James Blunt live

James Blunt
Riviera Theatre, Chicago
Friday, February 22, 2008

James Blunt needs to watch a tape of himself performing so he can work on eliminating the wacky faces his mug contorts into mid-song. They’re a cross between disconcerting and just plain weird.

Click here for a full photo set from Friday’s show.

He has come a long way career-wise since he gave cameras the stink eye back in 2005 during his debut appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” but what could be construed as a nervous reaction then can’t be ignored now, especially in a live setting. The British singer’s facial antics range from staring up bug-eyed at the Riviera’s balcony to leering into the front rows with an open-mouthed lothario smirk or a giddy “who’s the baby” expression, depending on the angle.

Like David Gray’s bobble-head doll tics, Blunt’s “Mad-Eye Moody” expressions revert focus away from his sensitive compositions, which were on full display Friday night for a crowd evenly distributed between adoring females and effusive males. As one middle-aged gentlemen noted, “I’m a rock ‘n’ roller, but I’m passionate about what he does.” Who knew?

Blunt’s show, clocking in at just an hour and a half (seriously — with two albums under his belt, that is all he can muster?), runs low on spontaneity, instead relying on rote renditions of his recorded tracks. However, onstage, the serial model-dater’s voice shows both surprising strength and nuance. His phrasing is still nasal and clipped, much like on record, but here he squeezes even more despair out of piano-ballad “Goodbye My Lover” and pumps “I Really Want You” up with exquisite desperation.

After pulling off a funky cover of Supertramp’s “Breakfast In America,” “You’re Beautiful” almost got lost in the shuffle, appearing long before the set’s closing. As Blunt’s star-making hit, the song is as cloying and cheesy as ever, but somehow impossible to forget. Spurred on by the performer, the sold-out crowd bellowed every word.

With the current upheaval in Serbia, the weary “No Bravery” took on special significance as Blunt sat alone at the piano against a giant video backdrop of home-movie footage taken during his time as a British Army officer stationed in Kosovo. Largely identified as a sorrowful mope, Blunt lightened things up with the rambunctious “Wisemen” and bathed the theater in a blanket of multi-colored confetti following “So Long, Jimmy.” With the bang of a giant gong, Blunt left the stage, only to return to thunderous applause before launching into “One Of The Brightest Stars” and “1973,” in which Blunt took a break to surf atop his piano flashing a Jack Nicholson-size smile from ear to ear.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly