blur tour 1996

blur live audio archive project

The online supplement to Black Book and a place dedicated to preserving blur's live history and researching their live recordings

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Tour review: festival shows of 1996.

3 comments:

1996 is certainly an interesting time... I heard the first playing live of Song 2 on YouTube and the lyrics are very different from what it turned out to be. In Alex's autobiography he mentions Iceland and how much he and Damon in particular liked it there. It'd be great to listen to some of these 1996 shows.

I am planning on reviewing the 1996 Iceland show (as well as the 1997 one) soon and I'll upload them along with the articles I write, how's that sound? :-)

Excellent. :D

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The genius of… blur – blur.

A ‘mid pop life crisis’ and an abrupt change of style gave Graham Coxon free reign to soundscape on one of the most enduring and experimental guitar records of the 90s.

Graham Coxon & Damon Albarn of Blur. Image: Mick Hutson / Redferns

Let’s scare people again

With interband tensions on the rise and the fabled ‘musical differences’ threatening to come to a head, Blur responded by tearing up their deep-rooted Anglo-centric approach for their self-titled 1997 album. Coxon urged Albarn to make music to “scare people again”, urging the band to embrace the looser, ‘lo-fi’ aesthetic of US alt-rockers such as Pavement , Tortoise, Slint and Beck .

Chief songwriter Albarn had gradually submitted to the idea and songs written on the band’s early 1996 US tour, Song 2  and Chinese Bombs , paved the way. Once in the studio, Blur jammed together for the first time in years: “We’ve never really jammed before,” Coxon recalled. “We’ve been quite white-coaty, overall, about recording, like in a laboratory.”

After initial recording in London in June 1996, the band continued sessions in a small studio in Iceland and in January 1997, a fortnight before the album’s release, Blur unveiled lead single Beetlebum . With its descending backing vocals in its chorus, dissonant Come Together -esque ‘solo’ and McCartney -esque bassline, it had more in common with The Beatles than Blur, even down to its accidentally punsome title and rather than being mediated through a character, its lyrics even seemed vaguely confessional. It shot to No.1 in the UK – blowing away any record-company fears over its commercial suitability – and set the scene for a radically different Blur album.

It’s not ‘Graham’s album’… although it kind of is

Although the band – along with erstwhile producer Stephen Street – had clearly committed to the experimentation as a collective, Blur is often singled out as ‘Graham’s album’. “Maybe I just had strong ideas this time,” Coxon shrugged. “I had an awful lot of sounds and styles in mind, so I collected them together, put them through my sieve and then applied it to Damon’s songs.” Or maybe it’s something to do with the inclusion of You’re So Great  – the first Blur song the guitarist wrote lyrics for and sang lead on – which is pure Coxon, down to its excellent manic slide solo and its self-effacing Dictaphone-demo production.

The guitarist has said he thought of Albarn as a good ‘enabler’ for him to ‘become noisy’: “He used to write these short, fast things especially for me to go berserk as a reward,” he said, somewhat self-effacingly. Yet while the fuzz fest that is Song 2 – with its two fuzzy basslines and Shin-ei and Pro Co RAT-drenched chorus – springs instantly to mind, Blur  is about much more than that song’s all-out attack.

Eclectic effect tricks

The album’s opening riff alone is an insight into how Coxon sees guitars and effects as integral to his sound. Beetlebum ’s massive, chugging offbeat Tele riff with its tight delay (from a Boss unit) couldn’t have been added later: it’s Coxon playing the effect as part of the performance.

“Really, my guitar playing is effects playing,” he’s said, and Blur  is full of moments that illustrate what he means. Death Of A Party ’s two-chord verses are smeared with rumbling, delayed fuzz and a chorus of unison bends and twin-guitar dissonance; twisted travelogue On Your Own  sees Coxon mercilessly eradicate any sense of predictability thanks to slanted and enchanted squalls of fuzz, feedback and swipes of the strings with a delay set to superfast. On M.O.R. , the opening riff’s frantic harmonics with added tremolo builds up the intensity before the band disintegrates in beautiful chaos, and Theme From Retro  is a demented waltz bathed in noise that collapses into a black hole of space echo.

Coxon is just as compelling when he resorts to route one, as on the breakneck powerchord workout of Chinese Bombs . You almost feel sorry for Country Sad Ballad Man , which starts off as an innocent, gently wonky acoustic song until Coxon bends it out of shape with squawking shards of stoner Tele , then promptly smashes it to pieces with his effects.

There are also moments where the band’s orbit is genuinely perturbed and they’re no longer writing anything approaching a pop song: Strange News From Another Star ’s soundscape is bleakly dystopian and Essex Dogs  is a chopped-up, varisped industrial meditation of looped delays and broken-glass guitar fragments, over which Albarn darkly intones free verses about panic attacks in the terminal pubs of his hometown.

Finally inside America

Ironically – given that it appeared on an album with a song about the trials of ‘breaking’ America as a centrepiece, of sorts – Song 2 ’s “Woo-hoo”s were eventually licensed for US TV ads, an episode of The Simpsons , films and games and could even be heard accompanying touchdowns in sports arenas (though notably, not to accompany the launch of the US military’s new stealth bomber). The album itself reached No 61 on the Billboard charts, but finally Blur had arrived and embarked on a world tour with a major US stint.

Given that it’s a hybrid of Blur’s essential British eccentricity and the sensibilities absorbed from a steady diet of experimental US indie, more than two decades on, Blur  doesn’t really sound identifiably of a time or place. It’s insular, eclectic and uncompromising and proves that if you give a great guitar player free reign, you end up with a great guitar record – and this is up there with the best of its era.

Blur, Blur (Food Records, February 1997)

• Damon Albarn, vocals, piano, keys, guitar
• Graham Coxon, guitar, vocals, drums, theremin
• Alex James, bass
• Dave Rowntree, drums, percussion
• Stephen Street, production
• John Smith, engineering
• Jason Cox, engineering
• Arnþór ‘Addi 800’ Örlygsson, engineering
• Paul Postle, photography

Standout guitar moment

On your own.

More information about Blur here . For more features, click  here .

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Blur - Tour

Primavera sound, fauna primavera, movistar arena, corona capital festival.

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Blur (formed in 1989) is an English Brit-pop and alternative rock band who stormed to musical success in the ‘90s with their traditional English style and ideology, hailing from London, England, UK.

Prior to the formation of Blur, vocalist/keyboardist Damon Albarn performed in the group Circus alongside drummer Dave Rowntree, which later enlisted the help of guitarist Graham Coxon. Shortly after, whilst the members were studying at London’s Goldsmiths College, the name was changed to Seymour, and Alex James joined on bass to complete the line-up. After recording a number of demos and live performances in 1989, the band caught the attention of Andy Ross of Food Records who subsequently offered to sign the band provided they changed their name.

Blur was ultimately born and began touring in 1990 in support of the Cramps, later releasing the single “She’s So High”. The band’s sound was distinctly of the Madchester genre, drawing influences from the soaring psychedelic pop of The Stone Roses combined with the guitar drive of the Who. After releasing the No. eight charting single “There’s No Other Way” and the No. 24 single “Bang”, Blur released their debut album “Leisure” in 1991.

Following the release, the band embarked on a two-month tour of the States after which Albarn and the band aimed to move away from the sound and scene of their debut, which proved problematic. “Pop Music” was the band’s first single to step into the shoes of English pop however failed to find an audience in either the UK or the U.S. Blur’s sophomore album “Modern Life Is Rubbish”, produced by Stephen Street, was issued in 1992 to generally good reviews.

“Modern Life Is Rubbish”, whilst failing to achieve its intended success, paved the way for Blur’s breakthrough album “Parklife”. Released in 1994, “Parklife” shot to the top of the UK charts, aided by the lead single “Boys & Girls” and considerable BBC radio airplay. The album remained in the charts for a total of 90 weeks, earned rave reviews from the musical press, and has long been regarded as one of Britpops’ defining albums.

During this time Blur developed a musical rivalry with Manchester-based band Oasis, marked by both band’s releasing new singles on the same day. Blur’s “Country House” ultimately outsold Oasis’ “Roll With It”, however Blur’s subsequent album “The Great Escape” failed to compete with Oasis’ sophomore “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?”. 1995’s “The Great Escape” once again earned positive reviews and topped the UK charts, however with the popularity of Oasis in the U.S., Blur were increasingly losing relevancy and public support.

After a year or so out of the spotlight, with influences taken from American indie-rock, Blur reincarnated themselves and released a self-titled album in 1997. Despite the UK No. 1 single “Beetlebum”, the album failed to reignite the popularity of its predecessors, however did find popularity in the U.S. With the significant success of the single “Song 2” in the States, hype for the band crossed the Atlantic and Blur enjoyed a resurgence of success in Britain. The album “13” followed in 1999 after which Albarn focussed on the hip-hop side-project Gorillaz with cartoonist Jamie Hewlett.

Graham Coxon departed the group ahead of the band’s seventh studio album “Think Tank”, which marked the end of Blur until a reunion tour in 2009. The documentary “No Distance Left to Run” was released in January 2010, followed by a new recording for Record Store Day entitled “Fool’s Day” also in 2010.

Live reviews

Blur, icons of the 90's Britpop revolution have enjoyed one of the most critically and commercially celebrated careers of any British artist. Their music has been the soundtrack to a generation and fans old and new continue to sell out their tours in mass force to see Damon Albarn and co perform the classic songs.

From the offset, the audience are excited and remain in a sense of hushed anticipation before the iconic group begin their show. The lights go down and deafening cheers ring out to the opening bars of 'Boys & Girls'. It is a risky move opening with one of your most prolific hits but Blur simply energise the crowd as they remain engaged with the show throughout. Albarn thanks them briefly between tracks but with seven albums to fit into a 20 song setlist, time is of the essence.

Luckily all the big hitters are included, a mass sing/clap along to 'Country House' nearly rips the roof off the Civic Hall before 'Parklife' causes mass jostling within the crowd. It is the anthemic introduction to 'Song 2' which receives perhaps the greatest reaction of the evening. Blur's music does not seem to age and the quartet proves why they are considered titans of Britpop.

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Blur as a band is a British icon, which enjoyed most of their success in the 90s. Legends from the Britpop revolution, Blur are a wonder to watch live. Their music redefined a generation, and they continue to be one of the most successful British rock bands today. When Blur rocked on to stage to screams of ‘Woo Hoo’ by the excited crowd, it felt like an incredible moment and memento to British music history. Blur opened with ‘Song 2’, to the crowd’s absolute delight. They rocked the stage, strumming on guitars and bass and slamming on drums. Although Blur opened with arguably their most prolific and, best, hit, the rest of the show by no means felt like a let-down after such a fantastic opening. If anything, the show went from strength to strength as the band missed up their set list, interspersing slower songs with more up tempo tracks. ‘Coffee and TV’ and ‘Girls and Boys’ also had massive crowd reactions and were two highlights of the night. The crowd begged for an encore at the end and Blur obeyed, coming back to perform ‘Song 2’ one last time for the exultant crowd.

It was amazing! I loved every song they played, and I can´t stop being excited, yet. I think they really know how to make a show and how to make people feel the music they are playing, they know that for many people that went to see them, there are songs that have listend for so many years, and the fact that after so much time, they were listening Blur playing it alive, listening many people singing the lyrics at the same time, and they are there, living that moment, with the people that must be there with them, it´s something amazing that words simply cannot discribe. That´s the best part of every concert, and is something Blur really knew how to gave us.

Blur. Ah, the first thing that comes to mind is Beetlebum. Blur has a song for each mood you're in, however, be warned there is a bit of grungy, dive-bar listening type of feel.

I've had the great fortune of seeing Blur once, and it was beyond memorable. One moment you are jumping up and down, moshing, the next you and the entire crowd are singing along to Song 2. Some artists don't sound anything like their album music, but for Blur it's so point on and more! Let's just say I lost my voice for 2 days after the concert.

So grab your 90's clothes - necklace choker, ripped jeans, & simple tee and kick it with Blur - promise you won't regret!

Best band I've ever seen live, we didn't have the best seats but it was still an incredible experience. Genuinely made me cry it was so amazing. I'm so upset there aren't anymore UK dates as if there where id be booking them all.

Amazing! They're the best!

Best moment: Tender

Akward moment: when Damon tried to organize two chorus with the

Best freaking dancing: Parklife with fans on stage

Best song: The Universal

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• February 28, 1996 Setlist

Blur Setlist at Sala Zeleste, Barcelona, Spain

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4 activities (last edit by bendobrin , 17 Jun 2022, 23:38 Etc/UTC )

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Sala zeleste.

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Blur Gig Timeline

• Feb 26 1996 La Riviera Madrid, Spain Add time Add time
• Feb 27 1996 Arena Auditorium Valencia, Spain Add time Add time
• Feb 28 1996 Sala Zeleste This Setlist Barcelona, Spain Add time Add time
• Mar 01 1996 Le Confluent Portet-sur-Garonne, France Add time Add time
• Mar 02 1996 Le Summum Grenoble, France Add time Add time

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