Review: James Blunt at Vector Arena (+photos)

James Blunt performing at Vector Arena. Photo / Getty Images

There were reports this week that James Blunt wouldn't be playing piano during his New Zealand shows because he'd broken a finger while stage diving at a concert in North Carolina last month.

British tabloid newspaper the Sun quoted the singer-songwriter as saying the incident occurred after he jumped off the stage at the end of a gig and was "chased by women - and even some men - in the crowd".

You'd think that claim would make hardened Kiwi blokes blush, but casting a quick eye over the four-deep crush of fans standing in front of the stage at Vector Arena before last night's concert even began, the men appeared to outnumber the women.

That's not to say the female fans weren't out in force. Many of them started singing before Blunt had even played a note.

He opened with the popular ballad Give Me Some Love from his All the Lost Souls album and it didn't take long before the audience was swept up into the performance and singing along to his early hit High.

Despite the reports of a troublesome pinky, Blunt tinkled the ivories himself in Goodbye My Lover, I'll Take Everything and a raw and passionate rendition of No Bravery, a song he wrote about Kosovo, where he spent time as a member of a NATO peacekeeping force.

Blunt's time in the army had earlier been mentioned by the lead singer of support act Lucid 3, who dedicated the group's song The Soldier to him.

Showing a refreshing ability to poke fun at himself, Blunt joked that two of his songs are currently the most popular choices for wedding and funeral services in Britain.

"I've got life and death pretty much covered in the charts," he said, adding he might try for a bar mitzvah record next.

Highlights of the 90-minute performance included old favourites You're Beautiful, Wisemen and Annie.

And though in a couple of places his voice sounded a little strained - most likely the result of a gruelling performance schedule - Blunt is that rare thing, a musician who sounds exactly the same in concert as he does on the stereo.

By the time he and his band returned to the stage for their encore - a three-song set of One of the Brightest Stars, Same Mistake and 1973 - the audience was hyped ... and if Blunt had decided to engage in another spot of crowd diving, he may well have found himself with several more broken fingers.