James Blunt and Lacey
The Capital FM Arena, Nottingham
November 22nd, 2014
Regular visitors to this blog will know
that I am a big fan of Nottingham band Lacey, so when they announced that they
had been chosen to support James Blunt for the Nottingham date of the UK leg of
his World Tour we had to go..... no matter what the cost.
Tonight's show was Lacey's first ever arena
show and even though they are more used to playing smaller venues they had no
problem fitting themselves and their sound to the size of the arena.
Lacey's usual line up is Graham Turner, Joshua Lewin, David Pearson and Peter Maksymiw, however tonight they have also been joined by Pete Mugleston, who is a
former member of the band and is supporting with backing vocals and guitar.
Starting their set with 'Burning Out' from
their EP 'Outlaws', Lacey got the show off to a great start and immediately
grabbed the audience's attention.
The rest of their set consisted of 'Change
the Story' and 'Find A Way', which are songs from their upcoming album 'Under
The Brightest Lights', which is set for general release in the new year
following a successful pledgemusic campaign.
'Change
the Story' is an upbeat song which got some of the audience dancing in their
seats, whereas 'Find A Way' is a big sounding anthem which fit into the arena
setting perfectly. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjRaAPz3JAQ )
Half way through the set they slowed things
down a little when Graham took to the stage alone to perform 'Wait Till
Tomorrow'. This song is also featured on
the forthcoming album and is a pure ballad which really showcases the range and
strength of Graham's voice. Having followed Lacey for quite a while now I
knew that Graham had a great voice but hearing him sing a purely acoustic song
with just the one guitar gave me goose bumps from the opening note right
through to the last. (Check it out on
YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHKouBACaUg )
Next on the set list was 'Contender', a
song which features on both the 'Outlaws' EP and the 'Under The Brightest
Lights' album. It is also the song which included the lyric that the album took
its title from. Contender is another
powerful ballad which is sung from the heart and really allows you to become engrossed
in the music.
Finishing with 'Tonight', which Lacey have
just recorded as a single at the Steel City Studios, they finished their set in style and left the stage
to rapturous applause, proving to everyone that they have everything it takes
to make their mark on the world.
Although this is the most I have ever paid
for a ticket to see Lacey they have proved that they are worth every
penny. This may have been their first
arena show but something tells me that it definitely won't be their last one!
I will be honest and admit that I only
bought the ticket to see Lacey, as although I didn't mind James Blunt's music
when I have heard it played on the radio I have never been an avid fan, however
I have to admit that I enjoyed his set.
Starting the night with 'Face the Sun'
James Blunt launched into his epic set which lasted for around an hour and
three quarters.
In keeping with the moon landing theme
Blunt and his band were kitted out in space style jumpsuits, which led him to
quip that they had come as astronauts and not the Ghostbusters!
There were a lot of James' songs that I had
never heard before as I had only ever heard his songs on the radio. However, songs in his set that I did recognise
were 'Wisemen', 'High', 'Carry You Home', 'Goodbye My Lover' and 'You're Beautiful'.
I also found that I really enjoyed songs
called 'Smoke Signals', 'Bonfire Heart' and 'When I Find Love Again'.
Between songs James spent time talking to
the audience which allowed his personality to show through. He seemed to have quite a dry sense of humour
and he made quite a few digs at his own expense regarding his height and his
'miserable songs'.
Blunt sent the crowd into a frenzy when he
leapt off the stage and ran through the crowd around the arena high fiving everyone
he encountered. He also attempted
something that I have seen many bands do before, where they get the crowd to crouch
down and all jump up in unison, however was not as effective as the show was an
all seated event and jumping up from sitting on a chair did not really have the
same effect.
One effect he did manage was to get the
whole audience to turn in the torch app on their mobile phones and then asking
the lighting techs to turn off the house lights effectively creating a starry
sky for his rendition of 'Satellites', which looked absolutely stunning.
The show was ended by the brilliant number
'1973' and a virtual firework display on the large screen at the back of the
stage that also featured photographs of the crowds from various shows of the
tour.
It was obvious that a lot of money had been
invested into this tour as the laser light show was remarkable and the
projections on the screen at the back really fitted the theme and mood of the
show.
Although I went to the show solely to see
Lacey I really did enjoy James Blunt and would go see him again. Both Lacey and James Blunt gave us a cracking
show last night and although we usually begrudge paying arena prices I do think
that it was worth every penny.
