James Blunt

This time last year James Blunt was a name that very few people had actually heard of! Now, thanks to his incredible ballad 'You're Beautiful' his success has been nothing short of incredible, with a number one single and an album full of stunningly superb songs - 'Back To Bedlam' - it was only a matter of time before James would win the public's approval.

His appearance at Rock City demonstrated that he is now so well known that he can sell out venues quicker than a hot knife goes through butter. For those of you who still have no idea who James Blunt is- he is a singer/songwriter who writes wonderfully emotionally charged music in almost the same style as Damien Rice and David Gray but with a singing voice which could be mistaken for a girls voice.

It was interesting to notice that quite a few of the so called fans in the audience were quite clearly just waiting to hear 'You're Beautiful', and didn't really care about the rest of the songs. Not only did I pick up on this- but James himself made a few references to it by saying things like 'I know what song you want to hear' and 'We will play it later on in the show'.

With only one album to promote, James didn't really have much choice but to play every track off it, otherwise it would have been an incredibly short show. There is no doubt at all about his talent - he sounds absolutely perfect live, almost to the point where you think it is still the cd you are listening to.

As a musician he is faultless, there is no messing around at a James Blunt gig. He arrives onstage, ploughs through his songs and doesn't waste time by doing daft things like playing epic guitar solos or saying long thank you's to the crowd. He just plays his music and moves on to the next city.

Despite 'You're Beautiful' being his most popular track to date- the highlight of this gig was when he sat down behind the piano and played 'Goodbye My Lover', which the crowd just lapped up. Fingers crossed that this will be released as a single soon.

An intimate venue like Rock City was the perfect place for James Blunt to play it gave everyone a chance to see him close up and personal. For those who missed this gig, he will be back in March to do an arena tour. However I feel his music wont have the same effect in a big arena.

FUTURE GIGS