News

Sneak preview

As you’re no doubt aware, James are set to release the first of two mini-albums planned for 2010 next month. Volume one, entitled The Night Before, is due out on 19th April, and we have set up a special preview to give our online subscribers and friends a chance to listen to a selection of the new songs. So without further ado…

Listen on wearejames.com, or listen/share via soundcloud.com.

These five tracks – It’s Hot, Crazy, Ten Below, Dr. Hellier, and Porcupine – will be online for the next two weeks only (until Monday 5th April), and are intended as a treat preview especially for those of you who are planning to see the band on the Mirrorball Tour next month, which will be your first chance to hear some of the new songs live.

We’ll have more news on the album very shortly, so keep an eye on the news here on wearejames.com.

Worldwide pre-orders

If you haven’t already pre-ordered the album, you can do so through our website for just £4.95 (plus p&p – check site for details) right here in the shop.

Happy Listening!

James are set to headline the Saturday night at Devon’s Beautiful Days festival this summer. Beautiful Days is a family music festival set in the heart of Devon, which is now in its eighth year.  It takes place at Escot Park, Ottery St. Mary (near Exeter) from 20th – 22nd August and James will be performing on Saturday the 21st. There will be live music across five stages, as well as a huge children’s area in the centre of the festival, walkabout theatre, site art, comedy, food and craft stalls, a village shop, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen, and a selection of pub-price bars run by Otter Brewery.

Tickets are on sale now, and prices have been held from last year. Adult weekend camping tickets are £100 (ages 16+). Please note that children of all ages must have a ticket, and prices are as follows: tickets for ages 10 to 15 will be £60, ages 5 to 9 will be £30, and for those under 5 years of age, tickets are priced at £5. Campervan passes are £35, and car routing/parking passes are £15. Day tickets for the festival are not available.

You can purchase tickets online from levellers.co.uk, artistticket.com, seetickets.com.

For more information on the event and for details of the line up as it is announced, please visit the festival website.

We are pleased to confirm that the band will be playing two shows in Greece in the Spring. If you live locally, or fancy a trip for a show and (hopefully) a bit of sunshine, come and join us:

Friday 30th April – Apollo Stadium, Patras, Greece
Saturday 1st May – Tae Kwon Do Stadium, Athens, Greece

Tickets range from 35€ to 45€ in Patras, and 40€ (standing) to 50€ (seated) for Athens.  They go on sale on Wednesday 10th March, and will be available from the following outlets:

Athens

www.i-ticket.gr
www.ticketarena.gr

Patras

www.bookings.keramidastravel.gr

The ticketing websites are in the local language of Greek.  However, the kind folk at i-ticket.gr have provided a direct link to the English version of their page for Athens concert tickets, to assist foreign fans who wish to attend but are having trouble navigating the site: Athens tickets (English).

Don’t forget that you can now pre-order the new mini-album The Night Before, due out next month, from the wearejames.com shop for the rather excellent price of £4.95 plus postage and packing (£2 within the UK and most of Europe, £3.50 to most of North and South America, check the site for details of other locations – it is available worldwide). The mini-album is also available in MP3 format for just £4.45. Enter the shop here: wearejames.com/shop

James have just been confirmed for next year’s Isle of Wight Festival, which will take place from 11th – 13th June 2010, at Seaclose Park on the Isle of Wight.  James will be headlining the Big Top on Sunday the 13th.  Other acts already confirmed to appear over the course of the weekend include Jay-Z, The Strokes, Doves, Blondie, and Orbital, with many more to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets are on sale now from the usual outlets; see Live page for ticketing links and telephone numbers.

For more information, and details of further acts as they’re confirmed, please visit the Isle of Wight Festival website.

We are pleased to announce we are now accepting worldwide pre-orders for the first of two mini-albums scheduled for release in 2010. Volume one, entitled ‘The Night Before’, is due out in April, and comprises six tracks, plus an additional bonus track, and is available on CD or as mp3s, right here on wearejames.com…

Enter the shop

Some news to warm your cockles, from Larry Gott:

Mirrorball and ‘The Night Before’

“The nice people at SJM concerts have put together a rather eclectic series of concerts for us all to enjoy together in the spring of 2010. We are getting to re-visit some venues for the first time in ages, most notably The Royal Albert Hall, last visited on the ‘Meat is Murder’ tour supporting fellow Manc mukkers Moz/Marr etc, back in ’85.

“All of us are working hard on the batch of songs that will become the first of two mini-albums released next year and they are sounding great! We even have a title (gasp!), “THE NIGHT BEFORE”. It will be out in April 2010 and you will have the chance to pre-order it exclusively through wearejames.com when you order your tickets through us.

See you all in April.

Larry x”

The Mirrorball Tour, April 2010

Monday 5th – Edinburgh Corn Exchange
Tuesday 6th – Newcastle Academy
Thursday 8th – Sheffield Academy
Friday 9th – Preston Guild Hall
Saturday 10th – Cambridge Corn Exchange
Monday 12th – Southend-on-Sea Cliffs Pavilion
Tuesday 13th – Bournemouth Academy
Thursday 15th – Bristol Colston Hall
Friday 16th – London Royal Albert Hall
Saturday 17th – Liverpool University – Mountford Hall

Tickets go on general sale at 9:30am on Thursday 3rd December, and will be available from the usual outlets.

You will also be able to place an advance order for the new James mini-album ‘The Night Before’ when you purchase your concert tickets through us.  It is scheduled for release in April 2010, and this offer is exclusive to wearejames.com, so it will not be available when ordering tickets elsewhere.

We are very pleased to announce that Tim, Jim, and Larry will be taking part in this year’s Manchester Versus Cancer concert, which will take place on 12 December at the Manchester Evening News Arena, and promises to be a very special evening.

The annual event, now in its fourth year, aims to raise money for cancer patients in the region, with The Christie in Manchester being one of its beneficiaries, in addition to local hospices and support groups. Other acts already confirmed for this year’s concert include Andy Rourke (of The Smiths, and founder of Versus Cancer), and Peter Hook (New Order).

This year looks set to be especially memorable, as the artists will be collaborating with the world renowned BBC Philharmonic Orchestra to perform a special one-off set. Tim, Jim, and Larry will be working closely with critically acclaimed composer Joe Duddell on special arrangements of some of their songs.

The band had this to say, “We can’t wait to get started on the arrangements and to work with such an amazing orchestra. The night looks set to be something that neither we, nor our fans will forget, and it’s great to be involved with such an important cause.”

Larry added, “We will be doing about 30 minutes with the 24-piece Orchestra, and will be performing arrangements of some of our back catalogue and possibly a cover version. We may also be joined by one or two Manc music legends on a couple. It’s too early in the process yet to be more specific, but needless to say it will be something very special and unique.”

Tickets for the concert go on sale on today, priced from £32.50 to £40, and are available from Ticketline, See Tickets, and Ticketmaster. Many more acts are due to be announced later this month. For more information on the event visit versuscancer.org.

Larry Gott will be jumping out of a plane with a Red Devil strapped to his back on Thursday the 1st of October in a bid to raise at least £2500 for Disability Snowsport UK. Larry is paying for the jump himself in order to allow all the money raised to go direct to the charity. You can help him meet his target by visiting justgiving.com, or via the sticky post on our forum that tells you more about his brave (but slightly mad) decision.

To coincide with this weekend’s performances at the V Festivals, James are making available a recording of a semi-legendary unreleased song, as a free download through this website.

Not So Strong was first performed during a low-key gig at Hoxton’s Bar and Kitchen in June 2007, and became a regular feature on the setlist throughout the rest of the year. It quickly established itself as a fan favourite, and many of you expressed shock and disappointment when it did not appear on Hey Ma.

Happily, Not So Strong wasn’t consigned to oblivion… Those of you who saw James perform in Europe this summer will have noted its return to the set. The band have just finished recording the song during sessions for the next album, and are distributing this recording online.

Tim says: “The song is about a boxing match. A genre of one unless you count Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Boxer’. I am interested in the paradoxical sense of peace that can arrive at the moment when you feel you have lost everything.”

Simply join the mailing list using the form on the homepage to receive the link to the mp3. Current mailing list members should have already received the link.  If not, let us know.

We do hope you enjoy it.  If you have any problems downloading the file, drop us an email at mp3@wearejames.com and we’ll do our best to help you out.

There is also a lyric sheet for the song, available to view or download.

James will be appearing on the V Stage (Main Stage) at 4:40pm, at both Weston Park and Hylands Park over the weekend.  For further line-up and scheduling information, visit the V website.