u/I-Have-Mono

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Definite /r/SNL hall of famer, too.

Palm trees everywhere, sunshine pouring over old buildings, patios full, streets waking up, and something good to do on every block.

This city is not a husk. It is alive as hell.

Mike, we need "Austin Powers 4" now!

To start, I’ve been going to James Blake shows for well over 15 years. In fact, the first show I saw him (shout out Rob McAndrews, who was playing that show too) on was in a basement with 23 other people! I’ve pretty much gone to every tour he has had since he started touring, smaller, then bigger and bigger. Obviously, we know the success he has had and the evolution in which his style, career, and musicality have evolved. I say all this to say I’ve read so many negative, nitpicking, petty takes about his setup, his song selection, and everything for this tour. I’ve got to admit that I started to buy into it, thinking that’s what all this had kind of devolved to: a very chill, love ballad, back to back show that you might fall asleep in. That wasn’t my assumption. Those are a summary of pretty much a lot of the comments I saw! So I was kind of bummed out a little bit, but, you know, we were still going, obviously, to last night’s show at the Greek Theater in LA, just not necessarily looking forward to it as usual.

Well, I’m here to say this: do not believe the haters. Last night’s performance on this tour was one of the best I’ve seen in his career. Period. His vocals have never sounded better. His stage presence was incredible and different than I’ve ever seen. His band could not have been more dialed in, more sharp, and the sound was freaking in 3D. I mean, it was engineered so tightly, I was blown away. The lighting, stage direction, everything was so well thought out. But let’s focus on the music, right? I love his full catalog, and last night, to me, was truly the best of both worlds. Yes, he didn’t do the “old stuff,” but holy shit, the arrangements for each song on the set list took it to another level. Seriously, the reinvention of some of those songs had my mind melting. We absolutely have to get some type of live album of some of these versions.

Anyway, I’m still reeling from last night, but I just wanted to pop in and say that because there have been a lot of people on here and other places who have expectations that simply don’t meet reality. But I’m here to tell you reality is shattering those expectations. If you still have a stop along the way, you HAVE to go see this show.