It’s been a while since Britpop icons Blur have graced our shores with a full tour – 18 years in fact. Not to worry, however, as they are currently Down Under as headliners of Splendour In The Grass and were kind enough to stop by Rod Laver Arena to pump out a solid two hours of hits, misses, and everything in between. With fellow Briton Jamie T in support, the close to capacity crowd were treated to spectacular lighting and a group that clearly haven’t forgotten how to put on a show.
The first sign that I was going to be in for an interesting night came in the form of the pre-show music that idly plays while everyone files into the arena – a bunch of old time swingin’ tunes that were probably played on the 1950s TV show ‘American Bandstand’ at one point or another. At a reasonable 7:45pm however the classic tunes were halted for the entrance of Jamie T, a singer-songwriter who has coincidentally or not, known Blur frontman Damon Albarn for a few years now. Albarn’s experience must have rubbed off on the soloist either way, with the 29-year-old contributing a well-appreciated 10 track, 45 minute long set.
The slowly growing crowd’s excitement level fluctuated on a per-song basis, with the crowd's reaction often mirroring the intensity of the song they had just heard. “Love Is Only A Heartbeat Away" was an exception however, garnering a strong showing of appreciation for the mostly solo effort. While there were two clearly dedicated fans right at the very front that were hanging on to every song, they certainly weren't the only ones familiar with set closer "Zombie" that had more than a few revelers jumping about in excitement.
Hitting the stage at 9pm, Blur entered to a strange medley of story tunes played on what sounded like a marimba (leading to a singalong of "Teddy Bears' Picnic"), but quickly broke into opening song "Go Out" to rapturous applause. A particular surprise at this point was the presence of backup singers, but they certainly didn't detract from the experience in any way.
All ages were represented in the roughly 75% sold out crowd, with both new fans and those clearly from Blur's early days present. While they may have differed in years, many shared a relative lack of interest in material from the group's latest release The Magic Whip, (despite Albarn mentioning that he had written some of the album in Melbourne last year) with many taking those opportunities to acquire drinks and snacks.
While there was some mulled interest in the brass section brought out for "Ghost Ship", the first big reaction for a song came with "Coffee and TV", and an even bigger one followed two songs later for "Beetlebum". The distinction between the group's hits and 'not so hits' was remarkably clear to see, with the older songs not only having more musical edge, but significantly greater reactions from the crowd as a result.
Irrespective of the musical content, it must be said that the visual display was nothing short of incredible. Three massive disco balls were included as part of the behind-stage fixture and provided a great visual effect when combined with the stunningly vibrant lighting.
The biggest moment of the night unsurprisingly came from one of the biggest songs of the modern era from any band: "Song 2". The 2-minute whirlwind completely changed the mood of the entire arena, with its iconic 'woohoo's being sung back at Albarn with more gusto than I have seen at a show in a long time.
A four song encore including "Girls & Boys" rounded the total up to 23 songs, altogether totaling two hours of hits and, if I'm honest, misses. The Magic Whip is an album I would seldom consider to be one well suited for a live setting, but with a career spanning nearly 30 years, Blur have more than a few well-versed tracks to fall back on. The experience of the group was clear to see all night. Musically they were flawless, and as an overall production it really was fantastic. The song selection sometimes left some excitement to be desired, but I'm sure not many would complain if Blur hit our shores again many times in the future.
