James Blunt pulled out all the stops last night for his intimate London album launch show.
No video demonstrates this better than the precious moment caught on camera by Metro.co.uk that you’re about to witness.
The 49-year-old Same Mistake hitmaker introduced a selection of songs from his new album, Who We Used To Be, at his lowkey show in Omeara, Borough, as well as whapping out some old classics.
His new stuff is rather more Coldplay than the crooning you might associate with the man who stormed the charts back in 2004 with You’re Beautiful and Goodbye My Lover.
He got the crowd well and truly pumping for his 2017 Robin Schulz dance track OK, where he made everyone crouch on the floor and jump up at the drop. Fun.
In true James fashion – as he is known to be Twitter/X’s funniest man – he also bantered the crowd as he admitted Glow, a song written for his children, should have been called something else.
‘Change it!’ shouted someone in the crowd, to which he replied: ‘Well it’s too f***ing late now.’ Classic Blunt.
But one moment in the Atlantic Records show that really got the crowd going was when the singer miraculously leapt up onto his piano top.
The unexpected feat of agility came during a lively instrumental break in his catchy 2007 banger, 1973.
James used his keyblock to hoist himself onto the lid of what turned out to be a disconcertingly wobbly piano.
He then proceeded to bob his bottom along to the beat, while grinning from ear to ear and pumping his fists, riling up the – at this point – very impressed crowd.
After the audience went suitably wild over the rather unexpected rock n’ roll turn, James seamlessly returned to the safety of the floor, and sang the chorus as if nothing had happened. What a pro.
You’re Beautiful was obviously another massive highlight of the evening; his most famous song from his debut album Back to Bedlam. During this, James got the crowd to sing the well-known lyrics back to him, continuing his spirited performance.
The audience shed a tear good tear or two for his new track The Girl That Never Was, as everyone was singing along towards the end.
Multiple times throughout the set, audience members shouted out, ‘I love you James!’ and he beamed back, delighted to be on stage again sharing the love with his first new-song album since Once Upon a Mind in 2019.
James shouted out to his wife and family, who boogied along in the crowd to all his classics.
Piano stunt or no piano stunt, James Blunt reminded that small crowd he’s a British legend for a reason, and – contrary to his self-depreciating comedy style – really ought to be taken seriously.
This new album is set to be a corker, folks.
Who We Used To Be is out October 27th on Atlantic Records. Pre-order here. James’ book Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story: A Non-Memoir, is set to be released on October 26.
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