Blur tease what to expect from huge 2023 Wembley reunion gig
Blur have spoken about what to expect from their massive reunion gig at London’s Wembley stadium next summer.
The Britpop icons yesterday (November 14) announced their only UK show of 2023, which takes place on Saturday, July 8, marking the band’s first headline show since 2015 and first ever at the iconic venue.
Tickets go on general sale from 10am GMT this Friday (November 18) and will be available here.
Speaking to Apple Music 1, host Matt Wilkinson noted to Damon Albarn that when the individual band members – Albarn, Dave Rowntree, Graham Coxon, Alex James – are often asked about reforming, the response tends to be unanimous about “if the time’s right” and “if we don’t hate each other”.
“It’s not a big deal. It’s a real joy when we do it,” Albarn replied. “And obviously the reason why I’m talking to you here is because of those three other musicians.”
He continued: “It was a massive part of my life and their lives. So we all cherish those memories, but we wouldn’t want to ruin them.”
Wilkinson replied that the band “haven’t done” with all “the stuff that Blur have done since”.
“To date, we haven’t. Well, I know they work, so I don’t have to worry about that,” Albarn said.
“It’s just, can we play them with the integrity that they deserve because it’s kind of like time travel, isn’t it? And people don’t really want to see you mess about with that stuff. It’s like, no, hey, we’re going to a whole concert, but there’s like reimaginings of all our songs. No, no one’s interested in that.”
Meanwhile, drummer Rowntree described the comeback gig as a “bucket list” dream.
“Turns out it’s incredibly difficult to arrange something like this, you know, the technical resources, the staff, the places to play. All of these things are in very, very short supply,” he told Sky News.
“So it went right up to the wire, but it’s very hard to turn something like that down.
“We’re a band that’s done almost everything it’s possible to do… what an iconic place, what an iconic venue. It’s just incredibly exciting.”
He continued: “It’s one of these iconic places that are secretly up on your bucketlist, even though you pretend they’re not,” adding: “I sincerely hope we are a band that can fill a stadium like that. I don’t want there to be four people and a dog.”
The drummer also joked that the band, who formed in 1989, are now “kind of embarrassing grandads”, but that they look forward to performing the hits again.
Bassist James yesterday also teased on the possibility of new music from the band.
The news of the reunion comes after Albarn previously claimed to NME that the band had been in talks and “had an idea” of how to make their comeback.
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Hollie Geraghty
NME
