James Blunt is a bit of a dichotomy, how can a man so funny write the very emotional sometimes heart wrenching songs he does? And he is very funny, but us along with the sold-out crowd are glad he does both, well. After the first 3 quite quick songs, he informed the crowd he was going to do some really sad songs, to which he mimicked the crowd moaning that they wanted the hits, saying, “I’m not bothered, I’ve got your money, and the doors are locked! So, sit down and have a rest, I will tell you when to stand!” And he might do some hits, and boy did he.

Backed by an excellent band as you would expect, with the sound spot on, he manipulates the emotions of the crowd, switching from poignant songs like ‘The Girl That Never Was’, from the newish album ‘Who We Used to Be’, to the flippant, almost cartoonish ‘Postcards’. Having seen James before we know he tends to do mad things, and at one point jumped down and ran up the aisle, without security! And a little boy was standing in the way He scooped the boy up doing a double twirl before placing the lad back on the floor and carrying on well up to the back greeting people, slapping hands, posing and hugging and eventually returning to the stage. And when he told the crowd to stand, he didn’t really let them sit, not that many wanted to. He smashed out the favourites, throwing in a cracking version of Slade’s ‘Coz I Luv You’, dedicated to the Brummie crowd.

James Blunt is a great entertainer, with an arsenal of songs for every occasion. Before he left the stage for the final time and let the crowd out into the cold wet windy Birmingham night, just for an encore he hammered home just how good his catalogue is with the fantastic ‘Monsters’. Always makes my eyes well up. And yet gain raising the tempo with ‘Bonfire ‘Heart’ and ‘1973’. One thing you know when you go to see Mr Blunt is that you’re in for a great night, sometimes with a tear in your eye, but always leaving with a big smile on your face.

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe