Live Recap: James Blake at The Salt Shed; Great Times at the Trying Times Tour
James Blake returned to Chicago on Monday, June 8th, bringing his Trying Times Tour to the Salt Shed stage.
Backed by a live band, Blake took the stage just before 9PM— fittingly kicking off his show with the first song from Trying Times, entitled “Walk Out Music.”
The setlist featured a mix of the newer material from the aforementioned album and fan favorites from deeper in Blake’s discography, but no matter what he and the band played, his incredible vocals remained a consistent force throughout the night. Blake alternated between being stationed at his keyboard in the middle of the stage, wandering the stage instrument-free and occasionally playing guitar. “Don’t get too excited. I’ve got four chords,” Blake told the audience when he picked up the guitar to play “Make Something Up” from the new record. During the quieter and raw moments when it was just him and the piano, Blake’s vocals had a spotlight on them, but they never once wavered. It’s incredible to witness how Blake covers iconic songs like “Godspeed” by Frank Ocean and “A Case Of You” by Joni Mitchell and completely makes them his own. During the live performances of both of these tracks, the room remained so transfixed on the singer’s performance that you could hear a pin drop.
Of course, there were also crescendoing moments that contrasted with the softer songs. Take “Limit To Your Love”— another cover (this one by Feist)— or “Doesn’t Just Happen” for example. The bass was so visceral during those songs that you could physically feel it in your chest, even standing in the balcony of The Salt Shed. Blake also encouraged the crowd to sing along early on in the show. Before playing “I Had a Dream She Took My Hand,” Blake told the crowd “I don’t know who spread the rumor about me, but I actually love it when people sing along at my shows”— alluding to the rumor that he doesn’t like audience sing alongs.
Blake also took a few moments to get vulnerable with his fans during a few different moments in the set. Before playing the title track of his newest record, he told the crowd about how special the album was to him. “Every artist says that about every album they put out so that doesn’t really mean anything. But it was a rough time, it was trying times. This is the song that really cemented it, it’s called ‘Trying Times.’” He also opened up about his venture into being an independent artist, before he played his first song he released independently, “Thrown Around.”
One other aspect of the show that I appreciated as a fan was that James Blake didn’t have any elaborate production rigs for his show. This allowed us as the fans to really connect with his pure talent and focus on the music rather than any shiny distraction tactics. Blake also addressed that decision, telling the crowd, “I don’t normally play venues this big. I hope it’s alright there’s not a screen behind me showing my face at all times. It’s a vanity decision, and a cost one as well.” He further drove the point of connecting directly with the fans following that up by saying, “I’m gonna play a song now that means a lot to me, and I hope you’ll sing along”—and everyone obliged to sing along to “I’ll Come Too.”
The show wrapped up with a 3-song encore, including the beloved single “Retrograde” and the aforementioned Joni Mitchell cover, before ultimately wrapping up with “Say What You Will.”
Check out photos of the Chicago show below, and see where you can catch James Blake on tour next here.
