"SATURDAY night in Leeds is a dangerous place for a singer who likes to come down in the audience."

Just days after suffering neck injuries at another show on their Girl At The End Of The World tour, James frontman Tim Booth urged thousands of supporters at the First Direct Arena to "treat me like a Ming vase", as they started their two-hour set.

He needn't have worried. The crowd's reaction to the band, now in their fourth decade of making music, was one of respect and joy at hearing tracks from the brilliant new album and reworkings of their biggest hits.

Starting slow with Top Of The World, the set speeds up until Booth takes to the crowd for the first time during To My Surprise, as sound and light dazzle the sea of bobbing heads, but his faith in them is repaid, as he's carried safely by hundreds of hands and delivered back without a scratch. "Everything seems to be working," he tells the crowd as he climbs back on to the stage, "I trust you. Thank you."

Curse Curse, from 2014's La Petite Mort, with its dance-inspired keyboard, gets most of the seated crowd on their feet. The rest follow with 1990's Come Home, then sing at the top of their lungs to 1993's Sometimes.

One of many highlights was a stripped-back version of She's A Star, incorporating a cello and captivating the crowd, but energy in the room took a while to build back up, even despite Booth's trademark snake-like dance moves.

By the time Andy Diagram's glow-in-the-dark trumpet made an appearance, the energy returned, just in time for an encore Booth seemed almost apologetic about starting with Sit Down.

The band made it look effortless, but there wasn't a face in the crowd without a smile as the incredible Nothing But Love ended the set.

James play Hull City Hall tonight; doors open at 7pm. Box office: 01482 300300.