Post by PokerKitten on Nov 2, 2004 11:32:35 GMT
With Late Starter's permission, I am reposting her piece about James' acoustic set at the Halloween Event. Enjoy, and if you were there and have your own impressions you want to share, please do! 
And the saga continues – If you want to post it elsewhere feel free UNLESS you want it to be critical or contentious in which case, GO AWAY I don’t even want you to read it.
As always, a health warning, this may not be remotely accurate since more and more I realize it’s based on my impressions rather than fact. <snip>
James’ music session has got to be one of the many highlights of the weekend. We were of course all rooting for him but, as he said, he was nervous as this was a first for him. He started out by telling us he’d not got his guitar for some reason but they’d managed to replace it with something fantastic that he was thrilled with.
But oh dear – the first number - he was dreadfully flat on the high long notes. I think he knew it wasn’t right as he muttered something about playing a rock number on an acoustic guitar. But we all cheered anyway and from that point he never looked back.
And the rest of the session was great – he sang really well so I put the first number’s pain down to nerves. Mind you he makes life difficult for himself for pitching all his songs at the top end of his range. But he has a good voice, occasionally speaking the words and at one point, improvising with a terrific whistle. And every word is crystal clear.
For the benefit of anyone who like me is unfamiliar with his songs, his music is really interesting, he uses unusual chords, quite haunting – and the lyrics can change from poetical to almost conversational, an odd effect but it works. I particularly liked a number (with the refrain “It’s been a long time”) which he said had only been played once before at Edinburgh because the band had decided they did not like it. I’ll buy the CD for that one alone.
There was another one which was an absolute first as the band had rejected it altogether which I like (I’ve written down “Liza” and “Over Now” but that may be a completely different song?) There was another new one (“Patricia”?) – and there’s going to one song written by someone else on the CD – the best song he said, although I’m not sure I agree. I think that was the one called “Every Man” - “this applies to women as well but that’s too many syllables”
Being James of course you got more than the music to entertain you – and no I don’t mean his contribution to the ‘does he have a bum’ argument – you’ve seen the photos, one foot precariously on that speaker balancing his guitar on his knee (“I’m not going to sit down!” indignant little boy response to the warnings of the audience. While I’m on the Mother Hen routine – I hope that the leg support peeking through at the knee means he either has or is about take the opportunity to fix his leg trouble.)
And didn’t you love the jeans, also sported the next day? Did he buy them when they were fashionable (unlikely that any jeans of James would last so long), because he thought they were fashionable (would he care?) or did they actually get that way naturally? Whatever, obviously very comfortable and much loved
Where was I – oh yes, he was having trouble with his left hand “I should have hit the Preacher” Blank response all round – “I thought I told that story?” So while he was manipulating the hand, he told the story.
When he was running a struggling theatre company, he hired a church basement for rehearsals and performance, it was a cheap rate but he didn’t like the preacher – we got a wicked and no doubt libellous impersonation of his accent. So the dress rehearsal came and right at the climatic moment with some really difficult staging and after two and half hours, the preacher walks in and totally wrecks it. “I can walk anywhere I like in my own church”. James contains the temper until he leaves and then whips round and thumps the floor – which is concrete. And totally breaks his hand. (Afterlife anyone?).
No medical insurance so he goes off to a Doctor who’ll fix it on the cheap (Dr Mengele – heard to tell his elderly patients that “Pain is good”) And he can’t afford the rods or whatever you need to fix this type of injury – so the Doctor simply lets it set, then breaks it to straighten it again at two weekly intervals. “I should have hit the Preacher”
I managed to get my own totally personal grimace and a mutter when I laughed when I recognised a manoeuvre that I thought I was the only one to use – you imagine you are sitting at a familiar dining table and then you know the hand with the knife in it is the right – and the left is the other one. If you are right/left confused like me, it works.
Back to the music, he had his song list and he warned us he was going to sing everything he knows. He was clearly relieved that things were going so well and visibly relaxing.
Did anyone work out for what he was using that ciggy packet that he put at his feet? I assumed he was keeping something in it – but what – unless I completely blanked it out, he didn’t smoke.
All too soon, the song list was finished – “I don’t have an encore” And with a final “you’ve made it a very good beginning”, he was gone and the evening was over.
And the saga continues – If you want to post it elsewhere feel free UNLESS you want it to be critical or contentious in which case, GO AWAY I don’t even want you to read it.
As always, a health warning, this may not be remotely accurate since more and more I realize it’s based on my impressions rather than fact. <snip>
James’ music session has got to be one of the many highlights of the weekend. We were of course all rooting for him but, as he said, he was nervous as this was a first for him. He started out by telling us he’d not got his guitar for some reason but they’d managed to replace it with something fantastic that he was thrilled with.
But oh dear – the first number - he was dreadfully flat on the high long notes. I think he knew it wasn’t right as he muttered something about playing a rock number on an acoustic guitar. But we all cheered anyway and from that point he never looked back.
And the rest of the session was great – he sang really well so I put the first number’s pain down to nerves. Mind you he makes life difficult for himself for pitching all his songs at the top end of his range. But he has a good voice, occasionally speaking the words and at one point, improvising with a terrific whistle. And every word is crystal clear.
For the benefit of anyone who like me is unfamiliar with his songs, his music is really interesting, he uses unusual chords, quite haunting – and the lyrics can change from poetical to almost conversational, an odd effect but it works. I particularly liked a number (with the refrain “It’s been a long time”) which he said had only been played once before at Edinburgh because the band had decided they did not like it. I’ll buy the CD for that one alone.
There was another one which was an absolute first as the band had rejected it altogether which I like (I’ve written down “Liza” and “Over Now” but that may be a completely different song?) There was another new one (“Patricia”?) – and there’s going to one song written by someone else on the CD – the best song he said, although I’m not sure I agree. I think that was the one called “Every Man” - “this applies to women as well but that’s too many syllables”
Being James of course you got more than the music to entertain you – and no I don’t mean his contribution to the ‘does he have a bum’ argument – you’ve seen the photos, one foot precariously on that speaker balancing his guitar on his knee (“I’m not going to sit down!” indignant little boy response to the warnings of the audience. While I’m on the Mother Hen routine – I hope that the leg support peeking through at the knee means he either has or is about take the opportunity to fix his leg trouble.)
And didn’t you love the jeans, also sported the next day? Did he buy them when they were fashionable (unlikely that any jeans of James would last so long), because he thought they were fashionable (would he care?) or did they actually get that way naturally? Whatever, obviously very comfortable and much loved
Where was I – oh yes, he was having trouble with his left hand “I should have hit the Preacher” Blank response all round – “I thought I told that story?” So while he was manipulating the hand, he told the story.
When he was running a struggling theatre company, he hired a church basement for rehearsals and performance, it was a cheap rate but he didn’t like the preacher – we got a wicked and no doubt libellous impersonation of his accent. So the dress rehearsal came and right at the climatic moment with some really difficult staging and after two and half hours, the preacher walks in and totally wrecks it. “I can walk anywhere I like in my own church”. James contains the temper until he leaves and then whips round and thumps the floor – which is concrete. And totally breaks his hand. (Afterlife anyone?).
No medical insurance so he goes off to a Doctor who’ll fix it on the cheap (Dr Mengele – heard to tell his elderly patients that “Pain is good”) And he can’t afford the rods or whatever you need to fix this type of injury – so the Doctor simply lets it set, then breaks it to straighten it again at two weekly intervals. “I should have hit the Preacher”
I managed to get my own totally personal grimace and a mutter when I laughed when I recognised a manoeuvre that I thought I was the only one to use – you imagine you are sitting at a familiar dining table and then you know the hand with the knife in it is the right – and the left is the other one. If you are right/left confused like me, it works.
Back to the music, he had his song list and he warned us he was going to sing everything he knows. He was clearly relieved that things were going so well and visibly relaxing.
Did anyone work out for what he was using that ciggy packet that he put at his feet? I assumed he was keeping something in it – but what – unless I completely blanked it out, he didn’t smoke.
All too soon, the song list was finished – “I don’t have an encore” And with a final “you’ve made it a very good beginning”, he was gone and the evening was over.
). I'm possibly gonna get staked for that last bit, but I'm being honest... as a musician and singer myself, I know how important it is to find a style that suits your voice... and his voice sounded better doing the acoustic thing.
