By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Reunited British rock band James,
who enjoyed cult success in America during the early '90s,
played their first U.S. concert in Los Angeles on Friday since
ending a lengthy hiatus last year.
The hourlong gig at Spaceland, a 260-capacity club near
Hollywood, showcased a handful of tunes from James' new album
"Hey Ma," including the anti-war title track.
The album will be released in the United States on
September 16 via Decca Records. It came out in Britain in
April, the band's first studio release since 2001's "Pleased To
Meet You."
James fell apart after singer Tim Booth quit at the end of
2001, and pursued a solo and acting career. Now living in Los
Angeles, he announced early last year that he would rejoin
James, and the band subsequently toured the UK and Europe.
Five of the Manchester band's seven members were in the
United States this week, primarily to play at an iTunes event
in San Francisco, and then at Los Angeles public radio station
KCRW-FM.
The Spaceland show was a last-minute addition to the
itinerary, but the budget-related absence of keyboardist Mark
Hunter and drummer David Baynton-Power forced the band to
improvise a bit during its ballad-heavy set.
"Even more than usual, we won't know what we're doing,"
joked Booth, who now resembles R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe
after ditching his curly locks for a shaved head and goatee.
Besides "Hey Ma," which Booth said was about "the
over-reaction to 9/11" by President George W. Bush and former
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, other new tunes included
"Waterfall," "Oh My Heart" and "Whiteboy."
