This wasn't supposed to happenIn May 1994 I say James play at The Boathouse in Norfolk, Virginia. At the time I had only been to a few concerts - Morrissey, U2/Pixies, James Brown, and another artist who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons if you know who it is.* They were in support of the
Laid album and at the time it was the best show I had ever seen, to which a college friend of mine retorted "Yeah, but you haven't seen much," which was true if a bit dickish. Well, I've seen many more shows since then, and that show is still one of my favorites, although there was something missing.
My sister was supposed to come with me, but she was fourteen at the time, in high school, and it was a school night. At least that's how I remember it. She tells it that she had missed a dance class the previous week and mom wouldn't let her miss a second. Memory's funny that way. One of my sister's friends clearly remembers me talking my way out of a suspension in high school for wearing a "Get Laid" t-shirt. Which is a great story and I fully admit to it's truth even though it never could have happened, mainly because I never heard of them until my freshman year of college.
So, anyway, mom wouldn't let Emily go. "You'll see them next time," she said.
And then, things happened. The Next James album,
Whiplash, got only sporadic US shows and some festival support. The following albums,
Millionaires and
Pleased to Meet You, never got a US release at all.
And then they broke up.
And The Boathouse was destropyed by Hurricane Isobel
So that whole "next time" thing didn't really work out.
But then last year there were some rumblings that James may be reforming. There was a singles collection with some new songs and rumors of a new album. Then the new album,
Hey Ma, came out in the UK this April. I picked it up through Amazon UK because there was no indication that it would be getting a US release anytime soon.
Anytime soon turned out to be September 2008.
And there was a US tour. And they were playing at the 930 Club, which is only a few blocks from where my sister lives, and although it was also a school night, she got to go.
So next time only took fourteen years.
The show was good. Not quite as good as the first time I saw them, which is still one of my top five shows, mainly because it was a little loaded with the new album, which frankly, I'm not fond of. But in the second half they started playing more of the older stuff and it got good. The crowd singalong with sometimes was wonderful and when they came out for an encore and started taking requests... well, who the hell does that?
Rumor is that James'll be headed back to the US next February. Hopefully it's true. I'd hate for next time to be another fourteen years away.
*and to be honest, you can probably find out. (Footnote in memory of David Foster Wallace)
