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Setlist
Tour Dates
11/19/13 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre
11/20/13 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo 11/21/13 Portland, OR Roseland Theater 11/24/13 Guadalajara, Mx Teatro Estudio Cavaret 11/25/13 Condesa, Mexico El Plaza Condesa 01/25/14 "St. Jerome's Laneway Festival" 01/27/14 Auckland, New Zealand Silo Park 03/20/14 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works 03/23/14 Houston, TX House Of Blues 03/24/14 Austin, TX Emo's 03/25/14 Dallas, TX House Of Blues Read More
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For UK electronic artist James Blake, less is always more.
The 25-year old, in promotion for his second and latest full-length, Overgrown (Republic Records) has never felt the need to over-embellish his works or fill in un-necessary notes in the spaces in-between; and in a very sold-out 100 min. performance at Minneapolis’ First Avenue, we saw why he was this year’s recent winner of the coveted Mercury Music Prize.
Los Angeles-based producer/electronic artist Jason Chung, better known as Nosaj Thing opened with a 35 min. DJ set, promoting his own sophomore album, Home (on Innovative Leisure/Timetable), in almost total darkness.
The short timeframe did not unfortunately suffice to build and crest a proper DJ set, but he tried to make the most of it in shadow, with only a dim blue light above him and the illumination of the panel of his board present. Though people should have been dancing, the set became more background music to their conversations.
Blake began his set on stage- house right with similar minimal lighting, looping only his voice over itself in ‘I Never Learnt to Share’, joined on the left with Rob McAndrews on guitars/keys/samples and drummer Ben Assister in the center.
The backdrop featured 18 connected glass panels (in a 6 wide x 3 high configuration) that illuminated throughout and lit up two eye-like bulbs in each center, along with a standing lamp behind each performer, to up light them in more dramatic fashion.
Bass and low-end reverb could literally be felt traveling from your feet to chest as the band moved into ‘Life Round Here’, teasing their version of Drake’s ‘Come Thru’ near the end. ‘CMYK’ started with booming minimalistic beats, then transformed into a sampled, soulful samba as it finished.
There is a resolute starkness to Blake’s music that initiates a search for its beauty, like snow on the plains, as in the title track, ‘Overgrown’. “A while ago, we had the fortune to run into Brian Eno and make some music together, we going to try and do that justice”, Blake remarked as band kicked into the tribal-rhythms-in-an-airlock sound of ‘Digital Lion’, their collaboration with the revered musician.
“It’s always while singing that song… that somebody who’s graced this stage has covered that… and very well”, Blake mentioned after his spare rendition of Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’, “…he likes the color purple”, paying homage to Prince’s version.
Crowd response was strongest for his version of Feist’s ‘Limit to your Love’ and his debut single, ‘The Wilhelm Scream’. While much of the floor stayed (semi-)quiet during Blake’s set, the din of conversations could unfortunately often be heard on each side and from the back bar, especially during the more quiet numbers.
The encore for his 4th time playing the building, started much like the set’s beginning, with Blake attempting to loop his own voice over itself, acapella, to form a multi-octave chorus of one, for the two verses that make up ‘Measurements’.
“Please fall down, testing sounds…” he began singing, having to start the song three times due to crowd talking and errant yelling, which he took very gentlemanly. “Mob rules…I’ll do this as many times as I have to…and I like singing, so…”, Blake retorted, finally getting the silence he required.
There is a patience required to fully appreciate James Blake: the Antony-like falsetto with soul/gospel undertones against restrained, eggshell-delicate song structures that can eventually lead to a soul-vibrating crescendo. For those that are willing to take the trip, the aural rewards are rich; for the casual scenester, maybe it’s just like a modern art painting you don’t take the time to fully understand.
As the vocal loop of ‘Measurements’ continued after the trio had left the stage in dark shadows, those that were paying attention were much better off.
The 25-year old, in promotion for his second and latest full-length, Overgrown (Republic Records) has never felt the need to over-embellish his works or fill in un-necessary notes in the spaces in-between; and in a very sold-out 100 min. performance at Minneapolis’ First Avenue, we saw why he was this year’s recent winner of the coveted Mercury Music Prize.
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NOSAJ THING
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The short timeframe did not unfortunately suffice to build and crest a proper DJ set, but he tried to make the most of it in shadow, with only a dim blue light above him and the illumination of the panel of his board present. Though people should have been dancing, the set became more background music to their conversations.
Blake began his set on stage- house right with similar minimal lighting, looping only his voice over itself in ‘I Never Learnt to Share’, joined on the left with Rob McAndrews on guitars/keys/samples and drummer Ben Assister in the center.
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James Blake silhouette
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Bass and low-end reverb could literally be felt traveling from your feet to chest as the band moved into ‘Life Round Here’, teasing their version of Drake’s ‘Come Thru’ near the end. ‘CMYK’ started with booming minimalistic beats, then transformed into a sampled, soulful samba as it finished.
There is a resolute starkness to Blake’s music that initiates a search for its beauty, like snow on the plains, as in the title track, ‘Overgrown’. “A while ago, we had the fortune to run into Brian Eno and make some music together, we going to try and do that justice”, Blake remarked as band kicked into the tribal-rhythms-in-an-airlock sound of ‘Digital Lion’, their collaboration with the revered musician.
“It’s always while singing that song… that somebody who’s graced this stage has covered that… and very well”, Blake mentioned after his spare rendition of Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’, “…he likes the color purple”, paying homage to Prince’s version.
Crowd response was strongest for his version of Feist’s ‘Limit to your Love’ and his debut single, ‘The Wilhelm Scream’. While much of the floor stayed (semi-)quiet during Blake’s set, the din of conversations could unfortunately often be heard on each side and from the back bar, especially during the more quiet numbers.
The encore for his 4th time playing the building, started much like the set’s beginning, with Blake attempting to loop his own voice over itself, acapella, to form a multi-octave chorus of one, for the two verses that make up ‘Measurements’.
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Photo of Setlist
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There is a patience required to fully appreciate James Blake: the Antony-like falsetto with soul/gospel undertones against restrained, eggshell-delicate song structures that can eventually lead to a soul-vibrating crescendo. For those that are willing to take the trip, the aural rewards are rich; for the casual scenester, maybe it’s just like a modern art painting you don’t take the time to fully understand.
As the vocal loop of ‘Measurements’ continued after the trio had left the stage in dark shadows, those that were paying attention were much better off.
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James Blake at First Avenue, Minneapolis (11/15/13) |
