Blur, Eastbourne. Band on great, playful form. Graham’s guitar playing amazing and Damon enjoying himself (which was quite rare towards the end of the 90s).
Really like the new single (album title needed more work though 😉) and looking forward to the Wembley gig. Last time I saw them live was the 2012 London Olympics closing gig in Hyde Park. They had Bombay Bicycle Club, The Specials & New Order as guests. This time, I get to see The Selector and my personal hero, Paul Weller. Not too shabby a guest list for both those gigs 😊
that 2012 gig was such a great lineup. New single is possibly their best since at least Out of Time (2003) and possibly even 1999 (13 album). When played last night, it was harder than on record and Graham's guitar really stood out.
The album title ('The ballad of Darren') is a reference to their long time security guard (Darren 'Smoggy' Evans) who the album is dedicated too. The band even made all the crowd shout Darren to put his hands in the air until he did so at the gig last night. It's a nice 'thank you' for his 30+ years of service to the band and maybe, just maybe, this is the end of the road.
Last night I saw a happy and content band who enjoyed playing these songs. Wembley will be a blast (although I am there on the Sat, so no Weller) but before that I have Wolverhampton on Friday, where Blur have played some epic gigs in the past (and Smoggy's home town)
Blur, Eastbourne. Band on great, playful form. Graham’s guitar playing amazing and Damon enjoying himself (which was quite rare towards the end of the 90s).
Really like the new single (album title needed more work though 😉) and looking forward to the Wembley gig. Last time I saw them live was the 2012 London Olympics closing gig in Hyde Park. They had Bombay Bicycle Club, The Specials & New Order as guests. This time, I get to see The Selector and my personal hero, Paul Weller. Not too shabby a guest list for both those gigs 😊
that 2012 gig was such a great lineup. New single is possibly their best since at least Out of Time (2003) and possibly even 1999 (13 album). When played last night, it was harder than on record and Graham's guitar really stood out.
The album title ('The ballad of Darren') is a reference to their long time security guard (Darren 'Smoggy' Evans) who the album is dedicated too. The band even made all the crowd shout Darren to put his hands in the air until he did so at the gig last night. It's a nice 'thank you' for his 30+ years of service to the band and maybe, just maybe, this is the end of the road.
Last night I saw a happy and content band who enjoyed playing these songs. Wembley will be a blast (although I am there on the Sat, so no Weller) but before that I have Wolverhampton on Friday, where Blur have played some epic gigs in the past (and Smoggy's home town)
Thanks for that @BalladMan. Yep, the 2012 gig was excellent as all the bands playing, particularly The Specials🕴🏻, were huge favourites.
I actually got tickets for the Saturday gig initially and was pretty pleased with myself. I know some of Slow Thai’s stuff, but wouldn’t say I was a fan. The Sunday gig was added after they sold out, but no support was announced until the last few months. I was pretty hacked off to see Weller there and wasn’t able to get any standing tickets. They must have released more recently as I managed to get them through TicketMaster a few weeks ago, so will probably put the Saturday tickets on Twickets now (and go to our pre-season game).
P.S. my sister’s ex was a Darren…hence my downer on the name of the album 😉
Blur, Eastbourne. Band on great, playful form. Graham’s guitar playing amazing and Damon enjoying himself (which was quite rare towards the end of the 90s).
Really like the new single (album title needed more work though 😉) and looking forward to the Wembley gig. Last time I saw them live was the 2012 London Olympics closing gig in Hyde Park. They had Bombay Bicycle Club, The Specials & New Order as guests. This time, I get to see The Selector and my personal hero, Paul Weller. Not too shabby a guest list for both those gigs 😊
that 2012 gig was such a great lineup. New single is possibly their best since at least Out of Time (2003) and possibly even 1999 (13 album). When played last night, it was harder than on record and Graham's guitar really stood out.
The album title ('The ballad of Darren') is a reference to their long time security guard (Darren 'Smoggy' Evans) who the album is dedicated too. The band even made all the crowd shout Darren to put his hands in the air until he did so at the gig last night. It's a nice 'thank you' for his 30+ years of service to the band and maybe, just maybe, this is the end of the road.
Last night I saw a happy and content band who enjoyed playing these songs. Wembley will be a blast (although I am there on the Sat, so no Weller) but before that I have Wolverhampton on Friday, where Blur have played some epic gigs in the past (and Smoggy's home town)
Thanks for that @BalladMan. Yep, the 2012 gig was excellent as all the bands playing, particularly The Specials🕴🏻, were huge favourites.
I actually got tickets for the Saturday gig initially and was pretty pleased with myself. I know some of Slow Thai’s stuff, but wouldn’t say I was a fan. The Sunday gig was added after they sold out, but no support was announced until the last few months. I was pretty hacked off to see Weller there and wasn’t able to get any standing tickets. They must have released more recently as I managed to get them through TicketMaster a few weeks ago, so will probably put the Saturday tickets on Twickets now (and go to our pre-season game).
P.S. my sister’s ex was a Darren…hence my downer on the name of the album 😉
Slowthai now pulled out / removed following his arrest and court appearance last week.
Self esteem is amazing live and I hope she is just bumped up the support list.
Looks like a heavy focus on modern life… and parklife in this set and am in Wolves on Friday so looking forward to see if they add new songs to the set.
Interesting musical note, Graham now plays with a pedal which tunes his guitar down one step for 5 of the songs so Damon can now reach the notes (the universal for example). Alex however has had to relearn these songs to accommodate the step down as pedals on bass are bad at detuning and sound too synthetic.
Both an interesting insight into how aging bands still play the hits and the lengths some musicians have to go to (relearn whole songs) in order to adapt.
Hadn’t heard that about Slowthai, but just looked and seen why. Always made me feel a bit uncomfortable, since the way he acted with Katherine Ryan a few years ago at the NME awards.
Didn’t know much about Self Esteem when I got the tickets, but do now & agreed. I’ll keep an eye out for what’s happening.
Thanks for sharing that about how the band are adapting to play the songs. Great insight to know.
SPARKS at the Royal Albert Hall , Nice to finally see them again after missing out due to catching COVID , Sublim , How Russel manages to hit them high notes (70+) is beyond me , with 26 Albums to their name it must be hard to please everyone so it was quite a mixture , my only criticism is that there was not enough of the big hits , Great backing band and Ron was Ron ......
Blur, Eastbourne. Band on great, playful form. Graham’s guitar playing amazing and Damon enjoying himself (which was quite rare towards the end of the 90s).
Really like the new single (album title needed more work though 😉) and looking forward to the Wembley gig. Last time I saw them live was the 2012 London Olympics closing gig in Hyde Park. They had Bombay Bicycle Club, The Specials & New Order as guests. This time, I get to see The Selector and my personal hero, Paul Weller. Not too shabby a guest list for both those gigs 😊
that 2012 gig was such a great lineup. New single is possibly their best since at least Out of Time (2003) and possibly even 1999 (13 album). When played last night, it was harder than on record and Graham's guitar really stood out.
The album title ('The ballad of Darren') is a reference to their long time security guard (Darren 'Smoggy' Evans) who the album is dedicated too. The band even made all the crowd shout Darren to put his hands in the air until he did so at the gig last night. It's a nice 'thank you' for his 30+ years of service to the band and maybe, just maybe, this is the end of the road.
Last night I saw a happy and content band who enjoyed playing these songs. Wembley will be a blast (although I am there on the Sat, so no Weller) but before that I have Wolverhampton on Friday, where Blur have played some epic gigs in the past (and Smoggy's home town)
That Hyde Park gig was excellent. Really good line up. We were mainly there for the Specials but I thought New Order were the best on the night.
Saw Blur at the Ally Pally on Park Life tour with Pulp supporting. Great gig.
Also saw them support REM in Milton Keynes Bowl. They were on top form.
Not quite a gig but went to the 100 Club for an evening with Rick Buckler tonight. Cracking night. Said that he hasn’t spoken to Paul Weller since 1983.
Rick Buckler's doing a book signing at Tonics in Blackfen on Saturday 29th July. Jeff Shadbolt from The Purple Hearts will also be there. There's apparently 60 scooters due to display outside as well.
Grand Northern Ukulele Festival in Huddersfield, Saturday night concert. Biskee Brisht are a band from Isle of Man who do some songs in Manx, despite which they were excellent. U3 are three Americans with Cynthia Lin (https://cynthialin.com/ukulele/) on lead vocals and all three are excellent musicians.
Depeche Mode last night (RIP Fletch). Enjoyed my fist time seeing them in 42 years, thanks to my younger boy buying tickets for my 60th/Fathers day. Great gig, but reminded me how much I hate watching gigs in a stadium. Support act Young Fathers were decent.
Grand Northern Ukulele Festival in Huddersfield, Saturday night concert. Biskee Brisht are a band from Isle of Man who do some songs in Manx, despite which they were excellent. U3 are three Americans with Cynthia Lin (https://cynthialin.com/ukulele/) on lead vocals and all three are excellent musicians.
I’ve watched and played many of Cynthia Lin’s song versions on the Uke. After hours and hours of practice I managed to play Blackbird from her tuition video. She is very good but ive never heard of the Manx band.
Grand Northern Ukulele Festival in Huddersfield, Saturday night concert. Biskee Brisht are a band from Isle of Man who do some songs in Manx, despite which they were excellent. U3 are three Americans with Cynthia Lin (https://cynthialin.com/ukulele/) on lead vocals and all three are excellent musicians.
I’ve watched and played many of Cynthia Lin’s song versions on the Uke. After hours and hours of practice I managed to play Blackbird from her tuition video. She is very good but ive never heard of the Manx band.
They’re well worth listening to, we thought they could easily have headlined.
Happy to get tickets for James (40th anniversary tour) supported by the Happy Mondays, in August. Unfortunately it’s at Crystal Palace but can’t have it all.
I think James may be playing somewhat orchestral, they did the other day on the TV. Personally I didn't like it as much. As for Happy Mondays, Sean Ryder's voice seems shot and he will struggle to last the set (apologies).
Comments
Loved their music growing up and they didn't disappoint with their set choice.
The album title ('The ballad of Darren') is a reference to their long time security guard (Darren 'Smoggy' Evans) who the album is dedicated too. The band even made all the crowd shout Darren to put his hands in the air until he did so at the gig last night. It's a nice 'thank you' for his 30+ years of service to the band and maybe, just maybe, this is the end of the road.
Last night I saw a happy and content band who enjoyed playing these songs. Wembley will be a blast (although I am there on the Sat, so no Weller) but before that I have Wolverhampton on Friday, where Blur have played some epic gigs in the past (and Smoggy's home town)
Played a couple of new ones and all the old favourites.
Sublim , How Russel manages to hit them high notes (70+) is beyond me , with 26 Albums to their name it must be hard to please everyone so it was quite a mixture , my only criticism is that there was not enough of the big hits , Great backing band and Ron was Ron ......
I've seen them a few times and last night was the best 9/10.
Also got DMA’s next month at Bexhill on Sea.
Personally I didn't like it as much.
As for Happy Mondays, Sean Ryder's voice seems shot and he will struggle to last the set (apologies).
Thrre are some orchestral nights on the tour but don’t believe this is one of them.