James Blake To Play Live Concert Online For Fans Amid Coronavirus Crisis

James Blake will be gifting his fans with a special Instagram Live concert later today, 23 March. The singer is set to perform for his fans on the social media platform at 7pm GMT amid the coronavirus crisis that has seen most of the world self-isolate to stop the spread of the virus.

Posting on Twitter, Blake wrote: “OK looks like we’re in this for the long haul so I’m jumping in… gotta play live for you guys somehow.”
Even though the concert is at 7pm, Blake initially mistakenly informed his fans that the Instagram concert would be at 8pm GMT. Correcting his mistake, he said: “Ok that’s 7pm GMT cause of some daylight savings nonsense. Sorry. It’s earth’s fault I got that wrong.”

Blake also joked suggested that he would be opening his virtual live set with a tongue-in-cheek song selection. He said: “Requests? I will of course be opening with ‘Imagine’.”

This comment comes as Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot led a star-studded rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’.

In a video posted to Instagram, Gadot began singing Lennon’s seminal track, before the likes of Will Ferrell, Jamie Dornan and Natalie Portman joined in to lift spirits. The DC Comics star explained that she had been in isolation for six days, and that the global spread of the disease had left her feeling “philosophical”.

Following a declaration in January to spend more time at his piano than at a laptop, Blake shared the second in a series of covers on his socials in March – a heart-wrenchingly beautiful rendition of Billie Eilish’s solemn ‘When The Party’s Over’, which he declared to be “One of my new favourite songs”.

Much like Eilish’s original recording, Blake’s version is sparse – just his falsetto vocals, softly accompanied by the piano. On his socials, the singer-songwriter tagged Eilish and her brother/collaborator, Finneas O’Connell, adding, “What a ridiculously good song this is”.

Listen to James Blake’s live concert on Instagram here.

Format: UK English