11.9.2006
I’ve been a big fan of James Blundell since his Hand It Down CD back in 1988, first saw him on the Ray Martin Midday show way back then. I have since bought all of his releases, though In the last few years I’d become disillusioned with James. In my opinion, his latest cd Deluge, is comparatively his weakest release to date.
On Friday night I tossed up whether to go and see James’ free up-close and intimate, just him and his acoustic guitar show at the Deck Bar (Ex-Petty Sessions) in Darwin. I went – it was the best concert from anybody, I’ve seen for years! James rocked the place like a 20 yr old! He did a mixture of his own material and everyone else’s – Jackson Brown’s Stay, The Church’s Unguarded Moment, Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, Peter Allen’s I Still Call Australia Home and at one stage he did a tribute to the Vietnam Vets. He did 3 Vets songs in a row – Redgum’s I Was Only Nineteen, Chisel’s Khe Sanh and his own Postcards From Saigon! He did stuff from his very first album all the way to his most recent – was probably on stage for 3 hours – and he looked like a man who loved every second of it! During the breaks and after the show he was happy to mix with the punters, shaking hands, signing stuff and posing for photos – even congratulated me on my vocal prowess when singing along in the crowd (for which I’ve been embarrassed ever since).
Like I said, it was the best show I’ve seen in years, so if you get the chance to see James live, do yourself a favour, get in there, get up front and sing along – you’ll love it, I promise!
Welcome back to the top of the list James!
James brought along a young 21yr old support singer from Kununurra in WA – she’s a talented, pretty little thing with a big mob of brown hair and plays a neat guitar – one to keep an eye on …..if only I could remember her name!