James Blunt - The Afterlove Tour, 25 March 2018

I had regretted not going to his first Singapore gig back in 2008 (I can't remember why not; but it was probably both time and finances) and had resolved to go if he's stopping anywhere close next round. So when it was first announced that James Blunt was finally making a stop in KL, I was like, yay. It was also announced earlier that the concert was going to be up in Genting, I was kinda like, "yay, now I have an excuse to take leave...?" My guess was that shit went down in the months since and THEN they announced that it was gonna be in this venue I've never heard of, Menara PGRM (I know the general idea of the area, but had never been there before). A bit WTF lah, in that respect, but at least I saved myself time and money staying in Genting....? 

Bought my ticket online from a ticketing company I had not heard of until this concert, because all their previous ticketing gigs were mostly for Chinese artists. They had advised collecting your actual ticket from them during office hours, so I did (luckily) their first day of work after CNY. 

Took a couple of wrong turns driving to the venue IN THE POURING RAIN and the covered parking/parking garage was RM5 flat rate on weekends. My only tip if you're ever driving there is that the ramps up and down are a little tight for wider cars, so WIDE turns. 

I saw a lot of confiscated umbrellas (cos it was raining) and bottled water at bag check. I think the RELA uncle saw my bottle, but let me bring it in because it wasn't in a plastic bottle and I was some of the last to arrive there. 

Here's the obligatory (at this point) merch table picture... 

The tee shirts were motherfucking expensive at RM160 each, caps were RM60 and I already forgot how much the posters were. If I had been drinking something, I would've done a spit take right there and then. Didn't buy anything. I would've if the tee shirts had nicer designs, but... meh. 

Because I had bought the ticket so long ago, I forgot I was supposed to head upstairs.. luckily I read the ticket right. It was so old, there was no worry about having to scan ANYTHING - you just show the usher your ticket and they'll guide you to your seat.

The balcony seating was alright (also a lot of white people and erm, other expats?), and there were more people in my side than the other (which only had like, 5 people, so it was like personal box seats for them). The place was about 70% full, so it was kinda sad but at least we had no problem getting them; he doesn't have the Ed Sheeran/Coldplay problem of tickets selling out quickly? It was also pretty chilly inside so I'm glad I wore sneakers so my feet were warm. The show started at 8.30 p.m. and ended around 10 p.m., so I can't complain about that.

Not quite nosebleed, but still. 

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The setlist was an okay mix of old and new songs; I hadn't been listening too closely to his newer albums since the second one. The man was as self-deprecating and sarcastic in person as he is on social media (that said, you need to follow him on Twitter). Halfway through the show, he let people mosh right in front of the stage, and people in the sad, designated standing areas got to move closer. Of course he did You're Beautiful, there would've been a revolt if he hadn't.

As quickly as I ran to the car when the show was over, it still took a while to leave the parking lot because it seemed like every car before me can't seem to scrape together the RM5 flat rate parking fee. Me, I was hoping I don't scratch or ding the car on the ramps going down. 

I don't know if he would've sold out a bigger venue had he come 10 years ago, but finally, I can cross James Blunt off the concert bucket list....!!!