Blur frontman Damon Albarn has declared that his group will never perform at Coachella again following their set at the festival, claiming that the event’s crowds were lacklustre and unresponsive. Despite Blur’s performance being critically acclaimed and praised on social media, Albarn expressed his frustration at the audience’s failure to sing along to the band’s biggest hits such as ‘Girls & Boys’ and ‘Popscene’. Albarn encouraged the crowd to get involved in their performance of ‘Girls & Boys’, saying “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing it!”
Blur co-headlined Coachella’s opening weekend on April 13, ahead of a main stage set from Tyler, The Creator. The band are due to perform again next weekend on April 20. Albarn took the opportunity to commemorate the land on which Coachella is held during their set, mentioning its polo matches outside of the yearly festival. He also invited the Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers, a local tribal group from the Mojave Desert area where Coachella is held, to perform during their set in recognition of the indigenous tribes. During their 13-track set, Blur also played their popular song ‘Song 2’, which met with a warm response from the crowd.
Albarn wasn’t the only Coachella performer who encountered problems during their set; Canadian musician Grimes had technical issues during her 50-minute DJ set on the festival’s new Sahara Stage. The Canadian artist began experiencing problems with her tracks around “20 minutes” into the set with the tracks playing “double their speed” due to a reported issue with Rekordbox.
While some fans commented that the crowds “did not deserve Blur” after their performance at Coachella, it remains to be seen whether Albarn will change his mind about future appearances at the festival. Nonetheless, Blur’s set was a highlight of this year’s festival and received rave reviews from critics
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