JAMES Blunt rolled into Bournemouth to give fans a rousing performance at Bournemouth International Centre.

Rather than a main act and a support it was really a two for one on Sunday night at the BIC.

Unlike many opening acts, the crowd arrived early and the hall was packed for Lucy Spraggan’s opening set.

The crowd not only turned up but were vocal in their support for someone who has really developed their craft and performed some outstanding songs from the entirety of their back catalogue.

The people around me seemed to know every word of every song and sang along from the first note to the final chord and was a performance worthy of a solo tour that could well sell out the BIC in its own right.

After a short break, James Blunt bounded on to the stage and immediately went from one side of the audience to the other waving them out of their seats and encouraging them to participate in what was an outstanding evening of entertainment.

Beside You and Saving A Life opened before a rousing Wisemen kept the crowd on their feet.

What followed was a set that he jokingly described as “miserably songs” but the energised crowd took as the exact opposite.

From Mexican waves during High, the obligatory phone torch light display during Same Mistake, to a foray into the crowd, the night was anything but miserable. James is a man who knows his strengths and the crowd love him all the more for it.

The set list was varied ranging from the smash hit You’re Beautiful to six songs from his new album and a raft of favourites in-between.

This may have been the last gig of the tour but no-one on stage looked to be road weary and ready to go home.

After a brief three song encore rounding off the night that’s exactly what he did but not before leaving the crowd with a rousing version of 1975 and enough memories to last until the next time he rolls into Bournemouth.