Photo Credit: James Mirfield
Kicking off the ‘Live At The Piece Hall‘ summer series in Halifax was Manchester’s legendary JAMES, who brought a career-spanning set packed full of their classic hits, songs from their chart topping record ‘Yummy’ and a few deep cuts too to entertain a capacity crowd at the picturesque venue.
Opening the show were Earlestown outfit THE K’S, who are grabbing 2025 by the scruff of the neck. As their second record ‘Pretty On The Internet‘ is about to be unveiled to the world, this served as a perfection opportunity to bring in some new fans with three weeks to go until its release. Stepping out on to the stage one by one, THE K’S kicked off their set with ‘Gravestone‘, quickly followed by former opener ‘Icarus‘ to launch an energetic performance in front of an already busy courtyard. Gaining the crowds attention just two songs in, this allowed the band to now showcase their variety in sound, with ‘Chancer‘ attracting their fans that were in attendance to join in. Boyle’s vocals are presented at their best with every performance of ‘Hoping Maybe‘ and despite it not attracting the big sing along and people on shoulders like the bands’ headline shows, the older audience certainly appreciated the more toned down track as the applauses grew louder after each song. Picking the pace back up with ‘Black and Blue‘ and ‘Throw It All Away‘, THE K’S rounded off their Halifax return with ‘Helen, Oh I‘ to keep the ‘Pretty On The Internet‘ hype fresh in the crowds minds.
In addition to marking the beginning of the venue’s inaugural performance in 2025, this was the bands’ first of two appearances at The Piece Hall of this years summer series; they returned to the same stage just 24 hours later. A packed house awaited JAMES‘ spectacular arrival, anticipating a night of timeless classic to join in on. In 2023, frontman Tim Booth made a reference to the architecture of the venue and two years playfully saying, “Good evening, Venice” to the crowds amusement. The band began with ‘Johnny Yen‘ as each member took their places; the audience enjoyed the band’s more solemn attitude, which provided the ideal setting for them to let loose next.
‘Interrogation‘ and ‘Waltzing Along‘ followed next and fan favourite ‘Sometimes (Lester Piggot)‘, was greeted with thunderous cheers and a tremendous crowd effort for the chorus, which continued to conclude the song without any music playing to give the audience a chance to shine. As the entire band watched with broad smiles, the chorus started to fade out. ‘Busted‘ and ‘Way Over Your Head‘ then followed to keep the atmosphere alive.
With 13 songs remaining, JAMES were now in full swing. ‘Shadow of A Giant‘ served as the second and final track from their chart topping record ‘Yummy‘, which set up the second half of the show to be filled with fan favourites. ‘Say Something‘ received a tremendous cheer as soon as the first note was played, and ‘She’s A Star‘ added to the excitement across the venue as the audience matched Booth’s high notes in the chorus. An amazing trio in the form of ‘Getting Away With It‘, ‘Heads‘, and the crowd-pleasing ‘Tomorrow‘ set up the grand finale and the audience were fully aware of what was about to come.
Everyone in the venue was singing along to the iconic ‘Sit Down‘, with the chorus sung loudly as expected. The packed crowd began to let loose one last time for ‘Laid‘, with the front section seen dancing to finale. The bands triumphant return to The Piece Hall for night one was spectacular and with a second offering the next day, Tim Booth announced that a different set will be performed on the second night, which was met with cheers from those who would be joining the band for that show too.
Taped Magazine 