For the common stereotype that the male world has remained largely averse to the British singer and songwriter James Blunt, quite a lot of gentlemen cavort in the Frankfurt Festhalle, which is almost fully booked.

Sometimes with, sometimes without a female companion.

Everyone is happy that the "The Stars Beneath My Feet" tour is actually taking place on the fifth attempt after four postponements.

Already at the beginning of his best-of package, which contains around two dozen songs, Blunt shows tongue-in-cheek irony when, in view of the strict mask requirement inside the hall, he intones the swaying "Breathe".

More samples of black humor follow, after the fourth song Blunt greets the audience with the words: "It's nice that you came despite the mask requirement.

In England we ended the pandemic months ago.

What's going on here in Frankfurt?

It's all OK?

Are you all right?”

Blunt really gets into a buffoon mood and jokes about his own family.

"I suddenly realized that I have a wife, two children and a mother-in-law," he remarks dryly about the two-year pandemic break.

His family is mentioned again: "They think I'll be away for two weeks now, but my tour lasts a whole year," he grins mischievously.

To make it through the year of touring without a corona infection, Blunt puts on a terrifying gas mask during the pick-me-up "Coz I Luv You" by glam rock band icon Slade to dash around the arena like a dervish, shaking hands wildly and hugging others fiercely .

The graduate of the Sandhurst Military Academy should have been familiar with such a gas mask since his deployment in the 1999 Kosovo war.

When Blunt's greatest hits LP "The Stars Beneath My Feet Tour" was released in November 2021, on the cover of which he poses with a helmet, no one suspected how prophetically the photo anticipated the Ukraine war.

Photo of the audience as a souvenir

In the bright Frankfurt limelight, Blunt now presents himself as the likeable buddy next door.

And with his 48 years he still looks boyish.

Casually dressed in a blue polo shirt, jeans and trainers, he whispers ecstatically through his effortless pop-folk rock.

Mostly he picks up the acoustic guitar, a few times he also sits at the piano.

Apart from one or two exceptions, where going it alone is the order of the day, he is accompanied by his extremely competent band consisting of guitarist Ben Castle, drummer Karl Brazil, bassist Malcolm Moore and keyboardist Chris Pemberton.

Especially since the hall acoustics in Frankfurt's parlor are in a decidedly favorable balance.

Ballad-esque things like "High" and "Same Mistake" are particularly well received.

The smartphone lights go on during "You're Beautiful" as well as "Carry You Home" and "Goodbye My Lover".

For “Postcards”, Blunt not only picks up the ukulele, but also asks the crowd of visitors in a very definite tone to finally get up from their seats: “We are not in a theater performance here.” He remembers his own childhood in “ Monsters”, surrounded by black and white family photos high up on the three-part projection surface.

Subtle streams of electronic dance music ring out in "OK," a collaboration between Blunt and DJ and producer Robin Schulz.

At the end there is the song cycle with "1973".

Before the lights go on, Blunt makes a request to his audience: “I want a photo of you – hands in the air and everyone says bratwurst.” He takes his cell phone out of his jeans pocket and presses the shutter button.