Last week was pretty much a blur for me. For most of the week, I was sick with the flu (the “common” one) and missed out on two days of work. On the two days in which I did work, I hardly did anything which is quite typical these days.
In between the week, I got well enough to head over to Hyde Park on Thursday and catch one of Blur’s comeback shows after being away for so many years. Mind you, this was a date I booked the day off for weeks before I got sick.
I’ve never been the biggest Blur fan but I am so glad I managed to grab some tickets when they announced the second date of their Hyde Park shows. With my health not being a 100%, I spent a lot of time on the day itself deciding whether to go or not, right up to the moment I stepped out the door. It was the responsible thing to do as long as I still showed up for work the next day.
Even though I left pretty late, I arrived at just the right time when the massive queues to get in have disappeared and 30-45 minutes before the first support band was to start.
Four support bands were up that day, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Golden Silvers, Crystal Castles and Foals. Friendly Fires was earlier mentioned to play on the Thursday date but sadly were missing from the official timetable for the show.
I’ve never heard of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble nor Golden Silvers prior to this event and I don’t think I am missing out on much. They are ok, but not impressive enough especially with the wide open area.
Crystal Castles however was fun. Alice, the female singer, is freaking crazy though and could hardly stand up straight. She was properly wasted. I started listening to Crystal Castles when I found out they’d be supporting Blur. Somehow, the electronic samples using an Atari 5200 sound chip, immediately drew me in. They sound pretty ok live but not as forceful as I hoped. This can be attributed to the wide open space again. I’d pay to see them again at smaller venues.
Next up was Foals, a band I quite like and made me somewhat happy of scoring Thursday tickets instead of Friday ones. Their set was longer than when they supported Bloc Party in April. I enjoyed the songs they decided to play but the wide open space sort of distorted their sound. I’m still waiting for the day I’d see them headlining their own show at a much smaller venue.
The support acts made me think about the second date which had Florence and the Machine, Deerhoof, and Vampire Weekend.
Still, the 50,000+ people did not come for the support acts and neither did I. We were all their for one band which finally came up onstage a few minutes after 8 in the evening.
Blur played a very well constructed set which was a mirror of their headlining show at Glastonbury. Screencap is from their Glastonbury page where you could also watch 30 minutes of their performance (if you are in the UK).
Unlike all the support bands, Blur sounded amazing outdoors with Damon asking if everything was adequate and it sure was.
Being less of a fan than 60% of the other people in the event did not hinder me from enjoying the show in huge amounts. Most songs are very catchy and after a few lines you’d be singing along with the crowd. That’s britpop for you.
One of the best parts of the evening was Tender. It was pretty much epic. The crowd was still singing bits and pieces of it on the way home.
You can also see how much fun the band was having being back in London playing such a massive show after being away for so long.
The crowd was quite fun as well with everyone being big fans, dancing and singing along. A large percentage was around my age which was totally cool. Gone are the emo teeny boppers.
Blur at Hyde Park was one of the better gigs I’ve been to this year and I am thankful I decided to grab tickets right away when they announced the second (Thursday) date of their show.
My biggest regret was not listening to Blur as much as I could have when I was in highschool and college. One could easily say that Blur (and Oasis) were the definitive (brit) bands of my generation. Damn, that just made sound quite old.
