Review and photos by Erika Reinsel
Showcasing his soulful voice and organic lyrics, James Blake performed at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philly on Saturday, 5/11. A man of few words, Blake hid behind his keyboards for most of the night; however, the sold out crowd was enthralled by every song. He told the audience at the start of the show that he hoped to “sweat out his fever”, but it’s safe to say no one noticed he was sick as soon as he began to croon. He performed numerous songs from his recently released LP Overgrown, but also dug into tracks from his eponymous debut. Blake ended his regular set with a beautiful rendition of “Retrograde”. Alone on his keyboard, he finished his 2-song encore with a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You”.
You can listen to Overgrown in its entirety (along with track-by-track commentary) on Spotify. Below is the official music video for “Retrograde”, the first single from Overgrown. Blake just wrapped up the US leg of his world tour and will be continuing on to Europe, Asia, and beyond. You can keep track of all of his upcoming tour dates here.
Keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
