When in January James announced they were doing a short, 6-date tour in the spring, there was immediate talk between myself and some friends back in the States about following the tour. Apparently there was talk in many corners about the same because a short time later, John and Su from the fanzine, A Change of Scenery, posted to the chat board and Stutter list about possibly renting a mini-bus so that everybody going to most or all of the gigs could travel together. They had enough takers and so began the ultimate James groupie adventure.
In the weeks leading up to the tour I think we were all pretty apprehensive since as far as we knew the only thing we had in common was a love of James. Personally I had only met three of the 15 people on the bus face to face, and of those three I only knew one well. I think everyone else was feeling the same gnawing worry. While we only had two full days together on the bus - travelling from Manchester to Glasgow, and then down to Doncaster and back home, as things were shaping up it seemed we were about to spend a whole week together between the six gigs, James night, accomodations in Manchester and in London, and a last minute dinner arranged so that everyone would have a chance to chat outside the noisy gig venues. Amazingly enough, the 15 of us, from all over the world, actually managed to not only keep from killing each other, but to have a serious James bonding experience I don’t think anyone will forget. To be perfectly honest, 6 dates of the EXACT SAME SETLIST would have been a bit boring without my travelling companions.
Just to give some background on who was there: we had four Brits, four Belgians, a Mexican who has been living in England for several years, five Americans and a Canadian. Between us we represented two James fanzines and four websites and had probably seen James over 200 times as a group. It’s really brilliant when you have this obsession for years that nobody around you really gets, and suddenly you’re thrown amidst a group of people who understand exactly. And if for much of the time all we really talked about was James and the shows we’d seen, that really was enough because who else can you talk about James to? We spent probably 18 hours in queues, another 12 standing INSIDE venues waiting for the band; 12 or 15 hours in travel across the country and back (more for some) and several long nights together on the bus, in a B&B in Glasgow, on the road in the snow travelling from Doncaster to Manchester to London, standing outside the James’ aftershow in the rain hoping someone would take pity on us and let us inside, and crowded into John & Su’s house drinking tea. We ate enough fast food and pizza for a lifetime, and bought so much merchandise that we could equip the merchandise stands at all the summer festivals. 2 of us even managed to get onstage one night, and one of us managed to get an audience with Tim Booth -- at his request (after seeing the same front row 5 nights running). I think we even scared the band with our omnipresence. And in the end, I think the fun of the week was not actually seeing James. It was seeing James with 14 other people (and their friends) who were all having the same experience. I’d like to personally thank everyone who came along and made the week special, and I can’t wait for the next go-round. Below are some photos from the week. See if you can guess which one of us is the most mad.
This is what it looked
like at One Fan HQ the day the Americans started arriving (see,
he even LOOKS like a tourist!).
"Oh my goodness! I can't believe there's so many of them!" Tim on stage in Manchester the opening night of the tour. |
 "Maybe if we ignore
them all they'll go away...no? More shots from opening night. |
"Shake my body, release my soul, punish my senses, lose control (and then wave for the camera!)" James Night at the Star & Garter |
James Night revelry continues |
"Oh my god! Jim Glennie is at the Star & Garter!!...Wait, nope, it's just some mad student." Isn't the resemblance scary? |
"Now how does this bloody camera work?" The gang has a day of rest on Easter Sunday to take in the sights of Manchester. |
"This isn't a monument to James! What were you idiots on about?" |
"We're not worthy!!!" Paying homage where it all began:
Factory Records' Hacienda in Manchester. |
"Man do I need a few beers if I'm gonna have to spend the next week with these people." Floral Supporters Curry Night, Easter
Sunday |
"Sure laugh now, but wait til you have to spend 5 hours on a minibus with me the day after I eat a cheap curry." (Photo courtesy of Bonnie Erskine) |
"I can smile about it now, but at the time it was TERRIBLE!" Yet more curry.... |
"Yay! We made it to Glasgow! Hey, John, how come our bus isn't that nice?" The Glasgow venue, Easter Monday about 4pm. |
"I can't believe they let us in. I can't feel my feet! Oh wait, we've got a James blanket we can warm up with." Inside the Barrowlands about 7:15pm. |
"Mmm security is even more bored than we are. See if you can get that guy to snag us a setlist." Inside the Barrowlands about 7:45pm. |
"There's something on my arm. Get it off! GET IT OFF!!!" Live in Glasgow, Easter Monday, 1998. |
"Oh my goodness. Those minibus nutters are here for the 3rd night in a row!" More Glasgow photos. |
"Through the wind and snow, we will prevail. Thank goodness we get to queue inside at this one." Doncaster, Tuesday about 5:30pm. |
"Hey Dave, do you see the minibus nutters, I think that's one there down near Michael." The band take their bows at Doncaster. |
Preaching to the converted youth of Britain on a day off outside London. |
"I sold all my fanzines and there's still 2 hours to doors. Now what? We could go to the pub around the corner...." Queuing outside one of the 2 Brixton shows. |
"Is it me, or was it warmer in GLASGOW?" Still queuing outside Brixton. |
"Oooh Adrian, I'm sooo excited! After tonight we're rid of those nutters who've been following us to all our shows!" Brixton Academy |
"Umm, guys, can someone tell my why they have to keep coming over to my side of the stage?" Brixton Academy |
"Look, that nice guitarist bloke from Theaudience gave me his tambourine!" Post-gig shock. |
"I've got an aftershow ticket, I'm gonna use it, but damn, I'm far too tired to enjoy it...." Queuing for the aftershow...too back we only had 3 tickets between us, eh. |
"Ok first we queued for the gigs, I guess it's only natural to stand in the rain and pretend to queue for the aftershow. Besides, how else would you get John to stand in a line?" |
The group photo. OK, this isn't the
whole group, and there's a few here who weren't along the
whole way. But it's the best photo we've got. |
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