Seeing Blake

This Saturday just gone, I went to see Blake with my friend at The Forum. I loved it! When I was younger, I wasn’t particularly into classical but over the past few years, I’ve grown to love it. My taste in music is varied, from rock to pop, to dance over to classical etc.

Blake. Courtesy of wikipedia.

This was a rare occasion where both I and my friend dressed up so smartly. I had bought a long, beautiful purple dress with a tiny bit of detail that was little diamantes near the straps. I wore gorgeous silver, diamante jewellery set with a matching hair slide pinning the side of my hair up. My friend wore a tie and shirt. He had forgotten that I told him my dress was purple and he wore a purple tie, ha ha! Our outfits were perfect for a classy night enjoying classical music.

Anyway back to Blake, I was rather excited to see them J for those of you who don’t know who they are, well let me tell you a bit about them. They are a classical boy band (in their own words) which consist of four guys; Stephen Bowman, Jules Knight, Humphrey Berney and Ollie Baines. They have achieved overseas success selling over one million records with three international releases, two of which were nominated for Album of the Year in the UK; one is a classical Brit Award winner.

They have toured the world and even supported Katherine Jenkins on her tour. Often they have sung for charity, such as Marie Curie, Cancer Research UK, and the British Heart Foundation and Forces charities such as Help for Heroes, the Royal British Legion and the Army Benevolent Fund. The song ‘Beautiful Earth’ was released as the WWF’s anthem for Earth Hour 2010.

The show consisted of the boys and their musician, Martin who played on the grand piano, keyboard and the Apple Mac. As a guest featured the local Abbey Musical Theatre group who sang as our choir who were good.

Blake on stage.

Blake sang many of their songs, some covers such as Chasing Cars, God Only Knows. Whatever song whether it be an original or a cover, they always put their stamp on it and it is always good to hear. They took us on a bit of an emotional journey. In the middle of the show, the emotion went quite sad and emotional with the boys dedicating one song to Jule’s late father and a song to Berney’s late sister with dedications to the Forces. One song that captivated me was Lullaby; I could feel my eyes welling up. Before things got too morbid, they soon sang more uplifting songs. We got an exclusive performance of their new upcoming single, Start Over is really uplifting and I felt it is perfect timing for me as I’m trying to start a new in my life.

You cannot fault the boys voices, they were just spot on. The harmonies blend beautifully. I couldn’t decide whose voice I love the most as they are all good.

One great highlight of the night was meeting Blake, this was after the show. Prior to the show starting, I and my friend bought a programme and a CD each. We got signed when we met the boys. Barney and Ollie seemed really chatty with me, with Ollie making a little joke about us colour coordinating and with the back rest of my wheelchair. I still can’t believe how nervous I felt when I met them, my voice went a bit wobbly or it felt like it did! I thought it was really kind of them to write a nice message to me in my programme and posed for me when I asked to take a group photo. I was very happy and excited about meeting these four handsome young men. I hope I get to meet them again when they tour here next time. Hopefully I won’t get as nervous next time and that they will remember me which I’m sure they will, as most people never seem to forget me (for some unknown reason).

From left to right; Ollie, Jules, Stephen and Berney

After all the excitement of seeing and meeting Blake, me and my friend decided to just go for a drink before we head back home.  I even had my first alcohol drink in a few months! Only one for me though. J So overall, great company, brilliant show, feeling glamorous and meeting the boys meant I had a very lovely night indeed!

My signed message off the boys.

http://youtu.be/D0AH3JqFvEU This is Blake's Start Over music video. Enjoy!