Shooting Our Mouths Off

Scotland has always been a stronghold for the band, and this tour includes two shows there, including one at P&J Live in Aberdeen. The multi-purpose indoor arena is the largest in Scotland and the fifth-largest in the United Kingdom.

Soundcheck opened with ‘Stay’, prompting a question from the crowd about how the band’s current Chris Martin arrangement came about. Tim explained that the Coldplay frontman had reached out to show his support for Yummy, particularly that song, and then created the rearrangement the band now performs. Though they did tweak it a little. The story also sparked some impromptu comedy from Saul, who joked that he swaps the lyric “lovers of God” for “lovers of cod” – the perfect slogan, he said, for the fish and chip shop he would one day open. Never one to miss an opportunity, Jim quickly replied: “I thought you were going to call it Never mind the Pollocks”, before the pair began discussing opening rival chippies. ‘Nantucket’ impressed once again, while ‘Knuckle Too Far’ made its first appearance of the year.

Surprises are usually an essential part of a James setlist, which made it all the more unexpected when they opened with ‘Come Home’ – a song that has now launched all three arena shows so far. Tim introduced ‘What For’ as “an old song” before the set shifted into darker territory with ‘Interrogation’. Always one of the band’s most striking live moments, the La Petite Mort track crackled with intensity, its dense, layered instrumentation perfectly complimenting Tim’s impassioned vocals. Yet it was Andy’s piercing trumpet lines that elevated it further. ‘Lost A Friend’ then returned for the first time since its appearance at the Bournemouth warm-up show, making an immediate impact thanks in no small part to the backing vocals from Saul, Andy and Jim.

With a catalogue as deep as James’, holding back a hit for the encore is hardly a necessity. Just five songs in, they unleashed the drum-driven version of ‘Sit Down’, delighting the crowd early as Tim made his way down to the barrier to sing among them. Back on stage, the band launched into ‘Nantucket’, a song that seems to grow in confidence and power with every performance. Produced by Mark, it’s his keyboard and synth work that binds the arrangement together, weaving through the rest of the band’s instrumentation while Tim navigates the torrent of rapid-fire lyrics with ease – and there are a lot of them. Tethered to the stage by the need for a lyric sheet, understandable given how new and still-evolving the song is, Tim nevertheless beamed throughout the sprawling track, making it obvious just how much he relishes performing it.

‘Greenpeace’ has emerged as one of the highlights of this tour, having featured at both warm-up shows and all three arena dates so far. For the band’s experimental epic, the stage was bathed in red light while lasers cut through the darkness, heightening the song’s intensity as Tim and Chloe traded vocals. Tim seemed completely lost in the moment while Chloe’s voice floated above the chaos. One of James’ greatest strengths is the depth of talent across the entire band, and ‘Greenpeace’ made full use of it. As the song built towards its abrupt ending, Andy and Saul added raw, shouted backing vocals that only intensified the atmosphere. ‘Knuckle Too Far’ followed. Driven by Jim’s bass-line, it gave Adrian the chance to step into the spotlight, his raucous guitar work providing a thrilling contrast to the more delicate instrumentation and the fragility of Tim’s lyrics. ‘PS’ came next, preserving both the emotional weight and the slower pace established by the previous two songs.

For ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, the band opted for the full-band arrangement, beginning gently before Dave’s drums crashed in with force. The song also featured one of the band’s trademark moments of improvisation, always fascinating to witness and thrilling in its unpredictability as the band feel their way through it together. ‘Say Something’ followed, with Tim beginning out on the walkway before making his way into the seats. He stayed there for ‘She’s a Star’ – a late addition to the setlist – before asking the band to improvise while he made his way back to the stage. Naturally, it posed no problem. Saul immediately stepped forward with the breathtaking violin solo that opens ‘Five-O’, which stretched to around two minutes. Few musicians could hold an arena in the palm of their hand with nothing more than a violin, but every eye in the building was fixed on the multi-instrumentalist.

The stage was washed in green for the politically charged ‘Heads’, a song that feels more relevant than ever given the current situation in United States. Its menacing arrangement was driven by thunderous percussion, from Saul’s handclaps to Chloe joining Debbie and Dave on drums, creating an overwhelming sense of tension. A complete contrast in subject matter, pace and instrumentation, ‘Way Over Your Head’ followed, providing a moment of lightness and unity as the crowd joined in for the outro.

The penultimate track of the main set was ‘Getting Away With It’ – featuring trips to the barrier from both Tim and Debbie – before the band closed with ‘Sometimes’. Renowned for the almost biblical reaction it inspires, ‘Sometimes’ produced the biggest response of the tour so far. Even after the song had finished, the crowd continued singing, filling the arena long after the band had stopped playing. Saul eventually began strumming his guitar again, while Tim bounced up and down in a state of pure euphoria.

After a slightly confusing moment when the house lights came up and many in the arena assumed the show was over, they suddenly dropped again and the band returned for ‘Tomorrow’. A hopeful song, its current live arrangement begins quietly before swelling into the chorus, then falling away once more as Andy, Saul and Jim gather together. Decades on, the connection between them remains unmistakable, and ‘Tomorrow’ is one of those songs that captures it perfectly. Last but certainly not least came ‘Laid’, a song the band still seem to take enormous delight in playing. Andy roamed the stage delivering triumphant trumpet lines – astonishingly, not even part of the original recording, while Debbie and Saul laughed and joked around on stage, and Tim worked the crowd into one final frenzy from the walkway.

Five shows into a twelve-date tour, it somehow feels as though the band are only just getting started, while simultaneously already operating at their peak. Either way, they are doing something remarkable, and this is a tour not to be missed.