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Birmingham NIA

13th December 2008 | Larry

Glasgow

12th December 2008 | Juliet

Well here we are in the dressing room in Birmingham. Today’s soup was tomato; there was probably some balsamic in it. It’s a damp soggy day, and while preparing to soundcheck, Larry, Saul and Jim are chatting about their day in Glasgow. Saul in his white suit looked like Mark Owen’s dad, said Jim. He broke a stick when he was drumming up on the high riser and realising there wasn’t another one took to bashing the skin with his fist. The song was Stutter.

Larry, Saul and Andy say they went for a swim in the afternoon at the edge of a roundabout in Glasgow. “Top totty on the front desk,” says Saul. “And the steam room looked like a gay disco,” added Larry. “It was mental with tiny fairy lights and little glass pyramids, which kept changing colour, purple one minute blue the next.” Lol was expecting a naked woman to come down a pole at any minute.

Meanwhile at soundcheck, the high riser “pyramid of pop” in all its dazzling glory gave an edge of Phoenix Nights. The riser is very high, although it doesn’t look it, says Saul. And it wobbles which adds an element of high wobble-ocity said Jim. “It’s a vertiginous experience…but well worth it,” says Saul (to look like Mark Owen’s dad.)

Gordon Strachan and his wife Leslie came to evening catering and to the show. Brian Leitch, lighting designer, asked Gordon ‘what do you do’.

After the show we set off at 1am ish …this time to Birmingham….

Glasgow SECC

12th December 2008 | Larry

Leeds Academy: Thursday

11th December 2008 | Juliet

There was a fantastic scooter Piaggio parked up outside the gig…like nothing we’ve seen before all decorated with the James flower and Getting Away With It…was a groovy scooter indeed.

Some of Tim’s family came to the show cos he is from Leeds. Out and about during the day he noticed the cinema where he once saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is now a shop, Primark no less.

The sun shone that day in Leeds. The gig was sold out and the place was heaving. There was a festive funfair outside with fairground horses baring their teeth. Saul brought his son’s toy guitar and played it on the stage. The crowd were great, said Mark, who lived in Leeds for 10 years. Tim and Larry almost didn’t make it through the audience in the opening song - the crowd wouldn’t give ‘em enough room to walk.

I went shopping to four stationers in search of clipboards for the mailing list. Please sign up, they are on the t-shirt stand. You get a free James pencil if you do.

Big change of plan, we’re now travelling and sleeping overnight a lot. Tonight it’s Leeds to Glasgow. We set off late. Some guy in a suit staggered up to the bus outside the hotel at 2 in the morning on a mobile giving a running commentary:”Fantastic bus.” When Tim left the hotel to get on the bus still in his stage gear checks he added… “and now there’s a bloke in pyjamas getting on…”

So we drove through the night. And it was chilly cos there was crisp Scottish air blasting through the vents as we pulled up for breakfast at the SECC, full English or whatever else. Some people stayed asleep on the bus for a bit longer before heading off for swimming in Glasgow local sports centre.

Leeds Academy

11th December 2008 | Larry

Three Days Blurred: The start of the tour

10th December 2008 | Juliet

There’s about 37 of us working on this James Xmas tour and there’s seven of the band so it’s quite a big team, with three tour buses and lots of trucks… this is big style touring compared to the USA tour. Lots of old faces gather again. Shabby, Stef, Chris, American Chris, Simon, Nick, Nigel, Benny and Zeb. And we have catering… with the lovely Simi and his team rustling up all kinds of things, e.g. leek and potato soup with rosemary, to keep us energised, healthy and enticed.

Well since we spoke last, James have been writing songs, going through mini-discs, sifting and sorting jams and things, finding gold amongst the muddy bits… And me, well I’ve been recharging in India, doing a fair wallop of intense yoga and ambling about in the foothills of the Himalayas and enjoying talking to local Tibetans.

The band have spent time writing new material holed up in Brighton. But back to the tour… it seems quite short compared to America but we are all excited to be out on the road again. We are only sleeping on the bus one night, and that was yesterday after Brighton when we drove through the night north to Leeds. We chortled through classic episodes of the Fast Show, eating houmous and salsa and drinking wine ’til the small hours.

The Brighton show was at the Dome. A grand spectacle of a building in the old theatre style but big enough to host a big bit of a do. There was a dodgy damp corridor on the way to the dressing rooms that smelt curiously of cabbage. The security guard said King George used to use the corridor/secret passage on the way from the palace. He didn’t say what he used it for but apparently it was a place where no one knew what you were up to. Hmm, whatever George. Anyway, Larry and Tim opened the show with Lose Control, wandering in a troubadour style through the audience. It took most of the song to get through the crowd. VooVoo (Adrian Oxaal) turned up backstage but didn’t play, as he didn’t bring his guitar. It felt like the tour had begun proper. There’s lots of new things in the show.

Lee Baker and his band My Federation were support act keeping it local for the opening night.

James did a show at the spectacular Proud Gallery in Camden on Sunday night but that was quite a small do. The setting was beautiful minimalist, a far cry from a rock ‘n’ roll venue, with loads of great shots in black and white of musicians on the white walls. The place had been stables in the olden days where Shire horses had once been kept cos it was near the canals… It had a fantastic gallery as a dressing room with mega white xmas tree decked out in black baubles and black crows in the centre. We ate Thai takeaway in all the vastness of the room. The band tried out a few of the new songs. Jim’s bass amp blew up two or three times in the gig. Ron and Stuart from Unkle Bob came to the gig and the aftershow.

Next day, Monday, was a big production rehearsal which had everyone on board and went well. Chris the American lighting designer came over for this tour and has been given lots more toys to play with which he is happy about.

Today we are in Leeds, having a day off. All is quiet…

It is Wednesday…