Who
Blur
Support
Metronomy
Jupiter Bokondji
The Horrors
Drenge
Where
London Hyde Park
When
20th June 2015
Price
£75.00
Who with
Matt
Position
Towards the front
Comments
One hundred and eighty! My number of gigs reaches that memorable darts score, and fittingly the barrier is broken thanks to a Damon Albarn-fronted act, similar to how my one hundredth concert had been The Good, The Bad & The Queen playing The Tower Of London. I was seeing Blur for the sixth time and this show followed on from my seeing MSP for the sixth time and SFA for the sixteenth occasion. It seems that 2015 is becoming a victory lap of all my classic bands, proving that my initial taste in music was good and has remained true to the present day. After The Libertines chaotic show I wouldn't have been adverse to the idea of not coming back to Hyde Park, but in the end it turned out I'd be visiting twice in a year for the first time ever. Just six days after this show I'd be returning to watch The Who for my first time (and possibly their last time), although that's a different story. This means my run of shows at Hyde Park is an unbroken one dating back to Blur's return in 2009, and it would be a shame to not keep that record up. Once I think about it there's a few bands who could entice me back for sure, namely Kraftwerk, Jeff Lynne, Daft Punk, The Kinks, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, Pulp, Slade, The Jam, David Bowie or The Beach Boys (with Brian of course, or just Brian!). Hyde Park always seems to have a way of pulling great names out of the bag, so I may well be back for more! Surprisingly I had no issue getting tickets, and I'm not sure if the show even sold out this time. However it was Blur's fourth time at Hyde Park - seeing as they played two nights in 2009 - and I guess not every single fan would keep coming back for more.

I had felt that a resurrection for Blur without new material would be unacceptable, as even a return for a special Olympics show with two great new songs was a bit of a stretch, as brilliant as it may have been to witness, and as much as I could understand why the band felt unable to turn it down. However The Magic Whip was absolutely wonderful, and I don't see how anyone could claim competition to its status as album of the year. I think it's just extraordinary how Graham and Stephen Street took some disjointed jamming sessions and figured out how to turn them into fully formed and brilliant pop songs, and hats off to them for making it work so well. In particular seeing the video for Ong Ong was a special moment, as its pop brilliance is miles ahead of everything else in the charts. At least it's good to know that the album did hit number 1! Although I heard through The Magic Whip a few times I didn't really hear any old Blur songs, or indeed any of the support bands. In fact I'd pretty much forgotten who the support bill was, and sadly this was a consequence of my iPod not being in full working order, restricting me to hearing my favourite songs on my phone rather than getting into the full albums and obscurities. Also playing music through my PC isn't the best, as it seems to skip a lot and also I find it hard to concentrate when I'm doing other tasks. I had watched a video of Blur brilliantly performing Trouble In The Message Centre at an early gig but otherwise I'd resisted setlist clues as far as possible, in particular averting my eyes from a massive review of the warm-up Blackpool concert in NME, and hoping that no-one at the show would be loudly telling me what songs they were likely to play!

A few weeks before the main event I experienced emotions all the way from joy and anticipation to crushing disappointment when Blur announced a tiny date at the Newhampton Arts Centre in Wolverhampton. I heard about it on the day and rang the venue offering to come down, but was annoyingly told that it was online sales only. Despite being as on the ball as I could possibly be I was clicking in vain for ages, before learning that the gig had somehow managed to sell out in two seconds. I was hugely pissed off with NME in particular for publicising the link to buy tickets, as this was meant specifically for the real fans, and given how limited the ticket supply was it wasn't fair for casual internet browsers to have the option to jump in and buy. I hear that one lucky git of a fan hung around the venue and was put on the guest list by Damon Albarn, so maybe I should have done that? It's a shame that Blur didn't revisit the Civic as they normally do, but it sadly seems to be falling further and further off the radar as a place for bands to play. It's frighteningly superior to the venues in Birmingham, so those guys really need to get their shit together and start attracting all the big names again! There was a bit of a worry that Damon's voice was playing up before their Isle Of Wight gig, as when they appeared on the 20th anniversary edition of TFI Friday - which in fact came out one year early! - they performed Coffee And TV so that he could rest his throat, which also was a shame as it denied the British public a chance to hear how brilliant the new album is. Although there's no accounting for taste, as a flawless performance of Lonesome Street on Graham Norton was arbitrarily panned by some fuckwit critics and Twitter users.

My big holidays had finished six weeks earlier and it's fortunate that I had a sufficiently full diary in June. meaning it wasn't the end of the world that it was taking a while to find a new job, although the flipside of that was that I wasn't trying too hard until these important gigs were out of the way, knowing that prospective employers would inevitably line up all of my interviews to clash. I was waiting to hear back from one first interview but I didn't chase it up as I didn't want to risk this weekend starting on a negative note, and I'm very conscious that getting a job and having to ask for days off would be a pain and would have set me off on the wrong foot, defeating the point of wanting to take time off to recharge my batteries if I followed it with an incredibly busy month trying to juggle leisure and work. I was unusually confused about the train tickets, as I saw a half price ticket that turned out to be just a single, which is no saving when single and returns usually cost the same price anyway! Once I realised this I'd already missed the last super off peak train to London by one hour, meaning both that I had to waste £11 extra on a ticket and also that I arrived 1 hour too late to watch Jurassic Park 4, which was the original plan and something I'd been looking forward to. I tried to offset the wasted cash by skipping the pub tea for a delicious £11 Indian takeaway deal with poppadoms, keema nan, starter, rice and main course, and also buying some European beers to enjoy for a fraction of what they'd cost in the pub, and more importantly they were of a higher standard! We were utterly bloated and after playing on the internet a bit we called it a night.

The next morning I was distracted by an email advertising a perfect job opportunity, annoyed that I'd have to wait until Monday to find out if it was actually for real and if it was as perfect a match for my skills as I hoped for. I was also obliged to buy The Tory Scum Rag newspaper (I mean Daily Mail, as if that needs explaining!) for my household, but after these chores we set out into London. First stop was Somerset House, where after years of putting off the idea in favour of more exciting options we finally went on a guided tour. We picked up tickets for this first due to the fear of them running out, then tried to find somewhere to eat food. The nearby Lyceum Tavern had its doors bolted shut without any indication as to when it would open, whereas the Nicholson's pub next door was crazily still serving breakfast only, even though it was 11am and I wanted some proper food to last me through the entire evening! We therefore took a brisk walk to Doggetts by Blackfriars Bridge - annoyingly the point where we'd started from - which was serving sensible food even though it was the same Nicholson's chain, and we sat outside as I had a delicious glazed chicken with bacon, washed down with a pint of Pilsner Urquell. Although we'd stressed that time was against us they took longer than promised to serve us, which was inexcusable as the pub was otherwise deserted, and in turn it made no sense that the rest of the London public weren't already out and about enjoying a perfectly mild June Saturday morning.

Thanks to the delay it was a crazy dash back to Somerset House, us making it there barely in time to join the tour which surprisingly a good few other people were on - I really thought it would be just us! It was an unusual tour, focusing on unremarkable staircases and the basement, making me wonder if the building actually had any pretty bits. It was as well-delivered as it could be given the strange choice of route, and considering it was free I can't really complain. I'd initially wanted to thoroughly explore Somerset House but felt we'd ran out of time, so we decided to come back next week, also hopefully being able to visit Temple Church, which was nearby but is one of those tourist attractions that decides to close on Saturdays. I popped into a supermarket for a cornetto and Coke and then we walked over to Holborn, making our way to Hyde Park via Marble Arch for around 2pm, one hour after the gates had opened. I'd been carrying a bottle of water with me all day and now had it hidden in my back pocket, so was annoyed to realise that they were intent on searching everyone on entry. Astonishingly the guy failed to find my water so I took it inside anyway, and as far as I can gather it would have been permitted if the bottle was unopened and sealed, which it wasn't. But sod them and their arbitrary policies, this fact wasn't widely publicised, water is essential from a health and safety perspective, and it is immoral to be charging £3ish inside to a captive audience when it should be a free market.

We then had a brief wander around the site but the beer was of no interest due to the awful choice of brands on offer, use of plastic cups and crazy prices, rendering all the attractive buildings on site intended to house the bars a pretty but pointless waste of time. I also took in a brief glimpse of the t-shirt store, but I certainly wasn't going to pay £20! This does make me wonder why in a surge of excitement I'd purchased a Blur t-shirt for £20 online after their 2012 gigs, but I was wearing that top today so at least I was getting some wear out of it. Plus of course with this being England I also had to wear a sun hat and rain coat to account for the typically mixed weather forecast. Both were needed in the end, and I was interested to check out fans modeling the latest crop of t-shirts, although an old one of the Coffee And TV milk carton in close-up was certainly my favourite. Quite a large crowd were already wandering around the site so we made our way forwards, noting that the inner barrier layout was different to before. It was now nearly fully sealed off, with one entrance patrolled by dozens of security guards. I feared that they were on arbitrary water confiscation duties, so kept my bottle hidden as we walked in. This was a potential annoyance, but as we'd gone out of our way to arrive early and to secure a spot we'd had been very unfortunate to be denied entry. The good news was that the barrier across the middle had been moved well to the right, which hopefully was a positive consequence and safety concession after the crowd crushes for The Libertines, and also did no harm as people with VIP tickets don't care about getting to the front and it was morally wrong to save half of the prime positions for them last time around.

It was advertised on a side screen that all bands would be running 15 minutes later than scheduled, and I had painstakingly written down the full running order but for whatever reason I wasn't sufficiently compelled to pay much attention to it. The stage set-up was the same as it had been since the switch from Hard Rock Calling to British Summertime in 2013, although I could tell that the fake trees weren't ageing too well and were pieced together in a not altogether convincing manner! We'd arrived before Drenge had even taken to the stage, which was ideal, and were able to sit down ok, although for so early in the day the place was already rather busy. In fact we were compelled to stand up the moment that Drenge came onstage, only managing to sit down again just prior to The Horrors. We'd stood on the right side figuring - correctly - that there would be less pushing as most people were coming in from the left and would be content once they reach the middle. Also by the time we were ready for Blur the few pushers had incensed the rest of the crowd sufficiently that we closed ranks, no longer allowing more of them to break through. We stood around where the concrete path was, initially just in front of it before being pushed behind it. Drenge's arrival was heralded by their logo appearing as a static image on the video screen, while several cameramen on stage filmed the action for those choosing to stand right at the back - two at the front and a couple to the sides. This was the template for the rest of the support bands and it worked well.

Drenge consisted of the two brothers plus a touring bassist, and although they'll be annoyed by the association they will be forever linked with MP Tom Watson, who famously name-checked them in his resignation speech. Although I didn't know what to expect I'd decided that this was a reasonably strong supporting bill and that I had no intention of missing any of it, and I was surprised to recognise their opening song Running Wild, and I can only assume this was from 6Music as I don't have any of their songs in my collection! The band had a reasonable energy and coolness, so I could see why a politician would pretend to like them, but sadly their songs were too loud and dense, leaving little room to breathe, although I could appreciate that they had at least some talent. The best moment by far was their last song Let's Pretend, as it was the only one that showed genuine musical variety. It started quietly and cleverly built up in an extended and epic manner, and I'm surprised to learn that it's taken from their debut album, and even more so that they actually had two albums out. I'd predicted that this was a brand new song and a hint that they were starting to experiment and branch out, but apparently not! However, they went down quite well with the generous-sized crowd and certainly had been good enough to warrant our early departure from central London.

Next up were The Horrors, and it's impossible to review them without first a few comments about how punchable and generally off-putting their singer Faris is. There's just something about him that annoys, and their development from an anonymous debut album onto a massively acclaimed career path took me by complete surprise, although I have always steered clear of their music as I couldn't get past Faris. However this time I couldn't ignore him, and The Horrors are exactly the sort of band that I wanted to cross off my list but would never ever pay money to see. Although I do generally hate judging people or bands on first impressions there does seem to be a frightening level of accuracy in my predictions when it comes to music, and as they took to the stage it seemed clear that Faris was the weakest link in every respect, including singing, stage presence, obnoxiousness and the infuriatingly long foppish hair covering his eyes. If he writes the bulk of the songs then The Horrors would be better served by relegating him to guitarist, and if he doesn't then they don't need him. If you took him out of the equation then they did make a reasonably intriguing noise, although I must accept that my judgement was also hampered by a lack of knowledge of their songs and I could see that there was something there worth making at least a little fuss about. Faris made a sarcastic comment about it being a glorious British summer day - although at this point it had yet to rain so complaining seems churlish - and also that no matter how large the crowd was, that he was always able to spot his Mum in there. There were five members and they all observed a black and white slightly gothy dress code, and clearly they have their followers as the crowd was rammed for them, and thinned out noticeably when they finished. We took this as our cue to escape for a bit of a break, and I can say that The Horrors were better than Drenge, and if I could get over my dislike of Faris I might even have properly liked them!

We took a quick loo break, glimpsing a smaller stage but not wanting to hang around too long. I couldn't see anywhere offering free water refills, so was a bit annoyed with myself for having started my bottle, but thanks to my later restraint it did last me to the end of the show. The whole Magic Whip theme in addition to a positive ice cream experience at Cardiff Castle for the Manics meant that I was compelled to purchase a two scoop tub of ice cream for £4. It was fantastic salted caramel with quite large pieces in it plus strawberry flavour, and given that ice cream is expensive anyway I think I may have found the ideal concert-going alternative to a beer! I quite fancied the look of the cones but didn't want to make myself thirsty, and then I insisted we head back into the crowd, not leaving the inner barrier area again until after proceedings were finished. When studying the running order I must say that the name Jupiter Bokondji drew a complete blank, but I correctly surmised that they were an African band who Damon had taken a shine too. As far as I can tell they are almost completely unknown so promoting them higher on the bill was a dubious decision when both Drenge and The Horrors could be considered as "big names". However, there was a logic to this plan, as once I got into them I'm happy to confirm that Jupiter Bokondji continued the upward trajectory of the evening. They appeared onstage in an interesting manner making beatbox noises, with the drummer wearing a mask and contributing a generous proportion of the vocals. The guys all looked cool, wearing hats and sunglasses and in some cases losing their shirts as the set wore on.

After an interesting start I felt my attention wandering, but either due to sheer relentlessness or a clever setlist they won me back round, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it too. As far as I can recall there were six of them and they hail from the Congo, although the internet suggests that they're a solo act based around a guy called Jupiter Bokondji? This doesn't make much sense as they seemed very much to be an equal collective, but there you go. It was around this point when the heaven's opened and we got soaking wet. Thankfully the fans weren't too selfish and not too many umbrellas were used, but certainly there could be no more sitting on the grass after this! I shot one video of the band that captured this rain, and in fact the adverse weather conditions were also captured with some CG footage of drizzle on the big screen between the sets. I then thought the sun had come out and I was looking around for a rainbow, only to discover that one of the extremely bright stage lights was focused on us! Next up were Metronomy who I'd briefly seen three years earlier at Field Day but hadn't quite stayed long enough to form a balanced opinion, only noting that they were colour-coordinated and came across as jaunty rather than anthemic. They came onstage in blue jackets and white trousers with very little regard for the damage that mud could do to them, and impressed me with exactly the kind of set I'd hoped for from them. The only song I really knew was Reservoir which I'd heard a good few times on 6Music, and it was present and correct, with the band gathering around the two keyboards to make hand gestures and dance in the most endearing fashion possible.

In fact it was everything that I wanted them to be and I was pleased to note that each support band were better than the last. Metronomy had a very compelling sound, and kept things interesting by mixing it up, with even the lady on the drums showing us she could sing really well. The synthy bits were very catchy and really stood out, and I shot three videos which demonstrated that the rain hadn't entirely stopped. In particular The Look was a really good song that I videoed, and also the lead singer left the stage for a whole tune to allow the band to show off their instrumental skills. I recognised The Bay too - the one that name-checks Tokyo - and was surprised to get home and learn that I'd previously acquired an entire Metronomy album which had come free with NME. The crowd seemed to know and appreciate their songs too, and they came across as one of the few support bands who could headline a stage of this size and do the occasion justice. However the countdown to Blur was now on, with an hour put aside to set up the stage. Much as it had been for the last two years, the onstage advertising was hideously corporate, with even a mildly amusing sketch from Jason Manford about queuing descending into a Barclaycard advert. Also they were again advertising the mediocre views from the back of the arena via a large crane, although it was notable to see that Dynamo was up there. He wasted the opportunity by not doing an impromptu stunt onstage, but enough is enough. The only advert I cared to experience tonight was the song by Blur, and proceedings were so corporate that there was barely even any music played between the bands as the space was filled with attempts to sell stuff to us. Maybe that's not all bad as it least it made it quiet enough to chat, but still, I don't like adverts when I can't switch them off, skip them or simply leave the room!

However there was an advert shown twice for a charity featuring Damon himself, although it didn't quite attract the excitement that a quick blast of Made Of Stone had done to a Stone Roses crowd two years earlier. Also there was a lot of advertising for the other Hyde Park shows, although The Who were skipped over, presumably on the basis that they didn't have thousands of unsold tickets to flog. It was intriguing to note that a few movies would be shown on the big screen, although a midweek showing of Ghostbusters at 6pm isn't much use for anybody who has a job! Similarly there were adverts for various gigs around London, as well as Kylie's show the following night. I hear that she played a snippet of the Neighbours Theme for the Mayfair residents who whine about the noise, and I'm sure she would have put on quite a show too. I didn't spot anybody I knew in the crowd, which I always find to be shameful, and only one vague acquaintance posted on Facebook to mention that he was going, making me wonder just what the rest of the world were doing that they felt worthier of their time than seeing England's finest? I was quite pleased to see a reasonable number of young fans too, suggesting that The Magic Whip had appealed to a young generation starved of major new bands, and that they in turn would hopefully spread the word to their friends. We gradually edged our way forwards in preparation for an early start of around 8pm, leading to a curfew of just after 10pm. Considering that no sensible person would want to be in bed before 10:30pm and that there's a little invention called double glazing in either case, I don't think that the neighbours had anything to complain about unless the fans were in the habit of trashing the streets afterwards! This unusually meant that much of the set would be performed in daylight, in sharp contrast to the entirely moonlit concert three years earlier.

I was a little concerned as to how Blur could equal the fantastic Westway stage of 2012 within the constraints of the corporate Barclaycard setup, but they solved this problem in fabulous fashion by pushing an ice cream van onstage! It had a pink colour scheme and I shot a video of the moment, nicely complementing the video I'd seen on YouTube earlier of the aforementioned van being raised onto the stage. My friend Matt in fact correctly predicted that an ice cream van would be the gimmick and it was an inevitable choice, featuring some Chinese lettering along with the phrase "Blur - The Magic Whip" on the front. In addition to this a few massive cut-out ice creams were placed to the left, and even more astonishingly three copies of the Dharma Initiative logo from Lost were placed as the main backdrop, with gaps in the centre for disco balls to be placed in. You can see them in the pic above. I'm unsure if this was purely a homage to Lost, as the internet suggests that this symbol has a wider meaning in the world of Chinese Taoist cosmology. I'm sure Damon must have realised that we were far more likely to equate these symbols with Lost, which in conjunction with his obsession for ice cream and North Korea and a previous interest in zombie films for Gorillaz means that somehow the man has ended up completely in sync with my tastes and interests! When I was younger I may have got into things based on the recommendations of my heroes, so to independently arrive at the same obsessions as the Damon Albarn of 2015 is an absolute revelation!

Plenty of space and mics were left for the choir as well as the strings section, and it was the strings section who first appeared onstage, before a few jingles from the ice cream van including Teddy Bear's Picnic were played. It was a memorable start and Damon then appeared to the right with absolutely no fanfare and a gradual roar of recognition and appreciation from the crowd. I had wondered what they'd be opening with and had correctly predicted that Go Out was a possibility. It was a bold choice and hugely effective, demonstrating that the Blur of 2015 are at the peak of their powers. The band were in ebullient mood and I got swept up in the excitement, moshing to a song that I'd never expected to be jumping around to. Next up was There's No Other Way, a glorious jump from the Blur of 2015 to their earliest breakthrough, and making up for its glaring omission back in 2012. This also represented the peak of the moshpit before the crush got a bit too much to allow for unrestricted jumping. Damon seemed delighted, saying how much that they loved it here, and now considered it to be home. He also inquired as to how everyone at the back were doing, but the more fool them for standing in a bad position when it has been well publicised that sound quality may not be as good further back. The reality was that the 2012 performance had been a masterclass and tough shit to anyone who'd not got the full experience because they'd chosen to stand at the back. The ice cream man in the van had been busily making ice creams and Damon announced that it was now time to dish them out to the front row, warning fans not to grab before stating it was all going horribly wrong and that it had been a disaster, perhaps only half-joking. The production of ice creams continued throughout the show, but whether they were being continuously dispensed to the front row I couldn't see, even though I was further forwards than I usually find myself at these gigs.

Damon also explained that they'd intended to send the ice cream van around the country to publicise the album, but that plan had fallen apart due to the poor quality of its engine. I seem to have dedicated most of my notes to the build-up to the show as the set itself largely flashed by in a bit of a blur, so details now start to elude me. After initially moving forwards we gradually were edged out back and to the right, although considering the pressure on the crowd we didn't do too badly. Some big heads gradually got in the way as the show went on, and I shot my first video during Coffee And TV. Damon came over to in front of us and it featured animated ice creams on the massive video screen behind the band. He thanked Graham for knocking The Magic Whip into shape and making it all possible, and they made their usual sole representation of the Think Tank era with a rendition of Out Of Time. This was followed by Beetlebum before the set took an unfortunate lapse into mediocrity with a lengthy and unnecessary version of Thought I Was A Spaceman, which was perhaps only included because it referenced Hyde Park. This was followed by the eternally overrated Trimm Trabb, which many of us simply didn't go mad to because we were all too busy trying to take a photo of Damon diving in with the front row. And although I welcome the insertion of unexpected songs I doubt that anybody wanted to hear He Thought Of Cars, which was far too ponderous and we'd had been far better served with It Could Be You, Yuko And Hiro or Entertain Me from the same album. I shot my second video and the quality was better than usual as for once I was paying a bit of attention to what I was shooting, knowing that if this gig doesn't come out on DVD that any footage I take will be priceless. Things then started to liven up with End Of A Century, although it was one of the tunes that could easily have been culled, and it was frustrating that bigger and better hits were sacrificed in its place.

The lull was now over and Damon had clocked that a serious circle pit had been developing in the centre of the crowd just to our left. It was quite an annoyance as we were forcibly pushed right to make room for it every so often and then never quite regained our ground. Damon didn't help matters by acknowledging these people and dedicating the next song to them, but it certainly was one for jumping around. I shot my third video therefore for I Broadcast, which featured crowd-shot footage onscreen. I'd gathered that we'd be encouraged to shoot the song at the gig and send it to the band, but strangely enough this was never advertised? One of the most inspired resurrections of an old classic that I wouldn't necessarily have screamed for followed with Trouble In The Message Centre. This would have been more of a surprise if I hadn't anticipated it from Blur playing it to an intimate crowd and seeing the online footage, but it nevertheless was a highlight. And this seems a good time to mention that there were surprisingly few beer-flinging twats, and that we remained quite dry throughout the main set. If the purpose of the internal barrier security was to stop people bringing in beer just before Blur came on, or else it had served to stop fans being so keen to selfishly leave the area late then expect to just waltz back in, then perhaps it was a good move! I shot my fourth video for Tender, struggling to get my footage above someone else's camera, but strangely it was a bit subdued. There'd been a few aborted attempts by the crowd to sing it both before and after the gig, and the fans just didn't seem bothered enough to sing it ad infinitum as they've done in the past. Damon seemed a little disappointed, but Tender had captured a moment in time in 2009, and there were plenty of other songs for us to drool over.

In my eyes though the Tender of 2009 had been ripped to shreds by the raucous take on Country House that followed it, and when Damon introduced the next guest and stated that he'd always managed to join them at Hyde Park in the past I knew what was coming, and this time the crowd were fully with me in realising that Tender had been well and truly over-shadowed. Phil Daniels emerged triumphantly and helped Damon make a couple of trips to the front row with more ice cream, as the van was now being lit like a spacecraft and the sky was well on its way to full darkness. Parklife was brilliant but that was to be expected, although I must say it wasn't quite as extraordinary as it had been in 2012. Blur then demonstrated that their new tunes are just as great with a blast through Ong Ong, as the characters from the video appeared on the screen, and it was possibly at this point that some yellow balloons were unleashed into the crowd. I shot my fifth video of the ending of the song before a new circle pit was rapidly cleared as Dave ushered in Song 2 with his drums. Although it was a bit of a crush I did find the space to mosh when I wanted to and this was one of those moments, and the fan standing on someone's shoulders who set off a flare in the circle pit earns some kudos for warning everyone that he was going to light it before he did. Although how he managed to smuggle it through security is another matter. Next up was To The End, as the crystal balls inside the Dharma logos were utilised and, for good effect, another one was projected onto the big screen too.

The main set then finished with This Is A Low, before the band left the stage and the characters from the Ong Ong video now physically appeared for a dance around, although sadly it wasn't the band themselves in the costumes. A slot machine on the video screen then went through several iterations of Blur artwork, before making a match of three symbols with the album cover of The Great Escape. I thought that this would mean Country House, but was pleasantly surprised to hear Stereotypes. It's quite an abrasive song and I'm confused as to how the band can disown The Great Escape but play two of its most divisive songs in He Thought Of Cars and Stereotypes. I've always loved The Great Escape and never understood the flak it gets, and on that basis was happy to hear Stereotypes, although it was a missed opportunity that they didn't then launch into Country House. I shot my sixth video of Stereotypes and very much appreciated the neon video footage, and was amused when the left side of the screen seemed to genuinely crash and had to be reset. As we were relatively far forwards I couldn't really see the side screens, but did note that the side backgrounds seemed to either be alternately breaking down or were being unusually turned off at points. It was great to hear Girls & Boys at the business end of the set and I was grateful that the band had retained it but also understood that using it at the outset to get us going would have been far too much of a repetition of past glories, which wasn't necessary now thanks to the quality of The Magic Whip. This was followed by For Tomorrow, as I shot my seventh and last video, which was blocked by heads in front as its mid-tempo attracted a rather unnecessary moshpit.

There was only one way to end though, and the gleeful reception that The Universal received arguably made it the highlight of the entire set. It was the best possible way to finish, and the band were right to leave us on that note. Annoyingly the inner barrier was left fully intact as we made a painfully slow exit from the park, although perhaps this helped spread out the crowd once we got onto the road and in the way of the traffic? Getting past Wellington Arch wasn't too challenging and we then walked as fast as possible to Victoria. I really appreciated the early curfew of 10:15ish as it meant that we could get back at a sensible time, the only downside being that much of the set had been performed in broad daylight. Nevertheless I was happy as we had time on our side, popping into Boots for a meal deal and noting that my ears were whistling loudly, dispelling any concerns about the concert being too quiet to enjoy. I was excited to hear that a train was running to East Grinstead, echoing the lyric from Lonesome Street, but it would have been far too impractical to go that way, so we headed back to Matt's instead. We had no difficulty getting a seat and arrived back little over an hour after the gig had finished. Although I was tired and didn't write any notes at all I did play on the internet, eventually writing my gig notes directly onto my laptop on the train journey home, although as you can see I found a lot more to say about the build-up rather than the gig itself!

The next morning I checked out the internet again before enjoying a delicious pub breakfast and seeing Jurassic World at the local Odeon, which was a hugely disappointing experience. The new Odeon in Birmingham is a modern multiplex with comfortable seats and £4 tickets, whereas this was a hideous old building with uncomfortable seats, unwanted seat allocations, a tiny screen and - wait for it! - £13 tickets!! And just to rub it in a bit more I discovered that my IMAX glasses didn't work on a regular 3D screen, so had to fork out another £1 for a new pair. It was a disgusting and shameful rip-off and it's extraordinary that the film came across remotely well in such a negative environment. After this I made my way home, barely managing to change trains at Rugby as overhead line problems disrupted the service that should have led me back via Birmingham, although I ended up home at around the same time so can't really complain. Comparing with previous setlists, I see that we lost My Terracotta Heart, Mirrorball, There Are Too Many of Us and Ghost Ship but got End Of A Century in their place. Interestingly the band had played an epic long set in Glasgow and had taken the striking decision of getting the crowd going early at the Newhampton Arts Centre date by playing Song 2 second. It seemed to be a rare example of common sense and honesty for Blur to realise that some of the new songs weren't perhaps working so well live, and also in substituting My Terracotta Heart for End Of A Century in the middle of the setlist they'd gone at least some way to try to cancel out that shocking mid-set lull, although due to He Thought Of Cars and Trimm Trabb remaining in place they unfortunately hadn't succeeded.

The real frustration though - and the reason why I've had to give the show a lower rating than the last two Hyde Park performances - was the omissions. The holy trinity of Blur songs that I've yet to hear live are On Your Own, Charmless Man and Music Is My Radar, and it was hugely disappointing that none of these were included. Also the band continued to waste time playing Trimm Trabb and didn't have the courage to drop some of their many "closing songs", namely To The End, This Is A Low, The Universal and For Tomorrow. As much as I love them, they are always played, and by my reckoning the band should fix The Universal as their eternal finale song and look to drop one or two of the others, perhaps alternating them night by night to treat the hardcore fans who travel around after them? I do feel that five songs from The Magic Whip was a sensible number to play, but the omission of Pyongyang was utterly inexcusable. Go Out, I Broadcast, Ong Ong and Lonesome Street represent the "loud face" of the album and Pyongyang is their brilliant counterpoint, and I feel that with a good arrangement and the crowd onside that this could have been a highlight of the set and the only new singalong anthem to rival Tender, To The End or The Universal. Why they left it out I can't remotely fathom.

Nearly all of the other classic songs missed out I'll let them off for, as I understand that the setlist needed shaking up and space was needed for newbies. Probably Tracy Jacks and Under The Westway were the two tunes I most sorely missed, and as much as I love Country House I just feel grateful that the band performed it so enthusiastically for me four times in a row, either putting a brave face on it or rediscovering some kind of love for the track. However I do have to give credit as Trouble In The Message Centre and Stereotypes were inspired inclusions that I wouldn't have petitioned Blur to perform. In addition to the holy trinity above I'd had loved the band to have picked their newbies from B.L.U.R.E.M.I., Battle, Let's All Go Down The Strand, It Could Be You or Gene By Gene. Also given the ice cream van theme it seems cruel that they didn't find space for Ice Cream Man in the set? I'd had looked to skip out Badhead, Out Of Time, Thought I Was A Spaceman, Trimm Trabb, He Thought Of Cars, End Of A Century, This Is A Low and For Tomorrow - or in other words the middle of the set - and this would have left room for On Your Own, Charmless Man, Music Is My Radar, Pyongyang, Ice Cream Man, Tracy Jacks, Under The Westway and It Could Be You to take their place. Are you listening, Damon Albarn? Nevertheless, the Blur of 2015 remain as vital and relevant as the Blur of 1994 were, and this was yet another triumphant Hyde Park set. I'd be returning to Hyde Park in just six days to watch The Who and don't expect them to hit the same heights as Blur. Plus on the day I wrote this I booked tickets to see Damon's Alice In Wonderland musical, so my worship of all things Blur and Damon-related remains in no doubt.
Setlist (Drenge)
Running Wild
Side By Side
The Snake
I Wanna Break You In Half
Bloodsports
We Can Do What We Want
Fuckabout
Let's Pretend
Setlist (The Horrors)
Mirror's Image
I Can See Through You
Who Can Say
In And Out Of Sight
Scarlet Fields
Still Life
Your Love
Sea Within A Sea
Setlist (Metronomy)
Holiday
Radio Ladio
Love Letters
Everything Goes My Way
The Look
I'm Aquarius
Reservoir
She Wants
Side 2
Corinne
A Thing For Me
The Upsetter
Heartbreaker
Boy Racers
Old School
Month Of Sundays
The Bay
You Could Easily Have Me
Setlist (Blur)
Go Out
There's No Other Way
Lonesome Street
Badhead
Coffee And TV
Out Of Time
Beetlebum
Thought I Was A Spaceman
Trimm Trabb
He Thought Of Cars
End Of A Century
I Broadcast
Trouble In The Message Centre
Tender
Parklife
Ong Ong
Song 2
To The End
This Is A Low
Stereotypes
Girls & Boys
For Tomorrow
The Universal

Mark: 9.0/10