After an 8 year hiatus, Blur are back on UK soil, celebrating the impending release of their ninth studio album, The Ballad of Darren. A big celebration requires a big stage, and where bigger than Wembley Stadium, a venue which had previously eluded them. Ali Glen reports on a triumphant show for the Essex group.
Coming out of a gig with the impression that you’ve witnessed a generational performance is a very rare feeling. The melting pot of circumstances needed can not be easily created, from stellar support acts, to crowds in their best possible voice. Yet, leaving Wembley, I felt like I had hit that particular jackpot. After an over 30 year career, Blur had done it all in the UK - becoming one of the cornerstones of arguably the nation’s greatest musical era, headlining Glastonbury, and winning countless awards in the process. Yet, they had never played in the world famous Wembley Stadium. It’s a stage that very few get to grace, and with all the members well into their 50s, they may well have thought that the day would never come. However, after an eight year break from touring in the country, the time finally came for the four-piece, and they overwhelmingly clinched it.
Supporting Blur was a stellar lineup of three of the most exciting alternative acts in the country. Unfortunately, issues with travel put pay to my chances of seeing Jockstrap, a duo whose debut album I Love You Jennifer B has gained critical acclaim for its glitchy electronic production creating a novel spin on alternative rock. I was, however, firmly in my seat for the beautiful sight of Sleaford Mods on a Wembley stage. The Nottingham pair are certainly not for the faint-hearted, with Jason Williamson’s abrasive lyrics and delivery supported by the joyful demeanour of Andrew Fearn. Fearn is the creator of the Mods’ beats, and thus his role in their live performances is simply to press play on a laptop and dance freely as Williamson imparts his vicious prose. This combination is far from the traditional setup that the average Blur fan may be expecting from a newer band, and thus looking out across the Wembley floor painted a hilarious picture of juxtaposition, between the bemused onlookers who were perhaps stumbling across Sleaford Mods for the first time, and the already converted members who were headbanging along to old favourites Jobseeker and Tweet Tweet Tweet.
Self Esteem was the final support act, and the bombastic pop and intricate choreography to come out of the mind of Rebecca Lucy Taylor translated wonderfully onto the big stage. Her sophomore release Prioritise Pleasure was my album of the year in 2021, and the tunes from it such as How Can I Help You and I Do This All The Time filled the 90,000 seater with ease. Taylor is a boundary pusher though, and was unafraid to debut the as yet unreleased Mother, a track which I can’t wait to hear in its fullness on the next Self Esteem project.
Finally, it was time for the main attraction. Blur entering the stage triggered a rapturous ovation, and they kicked off the show with new single St. Charles Square, a quintessential Blur anthem which promises to illuminate their upcoming album The Ballad of Darren. From there, it was a total hit parade, with early hit There’s No Other Way, fan favourite Popscene, and Parklife standout Tracy Jacks. It had perhaps never fully struck me before how many hits Blur have in their arsenal, but when Beetlebum was unleashed on the audience a mere five songs in, it really hit home the depth of their discography.
That depth was exploited in its entirety through the middle of the set, with live rarities Villa Rosie and Under The Westway both getting rare runouts. The latter of the two was getting its first play since 2014, and Damon Albarn looked visibly emotional as the audience spontaneously lit up Wembley with a sea of phone torches. These returned for many of the remaining slower songs, and the stunning visual hammered home the enormity of the event.
"If Blur could be compared to a religion, the point in which 90,000 people sung “Oh my baby/oh my baby/oh why?/oh my” back at the band has to be considered the point where the masses were converted."
Country House was preceded by a tent being wheeled out onto the stage, Albarn entering it, and having a conversation with a mysterious figure. Following the song’s conclusion, all was revealed, as Phil Daniels emerged, to reprise his role on Parklife. Daniels was a key part in elevating the track to its status as one of the biggest tracks of the Britpop era, and thus it was only right that he was present for such a seminal show for the Essex group.
“There’s something, for me and I’m sure, for you, something vaguely hilarious about old men throwing themselves around the stage,” Albarn remarked after the energetic Advert, a precursor to the band’s most raucous track, Song 2. Revelling in the ridiculousness of it, the band encouraged the audience to jump about to it, and they obliged dutifully. Indeed, many of the audience were of similar ages to the band themselves, but following their hero’s lead, the energy in Wembley was unwavering, even into the latter half of the show.
As he explained throughout the night, many of the Blur frontman’s defining memories were linked with the national stadium - including scoring a goal on its hallowed turf, as he was hasty to remind everyone. His awe of the stage he was on was evident throughout, as several tributes were paid throughout the show. Before End of a Century, Damon Albarn led the crowd in a round of applause for Freddie Mercury, whose Live Aid heroics impacted him immensely. Following Lot 105, the band led the audience on a chant of “Wembley! Wembley!”. The most striking moment of London-based civic pride, however, was when the London Community Gospel Choir was brought on for Tender. Earlier in the show, Albarn described Wembley as “a temple for the agnostic” and never was that feeling so pertinent as in this moment. Indeed, if Blur could be compared to a religion, the point in which 90,000 people sung “Oh my baby/oh my baby/oh why?/oh my” back at the band has to be considered the point where the masses were converted. From there, the Essex foursome were in the home stretch, with new song The Narcissist fitting in seamlessly between Tender and the show’s finale, a rousing version of The Universal, the echoes of which rang around the streets of Wembley in the queues for the trains home, long after the band had made their final curtain call.
Blur are one of a very rare breed in the music industry. Very few bands have been able to make music that is as witty and insightful as there’s, whilst putting on shows that can capture and enthral people to the level that they do. The melting pot for an all-time gig which I mentioned earlier has one more ingredient - a truly special act, receiving their flowers on a scale which befits them.
Photos are the authors own. Video credit: Blur.
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