There Is No Limit To James Blake

By Jake Guidry in Arts & Entertainment on May 16, 2011 8:40PM

When Schuba's rapidly sold out of tickets for James Blake's May 15 show and moved it to its big brother venue, Lincoln Hall, it was a microcosm of Blake's young-but-exciting career.

Blake has seen a rapid ascent to popularity since becoming Pitchfork's poster child for electronic music. Just a year ago Blake surely would have been a fit for Schuba's smaller space, but after a critically successful run of releases including his self-titled debut LP, he's blown up and become the punch line of hipster pissing contests all over the world. But regardless of whatever buzz Blake may have conjured with the help of Pitchfork, he's still one of the brightest stars in an impressive list of up-and-coming UK electronic musicians. He only solidified this with an incredible show last night at Lincoln Hall.

Accompanied by a drummer and guitarist, Blake took the stage to generous applause and humbly jumped right in. With minimal chatter, Blake and his band played an intimate set that spanned his limited discography. Blake's soulful voice crooned over Lincoln Hall's brilliant sound system, and the crowd could do nothing but watch intently, as if history was in the making. At one point Blake even mentioned this eerie quietness and continued on charming the sold-out venue. The 1-hour set's highlights were indeed his two biggest songs to date, "Limit To Your Love" and "Wilhelm Scream", which were played back to back at the penultimate segment of the show. There was not a moment over the course of those sixty minutes that Blake did not sound excellent or did not completely engage the audience. Bathrooms were empty and bars were abandoned for the duration, proof-positive of Blake's stop-what-you're-doing-and-watch allure. And at the tender young age of 22, Blake's future is limitless.