James
Cavern Club, Liverpool
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

CHOOSING which of your 550 songs to omit from a 58-track Best Of compilation must be a tough job. But it has to be even more difficult to select just seven songs from a 40-year recording career for the album launch show.

James made the jump from Manchester indie darlings to arena fillers decades ago, so it was a rare treat to see them perform acoustically in front of a few hundred people in a cosy venue like the Cavern for a rearranged gig to mark the release of Nothing But Love, their definitive collection.

Opening beautifully with the atmospheric Top of the World from 1990 breakthrough album Gold Mother, they moved into fan favourite The Shining, a reflective, piano-led regular in their sets.

Singer Tim Booth, bassist Jim Glennie and guitarist/violinist Saul Davies answered questions from the crowd, naming songs they were sad to leave off the album and listing a few of their favourite backstage bust-ups.

New song Hallelujah Anyhow restarted the gig and got a good reception but it was the moody, bass-heavy PS from the 1993 classic album Laid that got the crowd going.

Broken by the Hurt from the 2018 Better Than That EP kept things moving nicely before we finally heard a single – Tomorrow, a soaring anthem of hope from a time when that concept didn’t seem so ridiculous.

The one straightforward choice of the night was the last one. The single Laid, an upbeat, saucy celebration of a dysfunctional relationship, is not the band’s biggest hit but it is their most iconic. Booth didn’t even need to start the singing as everyone else in the room was already booming out “This bed is on fire with passionate love.” Uplifting, passionate, chaotic and blissful – there is no finer finale.

Another question from the crowd had been how long they intend to keep writing music and performing. Glennie answered: “Forever. The plan is is to do this until we die.” The first step into forever is their 10-date Love is the Answer UK tour this spring, starting at Birmingham Utilita Arena on April 3.

Nothing But Love is released by Mercury Records 
Tour details and tickets: wearejames.com