James Blake at the o2 Academy Bristol

This is just going to be a quick post, and for once it's not about film or theatre, but music (yay)! On Tuesday night I went to see James Blake at the o2 academy here in Bristol. At a mere £12.50 tickets were a steal. We weren't really bothered about seeing James' supporting act 'The Twigs', but from what we did see they were pretty good (Alunageorge/ London Grammar-esque, which is always a good thing).

James performed a wide variety of songs - from upbeat to sombre, old to new, and made sure to include plenty of classics. Anyone who has listened to his music will know he has a beautiful, liquid voice, and a fantastic vocal range, and these aspects were maintained perfectly in his live performances. Personally, I prefer his piano-pieces and songs with plenty of lyrics as opposed to the more instrumental and techno experiments, but it was nice to hear a variety and mash-up swaying love-songs with head-nodding dance-y tracks. He performed most of the songs on his new album, Overgrown (which is great, well worth a buy), and there were only perhaps 2 songs that I'd never heard before.

Highlights included:-

1. 'Limit to Your Love' - A classic, always beautiful. One audience member informed the rest of us that she lost her virginity to this song. James looked very bemused. 
2. 'A Case of You' - This is my all-time favourite cover, ever. I love Jon Mitchell (old before my time), and I love James Blake, so together they're basically perfection. Was thrilled that he did this song. 
3. Not musical - but the lighting was really great! Very moody and intense, complimenting James' music brilliantly.
4. ' The Wilhelm Scream' - James performed this as his encore, using a 'loop' (which my friend informed me is where you record part of a song then sing over it, like a round). He asked the audience to be silent for this, and it was nice (and kind of eerie) to see a sold-out crowd stood hushed and rapt. 

In fact, the only thing I have to complain about is the audience itself. There were people talking loudly during piano solos and throughout - which was really distracting. I don't mind people singing along, I think that shows your appreciation for/knowledge of the songs/artist, but chatting away about what you had for lunch or who's seeing who is quite frankly rude and offensive both to the performer, and to the other audience members who have paid to listen to James Blake - not Sandra from Hull with chiropractic problems. Also irritating was the sheer abundance of iPhone/pad/bloody computers thrust in the air and held aloft during every. single. song. Yeah, take a couple of snaps to show your friends, but why are you videoing the whole thing rather than watching the live performance you're currently at - you might as well be sat at home in bed in your PJ's watching YouTube clips. Not only is this charade nonsensical, its freaking annoying! It was so packed that I constantly had to crane my neck and move around to see anyway (not the tallest person), but as soon as I'd found an OK position someone would brandish their mega-watt mobile device under my nose, completely obstructing the view. Never before have I had such a hatred of apple products. 

Sorry for the rant, maybe this is just concert etiquette in 2013? My last 'concert' (barring music festivals) was Oasis in 2009, so I'm slightly behind the times - but that was all impassioned singing and swigging cider, much nicer than standing like a tinned fish with someone sticking up their sweaty pit to record a video they'll probably never watch again anyway.

Back to the music. I'd recommend James Blake live to absolutely anyone. He is one artist who's live performances barely differ from recordings, and he's a genuinely likeable guy! 4 stars ****