During Blur’s performance at Coachella 2024 earlier this year, fans appeared less enthusiastic than usual. Playing a mix of fan favorites, including ‘Song 2’ and ‘Popscene’, the group noticed the lackluster crowd and visibly became irritable. During ‘Girls & Boys’, Damon Albarn encouraged the crowd to sing along with the band to little response. “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing it,” he told attendees.
Graham Coxon, guitarist for Blur, has since opened up about the experience in a new interview with GQ. “I like making albums. I’m perfectly happy on stage, but sometimes, like at Coachella or something, it’s taken you 14 hours to get there, and then you’re playing to people who don’t give a shit. They’re looking at you like ‘who’s this old git?’,” he shared. Despite this, Coxon still tries to put on a good show, “I just smile at the grumpy faces a couple of times just to see if I can change their expression, then I just get on with what I wanna do. What else can you do?”
Despite the lack of audience participation, Blur recently attended the premiere of their new documentary, ‘To The End’, which follows the band’s reunion, the making of their comeback album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’, and their Wembley Stadium shows last summer. The project will be followed by their concert film ‘Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium’, with a live album released on July 26, ahead of the film’s premiere in UK cinemas on September 6.
Blur’s future remains somewhat uncertain with Albarn revealing that the band’s Coachella 2024 performance would “probably (be) our last gig”. Meanwhile, Coxon has announced a new album, ‘City Lights’, with his project The WAEVE, featuring Rose Elinor Dougall
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