REVIEW // BLUR @ HYDE PARK, LONDON 3/7/09

Meteorologists were predicting heavy rain and thunderstorms for Friday 3rd July but the only rumble anyone around London will have heard that day was the brontidual noises emanating from Hyde Park.
So deafening, desperate and delighted was the cheer, nay roar, from the tens of thousands congregated in front of the Hyde Park stage who greeted Blur that it almost blew the Colchester quartet back into the dressing room.

Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree appeared on stage to Parklife’s The Debt Collector - a nod towards other bands’ cash-grabbing reunions, or their own, perhaps? – soaking up not only the sun but the complete love, adoration and thanks of the dedicated following they have collected over the years. Any cynics claiming Blur got back together to make a fast buck were soon proved to have misplaced their suspicions. The band’s emotion was etched all over their faces, clear as the blue skies above Hyde Park.

After taking it all in and a brief hello, they kicked off proceedings with four rapid-fire numbers. She’s So High, Girls And Boys, Tracy Jack and There’s No Other Way all got the crowd dancing, singing and bouncing but they went by in a flash. So involved were the crowd in – at the risk of sounding like a babbling sponge-headed happy-clapper - “the moment”, it was hard to remember what the last song was after about 10 seconds of the next.

It didn’t stop there. In fact it didn’t stop for another two and a bit hours. Jubilee very quickly followed, complete with Coxon acrobatics. Or rather a bit of flailing about on the floor while indulging in some guitar-noodlry during the “plays on his computer games” bit and then almost falling over on the way back up, to which he cracked a smile.

After a frenetic start the mood was lowered as Damon Albarn announced Andy Murray’s exit from our national tennis tournament. If there was ever a mood-killer, that was it. Momentarily, miraculously, the focus was not on Blur and the green grass of Hyde Park but on one solitary Scot and the green lawns of Wimbledon. Things were wound down yet further with Badhead and Beetlebum which offered some rest bite to both the band and fans.

This was the first gig announced when Blur reunited so the vast majority of those in attendance were the most eager of Blur fans, evident when Albarn had to ask the crowd at the front to calm down as they were starting to squash fellow onlookers. There was a sense that the band knew these were some of the most loyal fans and wanted to put on an extra impressive performance for them. They certainly delivered, bashing out a mix of classic singles and album favourites like Trimm Trabb, Coffee And TV, an apparently infinite version of Tender which began to border on tedious if we’re being completely honest, Country House, Oily Water, Chemical World, Sunday Sunday and Parklife for which, as at Glastonbury, Phil Daniels joined them on stage and joined Albarn in running and jumping around the stage with an exuberance that span the clock back those 15 years.

The various demographics in attendance, particularly the wide ranging age groups, were a testament to the band’s longevity and relevance. Their observations and social commentary are as applicable today as they were in the 1990’s, their pop craftsmanship just as infectious, and that is clearly something that younger fans have picked up on. A significant proportion of the crowd looked like they may not have even been born, or at least old enough to know about them, when Blur were in their youth.

The whole band was visibly affected by their fans’ reactions and wrapping the set up with End Of A Century, To The End, This Is A Low, Death Of A Party, For Tomorrow and the hugely moving The Universal sandwiching Popscene, Advert and Song 2 was too much for many a fan to take.

“It really, really, really, could happen…” sang a teary Albarn. Well, it just did and long will this most joyous of days live in the memory of every Blur fan and the band.

By Stephen Milnes




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