James Blake – Commodore Ballroom – April 25, 2013
British singer-songwriter and electronic music producer, James Blake filled Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom with his ethereal vocals and steady beats. The university student heavy audience was clearly up for some dancing as they bounced and shook the night away. The Mercury nominated artist was following up his Coachella Music Festival shows with additional North American dates to promote his recently released album, Overgrown.
The Commodore Ballroom’s sound system was tested with some of James’ heaviest sounds but his, at times haunting, vocals balanced the hard driving beats. Surrounded by a plethora of electronics and instruments to sample and alter his vocals the artist was additionally aided by two backing musicians on drums and additional keyboards to build the sound even further. While most of his audience was enthralled with his performance there was a lot of chatter in the audience that was a bit distracting from the tunes. Nonetheless it was over an hour of beautiful singing, backed by terrific beats that enforced the talent of James Blake.
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