Blur review: the boys are back with a vengeance
The much anticipated comeback gig saw Blur play the East Anglian Railway Museum in Colchester on Saturday night
15 June 2009
5/5 stars
In front of only 150 friends gathered in an idyllic railway museum, Blur officially reunited and proved they're back with a vengeance. Over two breathless hours, they showed they're ready to storm Glastonbury and Hyde Park this summer. Oh, and that they're still the greatest British band of their generation.
Back in 1988 the foursome played their first ever gig together at the Essex trainspotter's paradise, near where Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon grew up. Their creative tension was always a vital factor in Blur's success, but when Coxon left in 2001, the friendship seemed strained beyond repair.
Thankfully, Blur are a gang once more. Laughing and grinning throughout, Albarn even cutely cuddled up to Coxon during Beetlebum.
Not that they've gone soft. They genuinely worked their hits harder than ever before. Second up was Girls And Boys, which came crashing in with a whole new vigour, its age only shown by Albarn's sly lyrical tweak - "Love in the 90's, was paranoid".
There's No Other Way, Popscene, Song 2 and Charmless Man followed, each delivered deliriously fast by a band with real fire in their bellies. Albarn exposed his own while stage-diving during Advert, with his modest Lambretta boxers almost getting ripped apart in the process.
If you're lucky enough to see them in the next few weeks, prepare to fall in love all over again. Modern life was rubbish without Blur. It's fantastic to see them back so strong.
Are Blur worthy of the title 'Best Band of their generation?' Leave us your thoughts below
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