JAMES Blunt may be in the midst of a backlash, but a near sold-out Rod Laver Arena crowd weren't having a bar of that on Tuesday night.
Blunt has become a victim of his own success -- most notably the impossible to avoid 2005 hit You're Beautiful, which lead to a large dose of over-exposure.
While his second album All the Lost Souls has yet to spawn a song to connect with the masses the way You're Beautiful did, it is not without its charm.
I Really Want You moves from intimate to full-blown swagger and shows his voice can be powerful and not just passive.
Carry You Home is the kind of ballad his fans have come to expect while the upbeat 1973 throws a musical curve ball.
However, it's the songs from his debut Back to Bedlam that really ignite the crowd, which comprised mainly women and their perhaps dragged-along male partners.
Goodbye My Lover, High and No Bravery reminds you of the period when Blunt ruled the airways and You're Beautiful remains an anthem and "our song" for many couples in the crowd.
Melbourne's Gabriella Cilmi put in a rousing support set for what was her first hometown show.
Despite a G-rated wardrobe malfunction during her No.1 hit Sweet About Me, Cilmi proved that big soulful voice is indeed coming out of a 16-year-old girl from Dandenong.
A funky cover of Cry Me a River was a potent addition to her all-too-short set.
