James frontman Tim Booth on 44 years of improvisation and Peccioli festival

James frontman Tim Booth discussed the band's upcoming concert at the Post-organized festival in Peccioli, Tuscany, on July 4, 2026, during an interview in Leeds ahead of their arena show. The band, formed in Manchester in the early 1980s, has maintained a devoted UK following and continues to sell out large venues, with their 2024 album becoming their first to reach number one on the UK charts. Booth emphasized their improvisational approach, with songs born from unstructured jam sessions three times a year. He noted the contrast between their unpredictable live shows and today's highly choreographed performances. The band last played in Italy in 2014 at a short-lived festival organized by a British-Indian investor. Booth recalled a 1990s incident in a French FNAC store where he threw a maraca in anger, nearly hitting a woman who claimed to have connections in the music industry, after which the band was never invited back. The Leeds arena show, with a capacity of over 13,000, was sold out. The band's current lineup includes nine members: Booth, Jim Glennie, Chloe Alper (since 2018), Saul Davies, and Andy Diagram. Booth reflected on the band's post-punk ethos, their early lack of knowledge about song structure, and their evolving relationship with audience expectations, including a 2016 Glastonbury set where they refused to play their hit 'Sit Down' at founder Michael Eavis's request.