James Blake « Trying Times Tour »

James Blake brings the Trying Times Tour to O2 Academy Bristol on 28 October 2026. London-born singer, producer and pianist, he built a singular space between electronic music and intimate songwriting. From early club-rooted EPs to his self-titled debut and beyond, Blake has paired sparse piano lines with sub-bass pressure, fractured samples and vocal harmonies that hover just above the mix. On stage, those contrasts breathe: songs ease in with quiet keys before folding into heavier pulses, then fall back to a stripped core.

Over the years, Blake has widened his palette through collaborations with Bon Iver and Kanye West and by weaving gospel shades, R&B textures and UK bass into his writing. The Trying Times Tour reconnects these threads, revisiting key tracks alongside fresh material shaped live with synths, keys and electronics. The set moves between meditative ballads and club-leaning rhythms, guided by his light falsetto and a sharp sense of space, for a show that leans on dynamics rather than spectacle at O2 Academy Bristol.