James Blake was phenomenal last night, as always. We were stood right by the speakers meaning bass, bass, bass. I wasn’t sure about our positioning, thinking if we were more to the middle we’d have a more “rounded” sound but actually the extra vibrations were great! “I can feel it in my ears!” was possibly an odd proclamation from me but you really could feel it from your toes up and into your ears! Hollie held a bottle of water still and we watched as the liquid bounced.

The three times before when I’ve seen him he’s played mostly album tracks with the essential CYMK thrown in, making sense really as in at KOKO in May he was still touring the album, and at festivals you have to play the well-knowns really, but tonight seemed much more gratitudal to the fans with a round-up of the year passed. Tonight’s set included only the biggies from the album, with others from the various EPs thrown in, a couple of newies and yes, my God yes he finished with the Joni Mitchell cover A Case of You.

On record it’s the slower, less contrived “Bon Iver” tracks that do it for me, the Lindisfarnes and Give Me My Month but live it’s all about the bass. Tep and Logic was awesome amongst others from the EPs, the new songs as well sounding a lot more dubstep than Bon Iver.

I chose not to take my camera tonight, saving the weight and the effort of sneaking it in as I’ve photographed James before and frankly, he doesn’t do very much does he!? There’s not a lot to look at when the musician you’re watching is a guy sitting down as his keyboard. I wish I had though cos the lighting was fantastic! What you can see here are suspended bulbs, lighting up in turn and reflecting the bigger stage lights. Once again, thank you phone camera for pulling through.

Next stop:
The Drums + Cloud Control + The History of Apple Pie
Mon 5th Dec - The Junction, Cambridge