JAMES BLAKE @ Palais Theatre – July 31st 2013

“Hump Day” at work has definitely gotten the better of me, however I have the ultimate cure in store – James Blake at Palais Theatre tonight.

I haven’t made the trek to St Kilda in almost two years, and one of those last excursions was to see Blake’s 2011 performance at Prince Bandroom . While I enjoyed his 2011 eponymous debut album, the club show didn’t really do it for me. Blake and his band’s performance wasn’t to blame but the gig just had the awkward and sombre tone of a funeral. Maybe it was because James Blake was a breakaway in bringing post-dubstep to the masses and they weren’t quite ready for what they were witnessing but either way I am praying that tonight will have a more lively and reactive audience!

I get in early and am escorted to a great seat close to the front (and little do I know that Blake will be performing in the aisle that I’m looking down). Supporting act Oliver Tank  is far better live than the expectations I’d formed from his studio material and he has an endearing charm. ‘ Help you breathe ’ was definitely the standout and was delivered with effusive honesty. Interestingly this was followed by an electroacoustic cover of ‘ Beautiful ’ by Snoop Dog feat. Pharrell . The only thing which I would love to see from Tank in future is a little less use of auto-tune.

During the interval I get dirty looks as I crack out my knitting but hey, it’s a sit-down concert and a free country! I’m excited for James Blake to start and eagerly anticipate his new material. His sophomore album Overgrown , released this year, immediately shook of the post-dub pigeon-hole that some thought he might be trapped in. It also displayed his difference, artistry and cunning intuition as a musician. Blake plays with many genres on the album ranging through ambient, hip hop, RnB and electronic soul. While Overgrown is balanced as a single cell, I can only imagine how well the tracks will mesh with his earlier, and will make for a very dynamic show.

Such a dramatic entrance! Blake and his band walk into the darkness backlit by simple white stage lights. My compliments to the lighting team (they really took the whole show to the next level). ‘ Life Around Here ’ is one of my favourite songs on Overgrown and the second track they pull out. Sharp stabs of machine drum against organic high-hats are a joyous accompaniment to Blake’s RnB crooning. For those of you that haven’t listened to this one I suggest you get your ears around it.

It would be great to get up and dance but I think Blake suits a seated performance (or at least his fans do; some people just can’t groove to those accents on the third, as I witnessed at his last performance). The crowd goes crazy when he launches into ‘ CMYK ‘. I consider this furore against the time when I saw Pearson Sound  go unnoticed last year in a crowd at Dimensions festival (the head honcho of Hessle Audio who released Blake’s first three track EP). I wonder if Blake even anticipated the kind of success he’d see this quickly in his career. Ben Assister kills it on the drums, executing syncopated snares for some big-room 2 step. My legs want to move and the whole sitting thing has really gotten to me!

The next treat and revisitation of the James Blake album is ‘ Limit to Your Love ’, this time its end is reworked and taken deeper into dark 2006 dubstep. Despite knowing the popularity of the artist and his inspirations, I can’t truly believe what I am witnessing sonically. Thick reverberations throb and undulate at me from a stack of d&b audiotechniks; a theatre filled with hypnotised faces. The eighteen year old inside me writhes in delight, experiencing the same sine wave shudders that I did when I first heard this new level of subbass. Minimal percussion bounces around negative space, reminiscent of Digital Mystikz ’s work which inspired a younger Blake (one of my own favourites too with Mala being the eponym of my cat!) While the basslines are ominous, James Blake’s voice is pure and haunting.

I am 100 per cent dazzled by the production value of this show, and Blake commands the respect that he deserves. While many clasp their hearts during his encore performances of ‘ The Wilhelm Scream ’ and solo rendition of ‘ A Case of You ’, I was most blown away by ‘ Voyeur ’. Blake uses the track to introduce the band’s new dance-centric project 1-800-Dinosaur . While you may have heard the track before, hearing it performed live was something entirely different. The cowbells become so energetic and you feel a heat in this 120bpm electro sound that you may not have felt since Digitalism or even Vitalic . The warped basslines are emphasised and I watch people straining to keep themselves in their seats. If there was ever a better way for a live artist to sell their DJ set, I’d like to see it.

Leaving Palais Theatre, I am a bigger Blake fan than when I left his last concert. He is truly fearless and carving new paths for both pop and live electronica.

REVIEW BY  SONIA MILES KHAN

WORDS BY Sonia Miles-Khan

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