Writer: Bhoomika Ghaghada; Photojournalist: Manaswi Jinadra

Not a lot of things are worth going out for on a week night, but James Blunt sure is an exception to that rule. For the opening night of the Emirates Airlines Dubai Jazz Fest 2015, the 41-year-old singer& songwriter had crowds [men and women alike] swooning and singing along to unanimous favourites at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on Wednesday.

At the press conference before the concert, he let Emirates 24/7, among others, in behind the conception of his new album, ‘Moon Landing’: “I went back to find the man who wrote my first album Back to Bedlam 10 years ago, Tom Rothrock, we locked ourselves in the studio for 1 year, the album sounds old school, retro, nostalgic and lonely and that’s why we called it Moon Landing”

Relatively demure and soft spoken at the press conference, Blunt seemed to have flipped a switch as he took the stage with the opening number ‘Face the sun’ with a powerful wave of energy and emotion. Quickly followed by several upbeat tracks from his new album, ‘Moon Landing’, Blunt joked on-stage about the crowd wanting ‘miserable songs’, exclaiming “I’ve got an evening of misery for you!”

After playing Blunt classics like ‘You’re Beautiful‘ and ‘Goodbye, my lover‘, the musician dressed in a gray tee leaped to walk through throngs of people, and to the utter delight of many women, crowd-surfed effortlessly back to the stage. Back on stage, ending the night on a high note, he played ‘Bonfire Heart’ and finally, the hauntingly beautiful track ‘1973’ that made the entire arena tremble with sing-along voices. A memorable night for Dubai with a memorable man.

A lot more to look forward to at the Dubai Jazz Fest 2015 with Sting tonight and John Legend tomorrow.

Slightly related note: If you went from one James Blunt song to another through the links here, a virtual high-5!