A lot has happened in 18 years, which is how long it’s been since Blur’s last tour of Australia. After seven huge albums over 12 years, Blur’s core members broke apart in 2003 to try their hands at various solo projects, musical collaborations and different work entirely before regrouping to tour once again in 2009.
Finally getting to see them live, it feels like nothing’s really changed. Blur are one of the best British acts of all time, and hearing all those songs we grew up with brought on a flood of nostalgic emotions for everyone in the stadium. Jamie T opened the night, which is like getting two tickets for the price of one. He was joined by a four-piece band, belting out mostly new tracks along with a few fan-favourites, like 368, If You’ve Got The Money and Zombie.
Some eerie nursery rhymes played just before Blur hit the stage, with Damon Albarn greeting screaming fans by drowning them in water. The lads put together an epic set, consisting of over 20 songs, including earlier classics along with material from their most recent release, The Magic Whip. They opened with a new number, Go Out, which was made livelier thanks to soulful back-up vocalists and additional instruments. They continued with There’s No Other Way and Lonesome Street, before bringing out a three-piece brass section for Badhead.
The first of many highlights was the trippy instrumentation of Thought I Was A Spaceman, which had Albarn lying on the stage motionless for more than two minutes. Apart from that, the animated frontman was continuously working the room, even wandering through the crowd to belt out sections of Trimm Trabb.
My Terracotta Heart brought everyone back down to Earth, before gradually upping the ante again with Tender, Trouble In The MessageCentre and climaxing during Parklife, which had a few lucky fans join Albarn on stage to scream the chorus. The set rounded out with Ong Ong, a fast-tempo version of Song 2, Pyongyang, To The End and finally This Is A Low.
The crowd demanded an encore and were treated to another four songs: Stereotypes, the head-banging Girls And Boys and For Tomorrow, and the fuzzy highs of finale The Universal.
BY CHRIS BRIGHT
Photo by Ian Laidlaw
Loved: Parklife.
Hated: Knowing we might not see them in Oz again.
Drank: Coffee & Beer.
