Tonight was the second showing of Blur's New World Towers at the Shadow Electric Outdoor Cinema at Abbotsford Convent. It's a unique experience to watch a movie outside, particularly with fruit bats flying overhead as the sun is setting.
The documentary is about the making of Blur's latest album, The Magic Whip, and the revival of the band as a four piece. Five days stuck in Hong Kong changed the course of their history as they decided to secretly head to the studio to jam with no one knowing and no pressure. While the end result took time to emerge, it was definitely worth the wait.
The film contains interviews with each of the band members interspersed with concert footage from Hong Kong and Hyde Park, as well as recordings from the sessions at the Hong Kong studio. It's the story of the band, their relationships with each other (particularly Damon and Graham) and the music. At times hilarious and at others poignant, the film tells the story about their journey together over all these years. I really enjoyed it and it brought back fond memories of seeing them at Rod Laver Arena last year.
I have been a fan of Blur since their very first single, so you can imagine my excitement when The Magic Whip got released earlier this year and they announced they would be playing live in Melbourne. Belinda and I arrived at Rod Laver Arena tonight and found a position on the floor (yay for general admission). The opening act was UK singer-songwriter Jamie T, who I thought was ok and got a good reaction from the crowd for a few of his songs.
The last time I saw Blur live was in San Francisco in 1997, so it's been a long time between gigs. When they came out onstage after the ice cream van jingles it was as if no time had passed. They started the evening with "Go Out" off the new album and then played "There's No Other Way" from their first. Damon had so much energy as he worked the stage and got the crowd going (thankfully I was just out of range for his water bottle sprays). Alex was the epitome of cool on the bass, Dave was fantastic on the drums, and Graham was his usual genius on the guitar.
The set list for the 2 hour concert spanned all their releases and was a great mix of old and new. The Magic Whip is a fantastic album and I was glad "Lonesome Street," "Ong Ong" and the magnificent "Thought I Was A Spaceman" got played. Everyone in the crowd sang along throughout the night, especially for those epic ballads like "Tender" and "This Is A Low." Graham said hi to the crowd before launching into my all time favorite
Blur track "Coffee & TV," and managed to mostly keep it together at Damon knelt in front of him and made faces while he sang.
It was the big singles though that really got the crowd jumping around - "Beetlebum," "Parklife" (where Damon invited some people up on the stage) and "Song 2" all went off. The encore started with "Stereotypes" and then everyone was seriously dancing for "Girls & Boys." I never thought "For Tomorrow" would make it in (loved that everyone shouted out the "modern life well it's rubbish" line) and then it all ended with a lovely version of "The Universal." I still can't believe I finally got to see Blur again live after all these years (hopefully it's not another 18 years until the next one).
In the battle of Britpop I am firmly in the Blur camp. The Great Escape, Blur's fourth album, was released in 1995 and contains the hit singles "Stereotypes," "Country House," "Charmless Man" and the sweeping orchestration of "The Universal." There seems to be an overall theme running through Damon Albarn's lyrics of people unhappy with their lives and searching for adventure or something better. There is also a cheeky lyrical humor throughout the album, especially on the songs "Mr. Robinson's Quango" and "Ernold Same." This is probably the most Britpop sounding album that Blur produced before turning to a more lo-fi indie guitar sound on their future recordings.
Favorite Lyric: He's never cheap or cheerful, he's Hugo and he's boss ("Top Man")
