With his massive hit ‘You're Beautiful’ at Number 1 for weeks and his album ‘Back to Bedlam’ also reaching the top spot, it’s been impossible not to notice James Blunt recently. He kicked off his autumn tour in Glasgow at the beginning of October and made his way down the country to the Liverpool Philharmonic on 7th where he delighted the crowds with his mesmerising voice - as well as charming a few screaming girls! The Phil was the perfect size for a concert of this kind - big enough to create an atmosphere and justify the big screens and light displays but not so huge as to reduce the artist to a tiny dot when you’re sat on the last row at the back - and I should know, I was nearly there! As with a lot of people James Blunt only really entered my radar when ‘You’re Beautiful’ was being played on the radio every 5 minutes, and despite loving his other singles ‘High’ and ‘Wise Men’ I’d heard mixed reviews on the Album - which had left me curious as to what the concert would be like? | "...the hall quieted to a hush, and the heartbreakingly emotional lyrics of ‘Goodbye My Lover’ echoed around the room." | |
The girls were screaming ‘We Love You’ as soon as James Blunt entered the stage, and whistling down the rows of seats excitedly as he immediately sprung into song, his haunting voice reminiscent of a male Katie Melua, fluctuating from high to low like a voice breaking in a rather less embarrassing melodic way! After introducing himself vocally - he shouted ‘Hello Liverpool’ in his overly posh, public school accent and charming everyone with his un-kept boyish style. The next song in the line up was the forlorn sounding ‘Billy’ and then he moved to the piano to perform an acoustic version of his recent single ‘High’ to which everyone clapped and sang along to in their seats appreciatively. He chatted to the crowd in a confident, jokey style that seems to have developed over recent months (if other people’s reviews are anything to go by!) announcing that as his album only lasts 40 minutes people might have to listen to a few they don’t know, before introducing a B side from about a year ago with a decidedly catchy called chorus ‘Sugar Coated’. The next track commanded the crowd’s attention so dramatically that the hall quieted to a hush, and the heartbreakingly emotional lyrics of ‘Goodbye My Lover’ echoed around the room. The tune must’ve rang true to anyone who’d ever been in love and the words ‘You have been the one, you have been the one for me’ has brought a tear to the eye of people bigger and braver than me (didn’t mean to let your secret out Matt!). That set the tone for the evening in my mind, and I felt compelled to sit quietly in my seat listening intently to the rest of the set captivated.
As though expecting this change in atmosphere he tried to lighten the mood dismissing the seriousness of the songs, introducing the touching track ‘Tears and Rain’ as “one for the girls” and joking matter of factly “Well I know I’m the housewives favourite so here’s another song about drugs” referring to the aptly named ‘Out of My Mind’! The track ‘No Bravery’ has been widely noted as his best in a live performance, as it relates to his time spent serving in the army in Bosnia, and the atrocities he witnessed there. Footage of warfare on the screen behind the singer hammers home the reality of life in war torn countries, and the images that soldiers are subjected to, perhaps giving a new depth to the rest of the album which seem less overtly about war yet all echo life and death. The tone lifted with a new (or old?) tune missing from the current album, and the up beat ‘Wisemen’ who’s lyrics - ‘Those three Wise Men, They've got a semi by the sea’ conjures images of old soldiers living out the rest of the days happily soaking up the sea air! He finished with the funky ‘So Long Jimmy’ before exiting the stage ready for the encore, which consisted of another unknown followed by the one they’d all been waiting for - ‘Your Beautiful’. The massive hit was greeted with cheers and hands clapping in the air and ended with a standing ovation worthy of any of the great musical heroes of our time. The concert wasn’t what I expected, it was far, far better. The attractive young man with a lifetime of experiences certainly has a lot to say - and in a world that sometimes seems flooded with new singer / songwriters it seems he has found a place for himself in the market - even if it is screaming girls and housewives! | 
