WORDS AND IMAGES BY DESH KAPUR
“There Was Love In North Wales, And They Called It James”
There’s always a certain kind of excitement when you visit a new music venue and this night it was to be the Rhyl Arena for the iconic band, James. The outdoor venue sits in the heart of the seaside town, right on the front with a backdrop of the Irish sea. and to be honest it was brilliant especially on a beautiful evening as tonight was. A perfect platform for a band like James to tell their stories.
James needs no introduction and so it follows, neither does their music. They are easily recognisable, yet they have a knack for wearing different musical clothing every time they bring us something new and tonight, they were going to lay bare their 40-year music career.
From the very minute, I arrived even if I was a bit late, (apologies to the support bands) the arena was buzzing with the young and the old.
Soon the arena PA went quiet and on walked the band and the noise levels rose a few notches. The band went straight into “Walk Like You” followed by “Ring The Bells” and then it was the first mass sing-along of the night as the band started to play the brilliant “Sit Down” and the noise was deafening, this song has no age and still sounds as fresh now as it did in 1989 when it was released
James are Icons and stalwarts of the British music scene, they have again given us tracks of envy and brilliance and classic track after classic track took their place on stage tonight and with the crowd singing along, mutual love was there for all to see.
Immaculately performed songs mixed with precious moments, gave us all, that James experience, an experience we all loved. Having written so many iconic songs and witnessed so many different times, this is a British band to be cherished, heard but above all else, loved.
As to be expected tonight was brilliant, this was helped by the crowd knowing and singing along to many of the songs and the band with their beautiful blend of folk, Indie cool,
In my opinion, every time I see James they get better and better, every time James release a new record it gets better and better, James aren’t sitting on past glories they are forging new ground as a band and creating more music for us to love and cherish, thank you, James
SET LIST
1/ WALK LIKE YOU
2/ RING THE BELLS
3/ SIT DOWN
4/ LIVE A LOVE OF LIFE
5/ WHEREVER IT TAKE US
6/ MOVING ON
7/ SHE’S A STAR
8/ FIVE-O
9/ LOSE CONTROL
10/ ZERO
11/ CURSE CURSE
12/ ISABELLA
13/ BEAUTIFUL BEACHES
14/ HOW WAS IT FOR YOU
15/ SOUND
16/ STUTTER ENCORE
17/ COME HOME
18/ SOMETIMES
FOLLOW JAMES
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
