“I’m sure there’s something vaguely hilarious about old men throwing themselves around on stage,” Damon Albarn yells out to a packed-out Wembley Stadium. “Well fuck it, you made us this way!”
Blur are performing a raucous rendition of ‘Advert’, as Graham Coxon launches a guitar into the air, lets it do a full 360 spin, and somehow manages to catch it again. His heavy sigh into the camera is the only indication his adolescent stage antics might be getting a little tough on the body. It’s both sublime and ridiculous at once.
Tonight (July 8), is surprisingly, the first time Blur have played the legendary venue. “We’ve been waiting all our lives for this,” Albarn says at one point. However, the show came dangerously close to not happening. Just a few days prior, the band cancelled a performance at France’s Festival Beauregard after drummer Dave Rowntree injured his knee; last month, a headline show at Primavera Sound Madrid was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. For a moment, it felt like the band were in the midst of an unlucky spell – but they’ve pulled through and remarkably made it to the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium.
Eight years since their last reunion, Albarn, Coxon, Rowntree and Alex James are back on tour, with forthcoming album ‘The Ballad of Darren’ set for release on July 23. And while a couple of the new singles are worked into the setlist, this evening feels like a highlight reel of their illustrious career. The audience’s dress code, too, could fool you into believing you’ve gone back in time: black, white and blue ‘97-inspired footie shirts are a popular cop from the merch stand, as are the Blur-emblazoned bucket hats and football scarves.
This evening, Albarn remains a top-tier frontman, making deadpan remarks and climbing into the audience while still allowing each of his bandmates their own moment in the spotlight. Coxon’s guitar skills are as masterful as ever, his voice unchanged since 1999 as he sings fan favourite ‘Coffee and TV’; James’ confident swagger is on full display as he plays the iconic bassline of ‘Girls & Boys’. Rowntree, meanwhile, pulls off a phenomenal solo in ‘Trimm Trabb’.
Still, with decades of material to their name, Blur keep us guessing what era we’ll be jumping into next. They’ve been switching things up with every show on this current reunion tour, re-introducing ‘Sing’ for the first time in a decade at an intimate Madrid date last month, and ‘Oily Water’ at a Colchester warm-up show in May. The anticipation for each song feels even more palpable when you know the b-sides are just as good as the hits.
The history-making moment tonight is ‘Lot 105’, a track Blur haven’t played since 1994. It’s a silly interlude on the ‘Parklife’ album, with just a one-minute run-time and lyrics of “La la la la la la la la la la” – its inclusion in the set makes for a brilliantly ridiculous move during such an important performance. This cheeky sense of humour made Blur stand out from other Britpop stars in the 90s, and Albarn’s childish grin as he performs the song – like he’s doing something naughty – remains the same after all these years.
This sense of playfulness prevails as Albarn dons a deerstalker to sing ‘Country House’, which was recently reintroduced into the setlist. “If you think that’s bad, it’s just going to get worse,” he quips, as actor Phil Daniels emerges from a builder’s tent to perform a blistering version of ‘Parklife’, having contributed lead vocals to the original track.
There’s a real sense of camaraderie throughout the show. Songs like ‘Tender’ see audience members huddle together in a close embrace, singing “Come on, come on, come on / Get through it.” Later, as the band perform ‘The Universal’, two large disco balls cast a glittering shadow over the stadium as the crowd sway along in unison.
At one point, Albarn turns to us and says, “You’re properly mad, you lot, for sticking with us for so long.” Well, the proof is here. This two-hour performance shows that Blur have soundtracked the audience’s lives with real emotional impact. James recently called the making of their new album an “utter joy”. It’s clear that fans would say the same about tonight.
Blur played:
‘St. Charles Square’
‘There’s No Other Way’
‘Popscene’
‘Tracy Jacks’
‘Beetlebum’
‘Trimm Tabb’
‘Villa Rosie’
‘Stereotypes’
‘Out Of Time’
‘Coffee & TV’
‘Under The Westway’
‘End of a Century’
‘Country House’
‘Parklife’
‘To The End’
‘Oily Water’
‘Advert’
‘Song 2’
‘This Is A Low’
‘Lot 105’
‘Girls & Boys’
‘For Tomorrow’
‘Tender’ (with London Community Gospel Choir)
‘The Narcissist’
‘The Universal’