JAMES ANNOUNCE MARCH 2019 UK TOUR
SUPPORTED BY THEMSELVES WITH A SPECIAL ACOUSTIC OPENING SET
**TICKETS ON SALE DECEMBER 7TH VIA GIGANDTOURS HERE AND TICKETMASTER HERE**
James are proud to announce their March 2019 “LIVING IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES” UK Tour. Starting on Wednesday 6th March at Margate Winter Gardens, the tour will visit some of the UK’s best known and iconic venues, from London’s Royal Albert Hall and Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall, to favourites like Cambridge Corn Exchange. The band will be performing some of their well-loved classic hits alongside new material from their most recent Top 10 album ‘Living In Extraordinary Times’.
In a typical non-conventional James style, the band will be ‘supporting themselves’ in a special 30 minute acoustic set before their famed storming electric main show.
Tim Booth explains: “So for this smaller venue March tour we intend to split the gig up into a 30min’ish “pin drop”, bars closed, acoustic set – followed by an electric set after the interval.”
Their latest single ‘Many Faces’ makes a stand against xenophobia and racism, citing a message of peaceful unity that: “There’s only one human race, Many faces, Everybody belongs here,” written in response to Trump’s racist tweets concerning Mexicans and building a certain wall (“All walls fall over time”). The song instantly started to take on a life of its own with people singing it back to the band from the first times it was performed, as witnessed here in Halifax earlier in the year to recent performances as far flung as Australia and Dubai.
Tim Booth comments: “We have never had such a reaction to a new song as we have been getting to Many Faces. The sense of inclusion it engenders seems to produce a secular high of unity.”
A fan made video for the track features snapshots of many recognisable faces from political and popular culture, from Theresa May to Kim Kardashian, Malala Yousafzai to Beyonce, Colin Kaepernick to Barack Obama. Alongside these familiar faces sits juxtaposing footage from various news reports and documentaries, the rich and the poor appearing in uncomfortable proximity as makeshift refugee camps are swiftly succeeded by shots of the Trump Hotel’s plush interior, pointedly followed by a snippet of freshly printed dollars. Watch ‘Many Faces’ fan video HERE
This week James unite with fellow heavyweights of British music The Charlatans for a UK arena tour, kicking off on Wednesday at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro.
The band have been on the road for the past few months, having embarked on a triumphant sold out UK theatre tour in May before playing at festivals across the UK and Europe over the summer including headline slots at Lattitude and Rock in Rio Lisbon. Venturing further afield in November, they played dates across Australia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
Tickets for the March 2019 tour will go on general sale at 9.30am on 7TH December and will be available from Gigsandtours HERE and Ticketmaster HERE
A new range of merchandise with exclusive album bundles are also launched today, and provide instant access to the band’s tour presale from Thursday Dec 6. Fans who buy (or have already bought) the new album Living In Extraordinary Times from the official James store will also receive access to this presale. More info atwww.wearejames.com/store.
LIVING IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES TOUR
Supported by JAMES – A SPECIAL ACOUSTIC SET
Wednesday 06 March Margate Winter Gardens
Thursday 07 March Bath Forum
Saturday 09 March London Royal Albert Hall
Monday 11 March Cambridge Corn Exchange
Tuesday 12 March
Thursday 14 March Southampton O2 Guildhall
Friday 15 March Stoke-On-Trent Victoria Hall
Sunday 17 March Newcastle City Hall
Monday 18 March Edinburgh Usher Hall
Wednesday 20 March Carlisle Sands Centre
Thursday 21 March Birmingham O2 Academy
Friday 22 March Hull Bonus Arena
Released in August to critical acclaim, ‘Living In Extraordinary Times’ peaked at no. 6 on the UK chart. Produced by Mercury and Brit Award winner Charlie Andrew (whose previous work includes alt-J and Wolf Alice) and rising star Beni Giles, ‘Living In Extraordinary Times’ follows the hugely successful 2016 album ‘Girl at the End of the World’, which debuted at number two in the UK album charts, second only to Adele – their highest debut entry in nearly twenty years.
A fusion of social commentary and personal reflection, LIET covers everything from the current political climate in America in thunderous ‘Hank’ –“This crack heads tiny fingers, Accusing you of what he’ll do, White fascists in the white house, More beetroot in your Russian stew” – to a mystical love song like Leviathan fronting the memorable lines “Fucking love. Fucking and love. Before they drop the bomb make sure we get enough.”
Praise for ‘Living In Extraordinary Times’:
“James remains one of the few British bands able to compete on the commercial level of today’s international pop stars.” – Billboard
“Can we all finally agree that James is one of the best post-1960s bands that the UK has produced? ” – PopMatters
‘This 15th album might be their best’ – Observer
“James remain urgent and contemporary” – MOJO
“It’s as though as they get older, James is channelling the spirit of punk, subverting expectations and forever doing everything on their own terms.” –Louder Than War
“Well into their fourth decade, they are a band determined not to stand still.” – Sunday Times Culture
“‘Capturing a band over 35 years in who are experimenting and sounding rejuvenated” – UNCUT
“They’re sparkling” – Q
‘A vibrant statement of continuing intent’ – Financial Times
“Few bands get to their 15th album still so imbued with enthusiasm and still so willing to push the boundaries of their sound” – The Sun
“Undeniably impressive” – Evening Standard
James are one of the UK’s most creatively restless and most loved artists. After signing to Factory Records in 1982, the band went on to release a series of successful hit singles. From ‘Sit Down’ to ‘She’s A Star’, ‘Laid’, ‘Come Home’, ‘Moving On to ‘Nothing But Love’ their uniquely diverse sound spans over 14 studio albums released over three decades, achieving both critical and commercial success whilst also curating a base of dedicated fans and selling over 25 million albums worldwide, playing shows across the globe and cementing their status as one of the most iconic live British bands. 2016 saw the release of Girl at the End of the World, their most commercially and critically successful album for nearly twenty years.
