James are just over a week away from their first Australian shows since 2018, with Razorlight joining them for dates in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The band will then head to Auckland for a James-only show. This is a tour we have been very much looking forward to. The songs are beautifully crafted, fabulous musicianship and exquisite harmonies.
The tour puts the band’s 1993 album Laid in the spotlight, alongside songs from across their catalogue. For frontman Tim Booth, revisiting the record brings back memories of an acoustic tour with Neil Young that helped shape its sound.
“Brian Eno came to see us and decided that we should record the album in a similar low-key manner,” Booth says in comments supplied ahead of the tour. While the band expected Laid to reach a wide audience, he says they did not anticipate its title track becoming “the flagbearer of the album”.
Fans can expect the album’s songs throughout the shows, though Booth says there will be room for spontaneity rather than a fixed setlist each night.
“Each night we will change the setlist, and the Laid songs will be integrated amongst many other songs to form a different story depending upon the feel and mood of the day and the city we are in,” he says.
That approach extends across a catalogue that includes “Sit Down”, “Sometimes” and “Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)”, as well as material from Yummy, which became James’ first number one studio album in the UK in 2024.
Booth is looking forward to reconnecting with Australian crowds. “Our Australian audiences have always appreciated our musicality and risk-taking,” he says, describing the balance between “a wild night and the potent silence of listening to some magical musical moment.”
With the tour approaching, these shows offer both a chance to hear the songs of Laid and to see where James take them on the night. Grab yourself a ticket. We can’t wait!
James Australian and New Zealand tour dates
Tickets for all shows can be purchased HERE
With Razorlight in Australia; James only in Auckland
