CHICAGO | For his Chicago stop, James Blake played beneath the star-painted ceilings of the Aragon Ballroom on the night of October 14th. When I asked my friend Alex what I should wear to the James Blake concert, she told me to come dressed in something that said, “Ethereal Sadness.” She wouldn’t be wrong; UK artist James Blake has built a successful career by performing heartbreaking ballads which his fans have fallen in love with. However, Blake has been revisiting his roots in experimental electronica more recently; in September of this year, he released his electronic album Playing Robots into Heaven and started his corresponding tour in the US at the beginning of October.
Before Blake took the stage, his bandmate and fellow electronic musician Airhead opened the show. Airhead — the pseudonym for electronic producer and frequent James Blake collaborator Rob McAndrews — was surrounded by a mixing station and keyboard, introducing the crowd to his self-produced bass loops that made for a fun pre-show dance party.
After Airhead left the stage, the crew started to set up for James Blake’s set. Through the smoky atmosphere and dim purple lighting, one could make out three instrumental setups on stage: a synthesizer, drums, and two adjacent keyboards. As the lights dimmed, Blake’s drummer, Ben Assiter, and synth player/bassist, Rob McAndrews, approached their instruments to the ambient tones of the title track of Playing Robots Into Heaven. Walking onto the stage, Blake sat down at the keys to provide the vocals to the first song of the night, “Asking to Break,” the first track of his new album.
The feather-light falsetto of Blake’s vocals was a beautiful contrast to the heavy bass that shook the ballroom floors. The bass was steadfast throughout the night, stealing the spotlight during the song “Limit to Your Love,”; a powerful cover ballad off of his 2011 album. Although the album version only consists of drums and piano behind Blake’s rich vocals, the added bass in the live version gave the song new gravity while seamlessly fitting it into his primarily electronic set.
As the night continued, the performance picked up speed into a crescendo of strobe lights and high-tempo hits like “Fall Back” and “Tell Me.” The live drums gave these faster tracks the crisp beat they needed to fill the dancefloor. The crowd was always in motion, whether they were swaying to Blake’s emotional piano-heavy songs or dancing to his techno music.
There was something so hypnotic about this performance that made it so different from any other electronic show I had ever seen before, but I couldn’t tell exactly what it was. “Every single thing that you’re hearing- there isn’t a single sound that is being automated from behind us,” said Blake. That was it; James Blake and his band played every element of his electronic music live.
“I’ve always wanted to play electronic music but play it like a band.” Blake said to the crowd, “I’m really glad there’s still people out there who appreciate that. Sometimes it feels like we are trying to do something that’s a dying art. But anyway, it’s nights like this that make me feel like it’s not a dying art.”
Other highlights of the performance included his performances of “Mile High” and “Hummingbird,” tracks that were recorded with Travis Scott and Metro Boomin, respectively. To conclude his set, Blake serenaded the audience with his cover of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed” and a surprise performance of “Say What You Will” from his 2021 album Friends That Break Your Heart, inviting the audience to join into the chorus during the latter.. In response, the crowd gave him ethereal echoes of the line “Say what you will,” and to end the night, Blake played Modern Soul, a hauntingly beautiful track off of his 2016 album. The mix of techno and delicate tracks made for a night of high energy and emotions you can’t find anywhere else.
After the show ended, I talked to some concertgoers about what they thought of Blake’s set. I met Carmen, who had the pleasure of seeing James Blake for the first time in concert. “[The show] was all-encompassing of sound, environment, lights…it felt very thought through and artistic.” When asked about how she felt about his return to his electronic roots, she said she loved it, “I think post-pandemic it’s a good uplifting vibe, but he’s still in touch with his artistic lyrical side. I like the juxtaposition.”
I had to agree. The juxtaposition Blake created was quite compelling. Even though I knew I would like both genres Blake performed, I was curious how they would blend in a live setting. Alex, who accompanied me to the show, was specifically impressed by the production of the live electronica, “When he was talking about trying to play electronica as a band, I feel like that really connects the different elements of what he’s been trying to do for multiple eras now.”
Overall, the concert was genre-bending and blending in a way that’s utterly unique to James Blake. While he has not concluded his US tour, Chicago will be eagerly awaiting his return to the States.