Live Review: James Blunt at Golden Gate Park, 09/23/07

Live Review: James Blunt at Golden Gate Park, 09/23/07

The sun comes out for James Blunt, but heaven knows he's miserable now: Aidin Vaziri | As if there aren't enough reasons to hate James Blunt - his inescapable karaoke bar staple "You're Beautiful" being the first that comes to mind - it now appears he controls the weather. The minute the warbly British singer-songwriter stepped onstage to play his headlining set at Alice's Now and Zen Fest on Sunday, the clouds miraculously parted on an otherwise dreary day and beams of dazzling sunlight fell on the audience at Golden Gate Park's Sharon Meadow. What can't this guy do? Wearing a scruffy beard and furrowed brow, Blunt arrived with a set of musicians that looked suspiciously like Wings and immediately laid into one of his countless reedy ballads. By the third song he'd thrown out "You're Beautiful" and inadvertently dismissed a good chunk of the audience. It was a brave move considering the festival's past headliners (Duran Duran, Seal, Tears for Fears) had hits to spare. But Blunt, clearly disenchanted by his fortunes, judging by the barbed lyrics on his new album "All the Lost Souls," merely did it to make a point. "I know some of you came here to have fun," he said, introducing "Goodbye, My Lover." "So I'm going to play a really miserable song." Continue reading.