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André Paine's rating
Blunt's courage under fire
By
André Paine
15 Oct 2008
He wrote some new songs for his tour but James Blunt is obliged to try to shift some more copies of the year-old All the Lost Souls album, which hasn’t sold as many millions as his debut.
Blunt wasn’t on the defensive, though. Dressed in a skinny suit, he arrived with a high-kick and a certain amount of rock star attitude. However, his strumming on opener Breathe was less dynamic and the song really got zero reaction until some dutiful applause at the end.
Perhaps that’s because Blunt’s demeanour when he sang, standing rigid like the soldier he used to be, made it hard for the audience to relax completely.
Yet there was something fearless about Blunt, as you might expect from someone who served in Kosovo. Indeed, there was footage of the conflict during No Bravery, written nine years ago when he had that “proper job”. Between songs, he was completely unfazed by the huge venue, urging the fans to undress and confessing that all his songs “are about drugs”. It just took a while for the performance to catch up with his easy-going banter.
New single Love, Love, Love, a Seventies rock pastiche, should help Christmas sales of the deluxe edition of his album. But it wasn’t until the cover of Slade’s Coz I Love You that things came to life.
Suddenly, Blunt abandoned the stage, ran madly through the crowd like a man on a trolley dash, and clambered onto a platform to pound a piano.
He now seemed to be enjoying the performance, playing electric guitar on Turn Me On and happily singing You’re Beautiful, even though he must be sick of it.
Crucially, though, there was no exodus after that song and the fans were cheering just as loudly for the encore of 1973.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (5)
It was a great concert. James is excellent live. Singing and performing.
I don't know about the sales of ALTS but it seems to have done well and better than most at present.
The concert was better this time around as there were the new songs included and more space for James to run around. He is lovely.
- Amanda Buckley, England, 16/10/2008 17:51
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I enjoyed the concert and loved James' renditions of Same Mistake (story of my life!!) and No Bravery. Very glad I was there.
- Angela,, Barking, 16/10/2008 09:28
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James was great as always, just a seated venue is not good for the audience.. we want to get up, cheer, sing along and live up to the music.. but chairs get in the way of that..
Still James makes up for it, the silence when he sang 'I really want you' was deafening and magic at the same time. The pure love and emotion James puts in his music is something a lot of artists can learn from, his appreciation for his fans makes him stand out.
Well done James, you gave us all a superb performance and great night out!
- Loraline, Zwolle, the Netherlands, 16/10/2008 02:15
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I was there!
The venue is enourmous but James really did pull a great show! I loved every single secound of it and never wanted it to end!!
James is magical in som way! Such a dedicated performer with i truely amazinf voice!!
Not my last gig - but I already knew that before I boarded the plane ;o)
- Karen, Odense, Demark, 16/10/2008 00:09
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I went last night and thought it was great, did think O2 was a bit large and there was a bit of an echo when he sang sometimes but on the whole he had plenty of people declaring their love for him.
Well done James for going through the crowd, very brave.
- Linda, London, 15/10/2008 16:54
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