As of: March 10, 2024, 5:13 p.m
By: Kathrin Brack
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Full commitment: James Blunt exhausts himself and his voice in the sold-out Olympic Hall.
© Martin Hangen
James Blunt mixes a wild tempo with moments of heartbreak at his concert in the sold-out Olympiahalle.
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Suddenly James Blunt jumps off the stage, which is open on all sides.
And starts sprinting through the seated arena.
While his band continues to play “Coz I luv you” by Slade as an instrumental version, the Brit high-fives the fans at high speed and runs to the end of the hall, so quickly that his cameraman can hardly follow him.
Blunt, who recently celebrated his 50th birthday, has the energy of at least three Duracell bunnies in the sold-out Olympic Hall this Saturday evening.
He needs that at the pace he sets on stage.
Without much banter, the guitar strapped on, the singer starts with “Beside you” from his current album “Who we used to be”.
Previously, the Tors, a trio from Devon, got the audience in the mood with enchanting indie folk.
“I’m only going to play new songs today,” Blunt announces with mock seriousness.
Of course, he also plays older songs on the tour, which has the same title as the album, including “Wisemen,” “Carry you Home” and “Stay the Night.”
The fact that the man with the falsetto voice only knows sad songs turns out to be a fallacy.
Presumably to the surprise of the numerous men in the audience, who apparently came to the concert for the ladies' sake, there are a lot of danceable songs among the 20 songs.
Which at least tempts some people to tap along.
But James Blunt is at his strongest when he's not jumping around the stage like a driven man.
He is at his strongest when he sits down at the piano and does what one does with a voice like that - lament the suffering of the world: "Dark Thoughts", which he wrote for the actress Carrie Fisher, with whom he was a close friend .
“Goodbye my Lover” about the end of a great love.
Or “The Girl that Never Was,” in which he deals with a miscarriage.
He cleverly mixes these moments, the light and the fateful ones.
And he exhausts himself and his voice on this evening, where he of course also celebrates the big hits.
“You're beautiful”, “OK” and “1973”: In the end his hard work was worth it.