This show was truly a breath of fresh air.
I don’t know about you, but 99% of the shows I attend are just that: a show. A show put on by an artist for us, the audience, to listen to and dance to and enjoy. Once the show is done, the artist waves his/her hand in appreciation for the support and attendance and then disappears back stage, only to leave all of us hoping for more and anxiously waiting for the next time he/she will roll into town.
At first, James seem like just another show, one like many others. HOWEVER, at this one, the connection between the artist and the audience was beyond anything I have ever felt or seen before. I had come into this show expecting hear some great songs—some familiar, some not so much. Little did I know how truly special those songs and this band would end up being.
The venue was packed to the brim and my inner photographer kicked in. I became worried that we would not be able to take advantage of the Wonder Ballroom's imposing yet beautiful stage at a level that would yield great photos. Sure enough, with no photo pit, we had a hard time making our way up to the front row for the coveted, close-up shots. The audience was packed in for good reasons, though. Once the music started, I too would have preferred being as close as possible.
Luckily… James’ trumpet player appeared out of nowhere BEHIND all of us, up on top of the room, in the balcony. Surrounded by fans and with a bright, dramatic spotlight illuminating him, he played outward into the pitch black. This surprised us all! No one had seen him sneak up there, which is unbelievable, since the venue doesn’t have the secret tunnels and passageways an artist would need to sneak around undetected. Everyone remained silent, with smiles on faces that also showed signs of contentment and surprise. The weird thing was seeing everyone looking away from the stage and up onto the balcony… it was a different kind of entrance that established a personal connection between band and fans, opening the night with togetherness rather than limiting it to the usual stark separation between crowd and musician.
After a few minutes of pure trumpet playing, the spotlight faded and the crowd started roaring, thinking that was it and soon the stage would fill up with the rest of the musicians. NOPE! Tim, the lead singer, was the next one to appear out of nowhere—this time, in the MIDDLE of the audience. Yet another spotlight started panning around the crowded room, as if teasing us, pretending to look for Tim. The music had started though, and we could hear him singing. No one was on stage, the lights were still off. Where in the world was this voice coming from? Once the spotlight “found” him, he was literally right in the middle of all of us. He had quietly emerged out of the staircase that the Wonder Ballroom has set up to go downstairs to a separate bar area. The same staircase that is freely used by any fan that wants to have a smoke and/or drink break away from the mob. This staircase is not one of those inaccessible and blocked off areas, reserved to artists and staff only. It’s a common area for all to use. THAT’S where Tim emerged from, right in the middle of all of us, singing the introduction to his first song, with just a bit of guitar and bass to accompany his near a cappella vocals.
The crowd went even more wild! At this point, the trumpet musician was also making his way down from the balcony to join Tim. The two were singing and playing together, while making their way through the crowd, as it was carefully and respectfully parting so they could reach the stage. Tim, fortuitously, walked right by Josh, who had found a way to position himself near the front of the stage. He was just as elated and surprised as the rest of the crowd was.
Incredible. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the first 10-15 minutes of this show were nothing like anything I had ever experienced before. The usually up-on-a-pedestal-and-revered-and-separated-from-the-audience artist was right there, on the floor, amidst all of us fans. As if he were one of us. He was shaking hands and smiling while singing and walking. WOW.
Once he made it up to the stage, the entire rest of the band appeared and the true sounds of James officially started. They were melodically-gifted, expert musicians that showed that over two decades in the business can serve a band well. With every song they sang, they tried to involve the audience, either by inviting us to sing along or by literally acting out the words. The commonly known and famous song “Sometimes” has a phrase in it that says: “I look in your eyes, I see your soul”… well… as cheesy as this might sound, he truly seemed to look at us all, in our eyes, one my one, as far as the stage lights allowed him to, all the way to our soul. I know, I know… I sound sappy. I PROMISE you, I have never experienced such one-on-one interaction between and artist and myself. Never. And I have photographed many concerts, and have stood in front of whole crowds, only 2 feet away from a lot of musicians’ faces. This was different. This was unique and moving.
We all felt like we were part of the show. I know I felt as if I were a key to making the show work - as if in order for James to feel at their best while performing, as if for James to make a show work and complete and successful, they needed full cooperation from me and the rest of the audience. Without this natural and very welcome interaction, I truly believe the show would not have worked. Their performance was based on instant reactions and complete interaction with us in the audience. Without this “magic” relationship, James’ show would have been yet another one of those “I’m here in the audience and you’re there on stage, play your music while I listen to it live, but I sure wish I could look at you in the eyes to make it seem like I’m not just listening to my own cd at home” situations.
The rest of the show went off without a hitch. No one left early. Everyone was singing along. The stage lighting was dramatic, to say the least, adding to the excitement of our senses. Strobe lights suck for photography, but boy are they awesome alongside music. When it came time for the encore, I truly believe no one was expecting it to be midnight already. They temporarily left the stage and then returned for not one cool extra song, but FOUR. The last of which was the above mentioned “Sometimes.” They played an extended version, to satisfy everyone’s need to have the show continue as long as possible. No one wanted it to end, the energy in the room was amazing.
Slowly, the song’s instruments faded to a very low volume, while Tim was still, softly singing the main phrase over and over again, inviting everyone to sing along. Eventually, he stopped singing, put his hands to his side, leaned slightly off of the edge of the stage, smiling and looking at everyone he could, right in their eyes... everyone continued to sing the song in what it seemed to be a perfectly choreographed and staged chorus. The walls echoed with the melody and sounds of 1000 or so people chanting, happy, hugging one another, smiling, respectful and completely satisfied.
Amazing.
