Concert Review: James Blake – Shed 10, July 17, 2019

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James Blake performed to an Auckland crowd at Shed 10 last night for the first time in six years, delivering a wildly diverse set underpinned by a remarkably powerful and mature voice.

The 30-year-old British singer-songwriter has spent the better part of the decade denigrated to a muddled genre of ‘sad boy electronica’, while last night’s performance indicated a level of depth and awareness far beyond that easy, early critique of his sound.

Opening for Blake was Connan Mockasin, who gave one of the most bizarrely defeatist performances I’ve ever witnessed on stage. Wearing a bucket hat, sunglasses, and holding a glass of red wine and an acoustic guitar in his hands, I still can’t decide which – if any – parts of his performance were genuinely sensitive or deeply passive aggressive.

Following an opening tune that sounded closer to someone tuning a guitar, and a deathly silence from the crowd before a polite smattering of applause, Mockasin quietly addressed the crowd and indicated that they ‘just talk amongst themselves’ – a request they promptly followed leaving Mockasin to drink and pointlessly pluck at his guitar, apparently to nobody.

During a surprise early appearance by Blake on stage for a duet, the singer jokingly whispered ‘oh, now you’re quiet’ before Blake’s naturally dominating voice outshone the quiet, gentle harmonising from his performance partner. Finishing with a cover of I Will Always Love You, which I – again, wildly confused – cannot decide was on-stage musical disintegration or just an excuse to sarcastically sing the line ‘We both know I’m not what you, you need’, Mockasin vanished as though he had never performed in the first place.

Whether by result or by accident, the sheer volume and depth of sound from the opening moments of Blake’s set made the singer impossible to ignore, with the glass-rattling bass of Assume Form leading into the heavy synths of Life Round Here and Timeless. With Blake displaying an incredibly upbeat and comfortably restrained stage presence alongside supporting musicians Rob McAndrews and Ben Assiter, the harrowing sadness in his voice felt deeply relatable, yet never dipped into an area of self-pity or manufactured melancholy.

This was easily the most impressive part of Blake’s performance last night, expertly guiding the crowd through a range of genre variations – from booming bass and underground dubstep influences, to long, flowing tribal electronica and gentle, delicate solo piano – while never losing control of his undeniably brilliant voice. The natural, authentic nature of this meant Blake did what very few performers manage: he gave something to everyone, satisfying the diverse range of fans in the crowd without compromising his increasingly mature, personal sound.

Incredible bass – and Shed 10 acoustics best-suited to heavy electronica – highlighted each musical diversion from song to song, providing an authentic flow to the set as a whole when this could have easily been polarising for any crowd.

Closing with the crowd-pleasing Retrograde and Wilhelm Scream, Blake jokingly apologised for New Zealand’s recent cricket defeat against England, spoke frankly and briefly about the importance of mental health and discussing pain, and thanked Connan Mockasin in lieu of the crowd – ‘next time he comes back you better be quiet’. An encore included the egomaniacal cry for help of Don’t Miss It and a solo piano cover of the Joni Mitchell song, Case of You.

At the end of the concert, there was a feeling of affirmation and rediscovery; that James Blake is exactly as a fan of his music would expect, but somehow capable of exceeding expectations in almost every way – encouraging me to revisit his entire discography and marvel at just how far this young musician has grown in under a decade.

Oxford Lamoureaux

Click on any image to few a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk.

James Blake

Connan Mockasin

James Blake setlist:

Assume Form
Life Round Here
Timeless
Mile High
I’ll Come Too
Barefoot In The Park
Limit To Your Love
Love Me In Whatever Way
Are You In Love
Can’t Believe The Way We Flor
Loathe To Roam
Where’s The Catch
Voyeur
Retrograde
Wilhelm Scream
Don’t Miss It
Case Of You

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