Live Review: James Blunt – 16th February 2025 – O2 Arena, London, UK
5 min read
We here at Renowned For Sound attend dozens of shows every year – from quaint church gigs through to major stadium spectacles. Each deliver something truly special for fans – whether it be the delivery of career spanning catalogues or incredible light shows. But, in all our gig going years, I don’t think we have attended a show with as much fan energy and engagement as last nights return of Tidworth singer, songwriter and all-round comedic stage personality, James Blunt.
From the momentous opening of last night’s phenomenal London stopover, the crowd – which ranges from teens wearing Blunt t-shirts through to elderly couples clutching at a James Blunt programme in one hand while fist pumping the other into the air during some of the nights most climactic moments, Blunt proved that not only is he the real deal, but his dedicated fan base are too.
Flexing his famous humorous muscles well before the show had even started, the large screens that cradled the stage on each side shower images of famous faces ‘people that command respect, wear Blunt’ with the likes of Starker, Trump, Prince Charles and an AI robot hand holding Elon Musk all featured wearing Blunt merchandise.
With the albums trademark blue back drop, the show was broken up into three sections, opening with the performance of his 14.1million selling debut, Back to Bedlam in its glorious entirety – each not, adlib and chord intact and dished up to a very eager crowd before a section of other hits from his career and a closing encore.
This of course meant that usual set etiquette of playing the mammoth numbers of one’s career during the encore was flipped swiftly on its head. Due to the order of the track listing of Back to Bedlam, it meant that all of the signature Blunt hits were performer right at the beginning of the show and that would result in a rather unfortunate situation for any latecomers thinking the show would start at the usual 9pm stage time of an arena concert.
Cracking the lid on the show at 8.45pm, Blunt’s set led with the beautiful High before signature ballad, You’re Beautiful washed over the sold out O2 crowd – the vocals shared fairly equally between the pint-sized superstar who was dressed casually in jeans and a white t-shirt for the duration of the show, and his adoring crowd.
“That’s the hits so it’s all downhill from here folks“, Blunt teased the crowd before dishing up Wisemen and taking to the piano to play a solo unveiling of Goodbye My Lover.
With an explanation of the night ahead and the fact that the main singles of his 20 year career had already been performed as the opening of the show, Blunt went on to pick out male members of the crowd, suggesting they had been dragged along by their wives or girlfriends and asked for the crowd to signal to the singer on whether they were in attendance because they bought the stars debut album that was being celebrated on this latest tour, or perhaps his most recent collection – admitting that it was likely just his mother that bought the latter. He then led us through the remainder of his debut album which included gorgeous performances of Tears and Rain, a visually psychedelic rendition of Out of My Mind a catchy So Long, Jimmy and a touching offering of No Bravery which was played over a backdrop of video footage from Blunts 1999 mission in Kosovo when he was a British Army captain and reminding us that his most thought provoking songwriting isn’t just confined to the commercial, romantic chart hits.
With the main feature of the tour being delivered, the rest of the show was made up of a mixture of notable hits that have dotted Blunts career since. Stay The Night saw the crowd encouraged to sweep a Mexican wave through the sold out venue. A catchy cover of Slade’s Coz I Luv You was a colourful inclusion within the Blunt hits that saw impressive imagery of top hats and platform shoes projected on the giant overhead screens while Blunt displayed the energy of a twenty-something by running the length of the venue amongst his fans who reached out to shake his hand or cop a feel of the spritely 50 year old as he dashed passed them.
A performance of OK – Blunt’s 2017 collaborative hit with German producer Robin Schulz – made an appearance nearing the end of the show and turned the venue into a 20k strong discotheque with lasers sweeping over the crowd and the style of the song showcasing Blunts versatility as an artist, while lights were held in the air during Monsters, a tribute to the singers father and ukuleles were brought out for the catchy, island scented Postcards.
It was a nostalgic show full of hits, humour and hosting from a performer that absolutely loves what he does and while it’s a far cry from his former profession in the military, the musician draws inspiration from his previous life to educate and inspire others and there wasn’t a fan in the crowd that left the O2 arena on Sunday night without a smile from ear to ear.
Setlist
High
You’re Beautiful
Wisemen
Goodbye My Lover
Tears and Rain
Out of My Mind
So Long, Jimmy
Billy
Cry
No Bravery
I’ll Take Everything
Carry You Home
Postcards
Coz I Luv You (Slade cover)
Stay the Night
OK (Robin Schulz cover)
Monsters
Same Mistake
Encore:
Bonfire Heart
1973
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
