James review – special band still filling arenas with anthems of warmth and humanity

First Direct Bank Arena, LeedsA talismanic Tim Booth is the pied-piper through a set that covers the five decades of this unique band’s beloved back catalogue alongside some fresh bangers ‘I think our audience has got to an age where they don’t want me to dive in,” chuckles Tim Booth, deciding against leaping into the front rows. This isn’t always true – their colossal fanbase visibly includes younger fans – but the singer acknowledges the hordes that have remained throughout their remarkable five-decade journey from Smiths’ support band to Madchester-era chart colossus to today’s nine-piece incarnation, who celebrated their first UK No 1 album with 2024’s Yummy, 42 years into their career. James, formed in Manchester and initially signed to Factory Records, never followed obvious paths to success. Booth accurately describes them as “this crazy, idiosyncratic band who improvise, change the set list every night and play new songs which don’t have finished lyrics”. Here, that refers to the oddly titled, eight-minute Nantucket, named after the Massachusetts island. With its wordless chorus, electro/violin-driven groove and verses about being “here to inspir