Cambridge Corn Exchange - James Gig

Last night was another storming set from the mighty "James". Can you believe that they started out in 1981? I've been a fan since about 1987 and went to my first James gig back in December 1989. 2 years ago I went to see them again over in Norwich following their reformation and the release of the "Hey Ma" album. Another fantastic night. So when the chance came to see them in my home town of Cambridge there wasn't even a decision to be made. I'd been looking forward to the gig for months and was delighted that the night had finally come around. 


As 9pm approached the tightly packed crowd stood in eager anticipation of James taking to the stage. A few short minutes after 9pm the lights went down and we knew the moment had arrived. Then quite unexpectedly a side door of the theatre, half way up the wall opened and a spotlight picked out Tim Booth holding his mic and launching into an acoustic version of Sit Down. As he cleared the door way and moved onto the suspended walkway that leads up to the seating section, Larry Gott walked through the door strumming away on his acoustic guitar. What a magical sight seeing the 2 old pro's knocking out such a beautiful stripped down version of perhaps their best known anthem. Tim delighted the seated fans by walking right up to their section and standing in front of them under the glow of a spotlight singing his heart out. He then returned to the suspended walkway to close out the song to the delight of the throng below. 


The crowd were in fine voice as pretty much every song was known by everyone in the room. They played a few brand new songs from their soon to be released mini album. Luckily for me I'd been listening to them streamed from the James website so I knew every single song they sang. It was a perfect night. The encore brought such classics as "Tomorrow", "Sometimes" and the finale "Laid". What can I say? A truly memorable gig. James have still got the magic and the star quality in spades!