Blur: doin’ it for the kids again

The first strange thing you noticed looking into the crowd from the photographer’s pit at Blur’s recent Perth concert was the surprisingly low average in the audience’s age. I would have thought the band attracted more the mothers and fathers of Generation Y, not the other way around. Yet it were predominantly late teens who clambered to get a closer look at Britpop’s biggest ever sensations last night (well alright then, Blur come after The Beatles, and, no, Oasis don’t actually count for they’re rock more than pop).

The second strange thing you noticed was the great amount of boisterousness Damon Albarn and Co exuded – especially considering this would have been the umpteenth time the band were forced to play the relentless likes of Parklife, Song 2 and Girls & Boys.

Alas, it was with gusto that the lads entered the stage, smiles all-round with which they left it, and lots of gallivanting about in between – like kids attending their first rave or festival, ’twas!

That this was the third time I’d seen Blur live, and the first in a night-time / indoor environment (the two previous performances were daytime at music festivals), it was a newish experience for me. Being in the photographer’s pit and seeing singer Damon’s cheeky mug so close up – definitely a musical coup for me.

Fandom aside, the bottom line for last night’s gig was that these guys still put on a brilliant show. They may not offer much in the way of spectacle – no fancy video montages or dizzy lighting – save for a few mirrorballs reflecting white light – but what they lacked in hyped-up backdrops they sure made up for in awesome musical delivery.

There were some songs, in fact, that I never wanted to end – such as the blue-eyed gospel of Tender whose heavily-retro outro ranks as one of the best in music history – up there with the likes of the Fab Four’s Hey Jude and Tears For Fears’ Sowing The Seeds Of Love.

Blur are not ashamed of their pillaging of pop music references – Damon seemingly not giving a fuck that Beetlebum was as much a pilfering of John Lennon’s best moments (anyone recognise the stop/start bit akin to that in Starting Over?) as it was tribute to the lead Beatle.

Let’s not forget Blur have their own original claims to fame. They were the band that came up with the amalgam Parklife which would go on to become a huge brand on the festival landscape. They were the band behind the glorious animated spin-off that is Gorillaz. And they proved with a little cheeky showmanship (not necessarily violence, brothers Gallagher), modern pop music could be entertaining again.

My only whinge? That the band’s set list didn’t include their very first single She’s So High. Now that would have ended the show on a real high.  Antonino Tati

Photography by Antonino Tati except for final image by Jayga McMullen.