James - Utilita Arena, Newcastle 10.04.2026

james

I am going to start with a confession, I love James, they were a part of my student life and have continued to be part of my musical palate ever since. I genuinely think they are one of the best live acts in the UK and incredibly talented musicians with Tim being an amazing front man.

Why am I starting with that confession, it’s simple, I don’t think this was the best James gig I’ve been to, and I’ve been thinking hard about why. Don’t get me wrong it was still great and had some real highs, but I can’t decide if it was the crowd, the band or me that didn’t rise this to the heights James are capable of taking me to on a night I really wanted them to, I suscept my unreasonable expectations were partly to blame.

The more I think about it the more I think it was a combination of all three. The start was blistering, opening with 'Come Home' then four songs bringing out 'Sit Down' but this is where it started to not quite work for me, I felt it was a slower than usual version but that may just be that I wasn’t in the right place to connect with it.

They did play 'Junkie' which I hadn’t heard in a while then Tim disappeared, it turned out he was going up into the seats opposite me, he wandered about, down stairs, along aisles interacting with people all of the way. It was a brilliant piece of showmanship and really got the crowd up after a subdued period. He clearly miscalculated how easy it would be to get back out and had to confess he wasn’t going to make it back to the stage for 'Fred Astiare', having to sing that from the seats as well. At this point the crowd were absolutely buzzing, and it felt like this was going to be one of the best James shows I’d seen.

But then there was a period of about five songs when the mood seemed to shift again, the crowd grew quieter and a little bit restless.

I’m not sure if James sensed it or had planned it that way but they finished with six of their best songs, before the encore they played, 'She’s A Star', 'Ring The Bells' and my personal favourite 'Getting Away With It'. I got to the encore with a massive smile on my face.

To then come back out play 'Way Over Your Head, Sometimes' and finish on a stone cold classic, 'Laid' left the night ending on a high but it still didn’t quite pull this up to be top of my James shows.

Just to be clear it was still streets ahead of nearly every other band in the UK and nobody can be as good as they are all of the time, but it didn’t make my top three of James gigs (which to be fair is a high bar).

All in all, an enjoyable night with one of the best bands in the UK, I can’t wait to see them again as I do wonder if some of it was also the mood I was in. James are still in the top five of UK live acts and will always be a band I love, nobody is perfect!

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Review - Iain McClay

Photos - G's Gig Shots