespan. What not to expect is a ticklist of all the hits in a set order. Not for the first time in Glasgow, there was no showing for their biggest tune, Sit Down.

They delivered in other ways, however, opening with Tomorrow, a driving anthem with space for a mournful trumpet solo from Andy Diagram. Booth, assuredly charismatic, strolled the stage, getting the measure of the space, before shaking it all about down among the front rows on Waltzing Along. Although he commanded attention, his bandmates were the ones elevating the sound with electro judder, beefy basslines, double drummer action supplemented by floor toms and deep brass drones and some expansive backing vocals.

There was a stillness to Way Over Your Head before it built to an anthemic prayer, incorporating some of Booth's lowest notes. Attention was a more brooding slice of electro pomp. The following low-key longueur was broken by Booth leaving the stage to make his customary mischief on the balcony level during Say Something and She's A Star. In some cases, there was even the laying on of hands, then a directive to “improvise something” while he charted his route back to the stage.

In the end, James did observe the convention of saving up their best loved songs for the climax, with Come Home and Ring The Bells paving the way for the highlight. Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) remains one of their most appealing earworms, with a game Booth choosing the moment to crowdsurf precariously before undertaking a celebratory dance on making it safely back to land to deliver the soaring Sometimes and the exultant Laid.

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