The first thing that hit me walking into Place Bell on this night was the number of young people I saw. For what might be today considered a nostalgia act and the 20th anniversary of a soft rock classic, Mr. James Blunt has managed to pull in a lot of young fans.
The crowd showed immediate love to local boy Forrest Blakk, who came out wearing an Expos cap. After opening up the set with “The Anchor and the Kite,” Blakk expressed what a dream come true it was to play an arena show in his hometown.
A genuine, heartfelt performer, he fed off the crowd’s energy and rose to the moment. Highlights were new track “Love You ‘Til Death,” which he was premiering live, and his Juno-nominated mega hit “If You Love Her,” which he sang from the crowd.
Blunt hit the stage before his band, strumming the opening chords of “High,” receiving thunderous applause. Playing Back to Bedlam front to back meant we got the iconic “You’re Beautiful” five minutes in. You could barely hear Blunt. With fantastic humour and humility, he declared, “Well, that’s it, that’s my hit, it’s all downhill from here.”
Pigeonholing him as a one-hit wonder, which he often is, is unfair. You couldn’t convince the crowd, as they sang most every word to the album. Songs like “Goodbye My Lover” and “Wisemen” were welcomed with the same reverence as his smash hit.
Humour was a big weapon in his arsenal. He really connected with the crowd between sets with nerdish charm. After asking how many people bought Back to Bedlam 20 years ago and thanking them for his big house, he asked how many people were forced to listen to it in their parents’ car and the songs just stuck, which got a big reaction. That explained all the young people.
He also said his wife told him he should talk about the meaning of the songs on the album. “That’s a terrible idea,” he said with a smile. “I’m gonna say High is about, well, getting high, and the song everybody thinks is romantic and plays at their weddings is about me being high and creepy stalking another man’s girlfriend.”
The end of the album wasn’t the end of the cheers. His greatest hits garnered raucous applause. “Carry You Home” and “Stay the Night” were highlights, the latter of which found him running through the crowd hugging fans.
The encore might’ve been the highlight of the night. Starting off with the absolutely devastating “Monsters,” which I was happy to find out I’m not the only one who got misty-eyed listening to. If you’ve ever sat with a loved one at the end, this one should come with a warning.
He then jokingly said, “I think we need a happy one now. Luckily I wrote one of those.” He was referring to “Bonfire Heart,” which had everyone dancing and clapping. “1973” was our go-home song and great cap. He jumped on his piano and stomped and clapped with the crowd. It looked like it wouldn’t hold, but everything turned out alright.
From a guy who usually covers a lot of metal shows, I can say this will be one of my 2025 highlights. Blunt has a quality to his performance that resembles the great folk-rock storytellers like Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, and Chris de Burgh.
We quite literally laughed and cried. It was a beautiful celebration of an album that was one of the most iconic of the “noughts.” And the cherry on top was a hometown artist fulfilling a dream and rising to the moment.
It was an all-around feel-good night (well, except for Monsters. We don’t talk about Monsters.)
Review – Richard Brunette
Photos – Eric Brisson
