“The whole world tour practically has been a practice for the important concert, which is right here in Tbilisi, Georgia tonight” – James Blunt said jokingly at the press conference in Tbilisi for his final concert of the Afterlove world tour this month at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi.
James Blunt visited Tbilisi on 26th May within his Afterlove Tour, in sync with the celebration of “100 years of Independence”. During the concert, he performed hits from his album “Afterlove”, “Moon Landing ” alongside his legendary songs such as “Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover” from debut album Back to Bedlam.
“For me, it’s a celebration, I’ve been on a world tour since last year North America South America, Australia, Asia, Europe, this is my final show last before I go home, so today is a celebration for me and my band as well.”
The energetic and dynamic performance brought by James Blunt left Tbilisi audience screaming, jumping and amazed. In the crowd you would hear comments such as “He is so great live, he has not even taken a break once during the whole show”, “not surprised, he is a former military”.
Blunt was a reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and served under NATO in the Kosovo War in 1999. In his interview, he told the BBC that he was responsible for “preventing World War III” by refusing the command of firing the Russian troops. Blunt was at the head of a column of 30,000 Nato troops with his unit when he refused the command at the risk of a court-martial.
As singer-songwriter, former British Army officer, influencer and above all a human being, James is honest as can be in his art.
Forbes Georgia: With your recent album, it feels as if songs are much more open and personal in a way compared to the albums that came after “Back to Bedlam”. What was the motivation behind this particular album?
James Blunt: ”I’m just a bit older, simple as that(laughing) to be honest, I’ve always written personal songs. I suppose most people think I write romantic songs which is a confusion, I’m just writing what it means to be a human in a life, I suppose having toured the world and it’s my fifth time having a world tour, I write songs relevant not to just place where I come from which is England, but to everyone across the world.”
In his recent song “Someone singing along”, James brings attention to important issues such as the divide between the nations as well as the Syrian war which is the main theme in the music video. With “Someone Singing along” which was one of the crowd favorites during his live performance in Tbilisi, James encourages people “to see our similarities and not be afraid of each other”.
Forbes Georgia: How important do you think it is for artists of your scale and influence to bring attention to issues that you present in “Someone Singing Along” particularly the Syrian conflict and the divide between the people”.
James Blunt: “I don’t think it’s important just for singers and musicians, I think it’s important for all of us. Because information we given by politicians – they are trying to divide us, Europe/ America, across the world, telling us people are different from us. We can go on social media and listen to extremes. Touring the world the audience I play to, the color of your skin might change but you still connect to the song with the human emotion and so regardless of all the politicians trying to divide us, I only see our similarities and so we should try and not be afraid of each other, build bridges between each other.
Tbilisi concert has been a final performance until June, James will head back to Europe with his band for the upcoming 32 shows, capping off the “Afterlove” tour in Bath, England.
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