Dubai: He may not have taken home any Brit Awards last week in London, but James Morrison sure did charm the crowds here at the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival this weekend.
On a chilly Dubai night under the stars with the Burj Khalifa twinkling off to stage left; loved-up couples gently swayed as Morrison, the closing act of the festival, delivered his heart warming tunes old and new.
Dressed in his usual black leather jacket, white t-shirt and jeans with guitar in hand, Morrison, the self professed hippie, did not disappoint and opened on time to a screaming crowd.
Clearly happy to be returning to Dubai after having played at last year's festival, Morrison was at home on stage, looking relaxed and casually chatting to his audience. At times he got intimate when, for example, talking about his father's passing before jumping into an emotional rendition of In My Dreams.
He seemed to make us forget the cold for a few minutes with a beautifully haunting performance of Up, with a back-up singer standing in for Jessie J. He then quickly got the crowd moving with an up-tempo, Michael Jackson inspired, Slave to the Music.
Taking it back to the beginning, Morrison closed his 70 minute set with You Give Me Something but not before making fun of his own haircut in that era over six years ago.
The crowds began filing out too soon, however, as he was quickly back for a 15 minute encore.
In a day and age where live performances are obliterated by dancers, lights, and pyrotechnics it was a refreshing change to watch a chilled out set on a simple stage.
Morrison had the ability of seemingly reducing the size of the large crowd to deliver an intimate and personalised performance with no fuss at all, just raw and gorgeous talent.
