The world premiere of the new James documentary film took place at Aviva Studios in Manchester, with thousands of fans watching a live simulcast in cinemas across the UK. The film, Getting Away With It, offers a no-holds-barred account of the band's career, from their early beginnings in Manchester, through missteps and wrong turns, to band departures and their triumphant comeback.
After the film, founding members Tim Booth and Jim Glennie took to the stage for a Q&A with football legend Gary Neville, who admitted he was "so nervous" to interview the rock idols. Gary, a huge fan of the band, was not the only famous face in the crowd. On the front row was Bolton comedy star Peter Kay, who showed he was up for a boogie when James performed four songs at the finale of the night.
Film Recounts Band's Highs and Lows
The film sees bandmates past and present share the highs and lows of the band since they formed in the early 1980s in Manchester. It recalls how Jim, from Moss Side, first saw Tim, then a Manchester University student, dancing with wild abandon at the Cellar bar at the student union. Tim was asked to audition as a dancer for the band that Jim and his then best friend Paul Gilbertson had formed, and the rest is history.
The film also shares how the band were literally torn in half when Tim and Jim joined a cult, the Lifewave movement, undertaking a strict lifestyle of day-long meditations, celibacy and vegetarianism. The cult was disbanded when an investigation discovered that the leader, John Yarr, had abused his position. Despite the negative experiences of the cult, both credit meditation with continuing to help them "44 years later".
The film also explores the band's descent into wild partying and addictions, coming to a head during their American Lollapalooza tour in 1997, where their behaviour was so hair-raising that the band Prodigy were warned not to go to their dressing room.
Meditation, Cult, and Comeback
Tim said after the film was shown to the audience in Manchester: "It captured a lot of the essence of James, which is great but also some of the sensational stuff we've never talked about like the cult. You know most bands when they have an addiction period, they make the most of it with the press and it becomes their image, but we closed the wagons, so most people don't know about that time period."
Former Manchester United and England star Gary asked Tim and Jim about their experiences with meditation, and explained how he had been advised to meditate but had never understood its benefits. It led Tim to reveal that he had also been chatting with comedy legend Peter before the event about the benefits of meditation.
Gary said: "It's interesting this, I get quite stressed, I get quite frantic and people say I should calm down, some people say I should try meditation. But I always think of meditation as oceans, lovely noises..."
Tim interjected to say: "You have to work through your mind first, it's like a radio set constantly chattering away. I was having a conversation with Peter Kay earlier and yeah, he's meditating now. Have I outed you Peter?" He said to laughter from the audience, before continuing: "It's medically proven now but in 1981 it wasn't medically proven it was considered to be crank."
New Music and a Promise to Continue
The film shows how the band have never taken the easy path, turning down a record contract with Factory Records and famously always changing their setlists on stage at the last minute. Tim left the band in 2001, but he and Jim would return to jamming in 2007, and in the band's current incarnation went on to have their first number one album, and continue to play to bigger audiences than in their original 90s heyday.
When it came to their live performance on the night, they also chose to do it "the James way" and play new songs, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, Broken By the Hurt and Nantucket as well as classic She's A Star. Tim said: "We're going to play some new songs tonight, because we're always looking forward, always looking to the new that we're created, we're more excited about that than looking backwards, which is why this was a bit of an ordeal to be looking back at where we've come from."
And in what will be music to the ears of James fans everywhere, Tim confirmed that now they're back together, they're back for good. Tim said: "It will go on until we die. Why would we stop?" Jim added: "We're in a great space now, but the music always was." Talking to Gary he said: "It is the best job in the world apart from being a footballer obviously. It's been our therapy. Be happy."
The Q&A ended with Tim airing their own football allegiances as they thanked Gary, saying: "I'm a Leeds fan, he's Man City [Jim] but we love Gary Neville".
