James Arthur brought his Bitter Sweet Love tour to the Fillmore in Philadelphia. Forest Blakk had the opening slot on this insane night in the city of Brotherly Love. I arrived at the venue about 30 minutes befire the doors opened and about and hour and a half before the show time. After getting my pass and ticket I had to go to the end of the line. I've been to this venue many times before and had never seen a line like this. It was a 5-minute, 3-city block walk to the end.
Once I made my way inside I quicly realized how packed the venue was going to be. I needed to photograph from the back of the venue which was quite an impossible task due to the sheer amount of bodies. Forest Blakk hit the stage about 10 minutes late and quickly rallied the crowd. The second he hit the stage 2000 individuals raised their phones in the air. My mind was blown. His set was incredible. It was heart felt, emotional and grateful. Forest told amazing stories between songs about his life and his love. Everyone was brought to tears when he spoke about dating his wife and his marriage proposal. His music made so much sense after hearing him speak about the songs before performing them. He performed a 9-song set including his newly gold minted single "Fall Into Me".
There was an awkwardly long break before James Arthur hit the stage. More and more bodies tried to push their way onto the floor, there was literally nowhere to go. Finally James took the stage and the same 2000 cell phones hit the air. I started to finally understand cell phone-less events. It was awkard to the point that no one saw anything but someones phone infront of them.
James Arthur commanded the audience for a jam packed 15-song set. He covered his hits new and old, performed a few covers and invited Forest Blakk out to perform "Falling Like the Stars" with him. He performed his solo version of "From the Jump" which is currently blowing up because he has a duet version out now with Kelly Clarkson. He closed with his biggest hit, "Say You Won't Let Go". I guarentee if you told me when you started reading this that you had no idea who James Arthur was you'd now be saying, oh I know that song.
This was a crazy night filled with love songs, cells phones, screaming fans and tight quarters. The performers were top notch and definately deserved the crowd and possibly a larger venue.
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