For a band whose incendiary live performances frequently threatened to eclipse their studio output, Blur were surprisingly ungenerous when it came to live releases during their original stint. The legendary Peel sessions tracked during the Blur tour appeared both as b-sides and as a bonus disc to the Bustin’ and Dronin’ import CD; Live At The Budokan was similarly import only; while a live set released as a bonus disc to the Best Of…had a bizarrely truncated setlist. Otherwise, fans were forced to rely on b-sides and video releases if they wanted to catch Blur in action.
Post hiatus, the band have been more generous, with Parklive capturing their 2012 return. Unfortunately, as it was recorded pre-Magic Whip, it offers a broadly similar set list to that offered here, with only a handful of tracks from Ballad Of Darren bolstering familiar hits.
Nevertheless, with the Wembley show something of a landmark moment for the band, it’s a welcome release, if a flawed one. The issues start with the releasee itself. Released across a range of formats, fans have to opt for a double CD, featuring the complete Sunday show; a triple vinyl (also containing the complete Sunday show bar Lot 105); or a double LP featuring a sort-of best of both nights – which is currently the only way to get anything from the Saturday show. There’s also a film slated for September release alongside a DVD / Blu Ray set, which seems a little disjointed, and it’s really not clear why a more consistent strategy was not applied.
The Package
It really feels someone dropped the ball here. The double CD comes housed in a tri-fold digipack, with a fairly flimsy and unimaginative poster in place of a booklet. The CDs are at least housed in individual sleeves, keeping them safe from the wear and tear that comes from slipping them in and out of such packages, but otherwise it’s a disappointing representation of a legendary performance. At a time when the battle between streaming and physical releases continues to be fought, it really doesn’t help when so little care is applied to artists of such stature, and the whole thing just feels rushed.
The Audio
Recorded and mixed by Matt Butcher (Gorillaz) and mastered by Andy Baldwin (Bjork, Oasis), Live At Wembley Stadium perfectly captures the energy of Blur’s live show. The band may have comfortably sat at the indie end of the spectrum, but one of the elements that made them so compelling on stage was that they could, at any moment, turn into a thrashing punk band (Advert, Popscene), or power drill-wielding art rock mob (Trimm Trabb).
While Blur are less abrasive than on, say, the Blur tour, which saw them bury audiences under the claustrophobic horror of Death Of A Party and I’m Just A Killer For Your Love, they remain unwilling to bow entirely to the mainstream, even when playing the biggest gig of their lives, and this double set does as good a job of capturing the raw spontaneity of their performance as could be hoped.
Disc One
It takes guts to walk onto the largest stage you’ve ever played and immediately unleash a new track, and yet that’s exactly what Blur do. Amidst the roar of the crowd, they kick into the Bowie-esque St Charles Square, Damon greeting the crowd with the opening line “I fucked up” – providing a typically contrary and compelling start to the show.
From there, the band head all the way back to 1991, racing through There’s No Other Way and an electrifying Popscene, the latter leaving those for whom Blur began and ended with Parklife looking wholly perplexed by Graham Coxon’s feedback strewn onslaught. While nerves are soothed with the well-worn pop of Tracy Jacksand the intimate croon of Beetlebum, the relentless hammer drill guitars of Trimm Trabb simply flatten the stadium as wave after wave of noise peels off the stage and into the reeling crowd. A taut reminder that Blur were never ones to play it safe, it marks the mid-point of the first disc, and it still sounds as gloriously chaotic as when it first landed on 13.
After a brief singalong digression via Villa Rosie, the audience delighting in the whoo-oo backing vocals, the salacious wife swapping antics of Stereotypes are put on hold while Damon digs into the history of Wembley. When it arrives, it’s a great track – one of the highlights of The Great Escape and always better live than on record – as is a surprising Out Of Time, drawn from the underrated Think Tank. Graham gets his time to shine on the gloriously lo-fi pop of Coffee And TV, before the first half wraps up with Under The Westway, Damon’s paean to his hometown, culminating in an emotional moment as he becomes briefly overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all.
Disc Two
If the first half of the set ebbed and flowed, the second half kicks off with End Of A Century and, with only a few exceptions, works its way through the band’s biggest hitters. There are still surprises to be had, mind you. The band nod back to Modern Life Is Rubbish for a crunchy Sunday, Sunday, before launching into the irritatingly catchy Country House with suitable enthusiasm. Surprisingly, the band opt to follow it up with another huge single, hauling Phil Daniels out of a workman’s tent to race through Parklife. Inevitably, it turns into a massive, Wembley-wide singalong, as does the lovely To The End, which provides a moment of calm.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night is the appearance of MLIR’s Oily Water, with Graham’s tremolo laden guitar and Alex’s probing bass providing the backing for Damon’s distorted voice. It builds beautifully, setting the stage for the charged double header of Advert – delivered here with frenetic punk fury – and the evergreen explosion of Song 2, providing the audience with a shot of adrenaline as the sun slowly fades.
It all stops for one of the greatest songs the band ever composed. A beautiful five minutes that sees the stadium fall silent, This Is A Low remains one of Blur’s most poetic and poignant pieces of music, all building to Graham’s heart-wrenching solo, and it provides the perfect conclusion to the main set. A transcendent anthem, on record it is enthralling, while on stage it has the power to raise a mass of goosebumps. It is a near perfect moment, and it remains one of the clearest single indicators of the immense talent that lay at the heart of Blur’s success.
With the audience baying for more, Blur can truly do no wrong as they bring their second night at Wembley home. Kicking off with the punk rush of an unhinged Lot 105 and the disco-fuelled indie-rock of Girls And Boys,they get the stadium floor jumping from front to back, and even at the remove of listening from home, you can feel the rush of energy the latter track brings. The nostalgic beauty of For Tomorrow, and the mid-tempo glory of Tender (performed complete with gospel choir) are moments of pure joy, and if throwing recent single The Narcissist into the mix is a bit of a curveball for an encore, everyone knows where we’re headed. Providing an epic set with an epic finale, The Universal may not, to my mind, have quite the emotional resonance of This Is A Low. I must concede, however, that it’s the more singable of the pair, and with the whole of Wembley singing as one, it certainly provides this stunning concert with a life affirming conclusion.
Conclusion
While the Blur of 2024 don’t quite have the energy of yore (to hear the band at their ferocious best, it’s a toss-up between the epic Budokan set and their short spot at Peel Acres), there’s no doubting the excitement the band felt at headlining two sold out nights at the vast Wembley Stadium.
However, it’s not perfect. The setlist, while boasting a few newbies, is strikingly similar to Parklive, the scale of the event presumably driving the emphasis on hits over deeper cuts. This is understandable, but it makes for a less rewarding listen, and the omission of anything from Magic Whip feels particularly egregious in this context. That said, with Blur having been largely out of action for most of the 00s, we’re lucky to have anything at all, and the set does feel like a celebration of the band’s history, if slightly incomplete. Overall, it’s something of a must for Blur fans and it provides a compelling record of a landmark event in the band’s career. 8/10
