Report: A Starsailing Birth, June 2001
By: Toby L
Think of all the birthday parties you've been to...
When you're under twelve years of age, attending a friend's celebratory bash to mark his/her new age, your main hope is to get two slices of birthday cake and to win the series of games that take place... Yes, those were the days.
When you're in your teens, however, your primary aspiration is to get completely wrecked on various alcoholic beverages and then score with that girl over there that you think's been given you the seductive squint all evening.
And - then - when you're officially classed as 'passed it', well, you just try and forget about birthdays, don't you?
So, this leaves James Walsh - frontman of rising talent, Starsailor - in a different predicament. Today in the Social venue in Little Portland Street, London (9th June), we have been invited to join James, family, friends and fans in order to wish him well in his passing on into the age of 21. To enjoy this experience, he has bizarrely set himself the task of performing a 45-minute, solo, acoustic set to this small, assembled audience. He's clearly nervous... Who blames him?
Scuffling on to the stage - or, at least, due to the small size of the room, the step - Walsh sits himself down on a wooden stall and looks down as he begins the set. Imagine if this was you: expectant relatives and close compadres, not to mention 50 fans, all waiting for you to perform something that will merit what they deem to be a quality effort - and it's your special day; shouldn't you be entertained?
On the contrary, it all makes perfect sense once he opens his mouth to reveal his vocal talent. Much more true to the Abba lyric, 'Everyone listens when I start to sing,' than if one of the Swedish quartet uttered this, James begins as he means to carry on, playing with passion and sincerity. It's when the sweeping 'Alcoholic' hits you that you realise what you're viewing in such intimate surroundings - a real wonder. His voice has been commented on many-a-time and you can't resist stopping the enthusing one makes on it; it's elevating, uplifting and almost transcendent. If you think about most of the lead-singers of 'alternative' acts today, many of them merely talk into the microphone, but this chap sings for Britain.
New tracks such as 'She Just Wept' and 'Tie Up My Hands' are aired for the first time (the band having just returned from the studios where they have been recording their debut album) and then intertwined with already-established 'Sailor faves such as 'Coming Down' and first single, 'Fever', which are both greeted with a hearty roar. Maybe altering the tone of the show slightly, he inquires, 'Is Stuart Braithwaite dead yet,' in response to the disrespectful comments the said Mogwai frontman made about Walsh and his family. James then offers the threat of 'Big Dave' (keyboardist Barry Westhead's brother) to sit on Stu's head and although polite laughter is heard from all corners of The Social, you know he means this with venom.
It culminates in a sublime sejour through the haunting 'Love Is Here' - before which the singer utters, 'I wanna get pissed!' However, realising the potential after-shock of his words, James then tries to redeem himself by crawling back, 'Oh - sorry, mum.' It's a splendid finish and one that grants a marvellous show of support from the audience, ensuring that James' 21st will certainly be one he'll remember for the rest of his life. Quite rightly so.
Special Thanks: James, who dedicated a track - 'Tie Up My Hands' - to rockfeedback