BLUR – WEMBLEY STADIUM, LONDON, Saturday 8th July 2023.
On a humid July evening, almost 28 years after my first live encounter with Blur at Brighton’s recently demolished Paradox Club (also previously known as Sherrys, The Pink Coconut and Hedkandi) on Tuesday 19th September 1995 when the band were at the peak of their powers, I found myself (along with around 90,000 others) eagerly anticipating their appearance on stage at Wembley Stadium playing the first of two consecutive nights.
The band’s first hit single ‘There’s No Other Way’ peaked at number 8 on the UK singles chart in April 1991, those distinctive opening guitar chords always provided an instant signal for the floor to fill at Brighton’s much lamented Gloucester Club (now the North Laine Brewhouse) and it led me to purchase their first three albums ‘Leisure’, ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ and of course the four-times platinum ‘Parklife’ which came to define the heady days of Britpop.
The band have plenty of history with Brighton and first played the town (as it was) in a low-key show at the influential Zap club in 1990 supported by Suede and returned again in 1992 to The Event II (now Pryzm) this time with Sleeper as support. They have since visited the Brighton Centre on several occasions, the last time being two decades ago in December 2003. Brighton connections over with, back to tonight.
First things first, there were four support acts. Kicking things off was a warm-up DJ set from one of my snooker heroes Steve Davis who has reinvented himself, casting off his boring tag some years ago and playing to music fans on festival stages across Europe including Glastonbury. Teaming up with his friend John Doran, (who incidentally is the co-founder and Editor at The Quietus), their set was both eclectic and enjoyable, I just wish it had been longer.
The other acts Jockstrap, Sleaford Mods and Self Esteem were not necessarily to my taste as my mind wandered enviously to the lucky Sunday punters who got to enjoy Paul Weller and The Selecter as their warm up.
No matter, it was Blur I’d come for and they certainly didn’t disappoint as they treated the sold-out crowd to a sensational 25 track set which encompassed a nostalgia-filled trip through their back catalogue in addition to a couple of tracks from their forthcoming new album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ (release date 21st July) as well as a few rarely-heard live tracks. The album can be pre-ordered HERE.
The still original line-up of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree have appeared on some of the world’s greatest stages, however this was a venue that had eluded them throughout their career, until now. As Albarn announced to great cheers, “we’ve been waiting for this all of our lives, it’s lovely to share it with you” so clearly the national stadium is held in the highest regard by the band and was certainly a fitting arena for a fabulous show.
Albarn also celebrated Freddie Mercury’s iconic 1985 Live Aid performance (at the old Wembley), indelibly etched into his mind cementing the ambition to play the nation’s premier venue. There were plenty of chants of “Wembley, Wembley” emanating from the stage throughout the set, particularly at the start of the encore in which we were encouraged to partake and obliged in football crowd style. For me, stadium acoustics can be very hit-and-miss depending on where you are located, but in general, that’s understood by attendees and is accepted as part of the whole experience and tonight was no different.
The band’s past issues around the Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon dynamic have been well documented, but in reality, these were nothing but bumps in the road between the high school friends as the pressures of success took their toll. The warmth between the bandmates was palpable and there’s no doubt that whenever they get the band back together, these talented musicians with diverse lifestyles and musical paths are able to effortlessly pick up where they left off each and every time.
This was to be a tight set where the emphasis was very much on their music, a demonstrable testimony to its depth and breadth. There aren’t many bands of such longevity who can pull off shows at Wembley and the band were determined to have a blast with Damon’s trademark playful stage humour being a feature of the evening. Despite all being in their fifties, the band effused energy as if still at the beginning of their career from start to finish with Damon venturing to the audience barrier on a number of occasions. The crowd certainly fed off this energy and the friendly, mainly younger people who sat around me, most of whom hadn’t seen Blur before, loved every second.
There were far too many highlights to mention them all. Mine included the notably punchier and heavier synth-punk classic ‘Popscene’, Coxon leading the enthusiastic crowd sing-along for ‘Coffee & TV’, Dave Rowntree’s impressive performance on ‘Trimm Trabb’, the rocky ‘Oily Water’ distinctively sung with a megaphone, an airing for the evocative ‘Villa Rosie’, Damon taking to the piano for ‘Under The Westway’, Phil Daniels emerging from an illuminated road-workers tent to give a barnstorming performance on ‘Parklife’ and the euphorically received ‘Song 2’ which saw the crowd hollering the “woo hoo’s” with alacrity. A special mention should go to Damon’s retro Fila tracksuit worn during ‘Girls & Boys’ and his deerstalker hat for ‘Country House’.
The quirky ‘Lot105’ returned to the setlist for the first time in almost 3 decades lasting just over a minute and signalling the start of a fabulous six song encore, followed by the dynamic crowd-pleaser ‘Girls & Boys’, the stadium lighting pulsating to every note. The addition of the London Community Gospel Choir on an extended version of ‘Tender’ (a track I didn’t previously care for) was completely transformational with the audience picking up vocal duties as the band stopped playing.
New single ‘The Narcissist’ is an absolute return to form for Blur and it was no surprise to see it included in said encore proving that the years haven’t diminished the bands songwriting capabilities, it was there on musical merit.
The evening closed out with fan-favourite ‘The Universal’ just as it did at Brighton’s Paradox all of those years ago, the difference being around 89,500 people give or take, the thousands of mobile phone torches held aloft in the stands and on the pitch and the lasers beaming from the stage on to two giant suspended mirror balls bathing the crowd in atmospheric reflected light as they sang along.
At the end of the performance, Damon turned to the audience with a mischievous grin and stated “you’re properly mad you lot, for sticking with us for so long!” “Why?”. I think this rhetorical question had been more than answered in the previous two joyous hours.
Blur played a low key warm-up show at the Winter Garden in Eastbourne back in May. Read our review of that concert HERE.
Blur:
Damon Albarn – lead vocals, piano, acoustic and electric guitar, mellotron, megaphone
Graham Coxon – electric and acoustic guitars, backing and occasional lead vocals
Alex James – bass
Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, programming, backing vocals
Mike Smith (touring musician) – piano, keyboard, backing vocals
Blur setlist:
‘St. Charles Square’ (from 2023 ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ album)
‘There’s No Other Way’ (from 1991 ‘Leisure’ album)
‘Popscene’ (a 1992 single / 2012 reissue ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ album)
‘Tracy Jacks’ (from 1994 ‘Parklife’ album)
‘Beetlebum’ (from 1997 ‘Blur’ album)
‘Trimm Trabb’ (from 1997 ‘Blur’ album)
‘Villa Rosie’ (from 1993 ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ album)
‘Stereotypes’ (from 1995 ‘The Great Escape’ album)
‘Out Of Time’ (from 2003 ‘Think Tank’ album)
‘Coffee & TV’ (from 1997 ‘Blur’ album)
‘Under The Westway’ (from 2012 single)
‘End Of A Century’ (from 1994 ‘Parklife’ album)
‘Country House’ (from 1995 ‘The Great Escape’ album)
‘Parklife’ (with Phil Daniels) (from 1994 ‘Parklife’ album)
‘To The End’ (from 1994 ‘Parklife’ album)
‘Oily Water’ (from 1993 ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ album)
‘Advert’ (from 1993 ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ album)
‘Song 2’ (from 1997 ‘Blur’ album)
‘This Is A Low’ (from 1994 ‘Parklife’ album)
(encore)
‘Lot 105’ (from 1994 ‘Parklife’ album)
‘Girls & Boys’ (from 1994 ‘Parklife’ album)
‘For Tomorrow’ (from 1993 ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ album)
‘Tender’ (with the London Community Gospel Choir) (from 1999 ‘13’ album)
‘The Narcissist’ (from 2023 ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ album)
‘The Universal’ (from 1995 ‘The Great Escape’ album)
