Was @ the Pittsburgh show, felt like i'd add my $0.02 ....
I did *not* come away from the show thinking "There's something wrong with James."
James is performing extremely well, considering the setlist. The word i would use to describe his performance in Pittsburgh would be: inconsistent. The example that jumps out at me is how he sounded on back to back songs. Pull Me Under was basically perfect. He sounded great! Good energy and sound throughout the whole song. Next was Another Day, and he sounded.... strained. It stuck out to me because of the stark contrast from literally back to back songs. So, is he maybe overextending himself? Possibly pushing his voice a little too hard at some points, but then doesn't have to time to recover for the next song where there are a ton of high notes? James himself has said in interviews how in their earlier songs he's "...in the stratosphere.", so maybe it's just beyond his capabilities to do a full album like Images & Words in a single night....
However.... I also agree with the original post. For The Astonishing tour, James was amazing! I remember leaving a review on here the next day describing JLB as a "powerhouse". Nothing stuck out in the entire night that would make me think he's having issues with his voice, and TA is not what i'd consider an "easy" album. So, *is* there something wrong with his voice? Is he just pushing himself a little too hard this time around?
I'm sure we could analyze all this for days, but ultimately i think James is fine. "Off" nights combined with a grueling tour schedule of a challenging album.
I definitely do *not* agree with considering a new frontman. I consider JLB the soul of the band. You can replace any of the other band members, and someone could potentially play the songs close enough to the original that you might not even notice (JR and MM are obvious examples of that)... But replace JLB and you have a completely different sound/ feel for the band. Which i guess is what people are asking for then, but not me.
P.S. The comments about his "banter" seem strange to me. He's a silly guy, and he's silly on stage. I enjoy all the stories and things he does on stage between songs.