The Blur Thread

[Ms Magpie]

Or watch it here. :) [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9AmqbXJI5M]Blur- Live At Maida Vale - YouTube[/ame]

[Mark]

Blur at Margate played:

 

 

 

Girls & Boys

London Loves

Tracy Jacks

Jubilee

Beetlebum

Coffee & TV

Out of Time

Young & Lovely

Sunday Sunday

Country House

Parklife

Trimm Trabb

Caramel

Popscene

Advert

The Puritan

Song 2

No Distance Left to Run

Tender

This Is a Low

 

Encore:

Sing

Under The Westway

Intermission

End of a Century

For Tomorrow

The Universal

 

 

[laundromatlock]

They seem to be playing more stuff from 13, especially Caramel which I believe it's the first time they ever performed the song live. That's pretty awesome.

[bedofroses]

I had never heard Young and Lovely before, such a nice little song, what a gem! Sounded really good from the Maida vale show though, so good.

[Black Rose]

You can listen to Radio2 show here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l7r2v

 

And the BBC6music one here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lc7kt

 

Nobody has got around to ripping the audio feeds into mp3s yet then? :(

 

And I wanted to listen to some more Blur when driving in my car

[Black Rose]

I love the post-cards which came with the deluxe edition of the albums :)

[Ms Magpie]

GUYS I NEED YOUR HELP/REASSURANCE.

 

So my friend Mr John Smith bought us print-at-home Ticketmaster tickets on his name. Therefore, the two tickets have got the name of this John Smith on them.

 

Unfortunately, my friend cannot attend the gig because of some unforeseen circumstances so he sold his ticket to a friend I don't know.

 

Question is: will we have any problems getting in? The tickets are supposed to have a different barcode or whatever it is that gets scanned and it doesn't say anywhere on my ticket that the ticket buyer needs to be there. Just this:

 

The barcode only allows one entry per scan.

- Unauthorised duplication of this ticket may prevent your admittance to the event.

- Unlawful resale (or attempted) is grounds for seizure or cancellation without refund

or compensation.

 

Keep this ticket in a safe place as you wouldmoney or regular tickets. Ticketmaster is not responsible for any inconvenience caused by unauthorised duplication. In the event that duplicate copies appear, the venue reserves the right to refuse entry to all ticket holders andmay credit the original purchaser the face value, which will constitute full remuneration. The event date and time is subject to change without notice.

 

 

:bomb:

[loudefix]

Don't worry about that.

I never saw an identity control at a concert. When they scan the barcode they often doesn't even look at the rest of the ticket.

[Ms Magpie]

Good. :smiley:

[Black Rose]

As long as the bar-code is different, then it wouldn't matter.

 

The security people have so much to deal with at doors opening as long as the bar-code works they don't care whose name the ticket is under.

 

Enjoy Hyde Park, the last time I was there I ended up in the photo used for the cover art for the live cds of the show :)

 

(Just a quick warning, if the wind is blowing the wrong way then the sound is completely rubbish)

[bedofroses]

I didnt know about the ticket situation there Nina, but I am glad someone did for you :lol: :)

[James.]

Tonight was the best night of my life. Ever. I'm going away camping tomorrow so I won't be able to tell you guys about it until I get back.

[Ms Magpie]

Ahhh I'm really glad you enjoyed the gig, Fitz!

 

And thanks for the replies & advice, guys! :nice:

 

 

Is any of you queuing for Hyde Park? Oh btw Kelly, we have to meet so we can talk Blur! and Radiohead! :nice: :dance:

[bedofroses]

Yeaaa Superfitz please do write a full review in here once you get back, I am insanely jealous of anyone that went to these smaller blur gigs :dead: but glad some massive blur fans got to these gigs.

 

Heyy Nina, yes of course :) I mean in relation to your queuing question as well, I was unsure on when to get there and everything too :lol:

[loudefix]

It's quite frustrating to read all these reviews about those small gigs but also exciting to read how the band gives all it has to their fans.

 

For the 2009 Hyde Park gig I arrived at noon and I didn't get the front row (I'm a bad runner and I had to catch my breath to half of the race :sweatdrop:). By chance I managed to get the barrier later but I was quite on the left (still a good spot). But I was alone so I had to run and "fight" alone for a good place. When you are with friends it's easier I think.

[Mark]

Yeah, so I bought tickets for the Sunday Wolves show.

 

Eventim sent the tickets to my address. I waited til the Saturday - the last possible day - to receive the tickets but did not. Rang Eventim. They did not answer, despite their website stating that they should between the times I phoned them.

 

So I couldn't go.

 

Monday morning, I ring Eventim. They sent the tickets to my uni address. I no longer live there, therefore they have no right to sign for my post. Someone did sign for it. So Eventim aren't going to give my money back.

 

Am I the only one who thinks that's wholly out of order?

 

I'm not stopping until I see all one hundred and five of the Queen's good English pounds back in its rightful place of my bank account. Thieving shits.

[Ms Magpie]

I agree with you guys - reading the reviews and reports is overwhelming; I was practically sobbing all day and that's all because of a single box set review and listening to the albums and reading stuff on the forums etc. :lol: I'm really sad I couldn't go but I'm very glad I'll get to see them really soon.

 

Heyy Nina, yes of course :) I mean in relation to your queuing question as well, I was unsure on when to get there and everything too :lol:

Yay, that's great! I'll send you a PM so we can sort things out, OK? :sneaky:

 

For the 2009 Hyde Park gig I arrived at noon and I didn't get the front row (I'm a bad runner and I had to catch my breath to half of the race :sweatdrop:). By chance I managed to get the barrier later but I was quite on the left (still a good spot). But I was alone so I had to run and "fight" alone for a good place. When you are with friends it's easier I think.

It'll be different this time round! There'll be plenty of people to help you out! I'll send you a message, too, to talk things through. :wacky:

 

 

ION, Easybus tickets = booked, now I only need to check in with Ryanair and I'm good to go. :nice:

 

Yeah, so I bought tickets for the Sunday Wolves show.

 

Eventim sent the tickets to my address. I waited til the Saturday - the last possible day - to receive the tickets but did not. Rang Eventim. They did not answer, despite their website stating that they should between the times I phoned them.

 

So I couldn't go.

 

Monday morning, I ring Eventim. They sent the tickets to my uni address. I no longer live there, therefore they have no right to sign for my post. Someone did sign for it. So Eventim aren't going to give my money back.

 

Am I the only one who thinks that's wholly out of order?

 

I'm not stopping until I see all one hundred and five of the Queen's good English pounds back in its rightful place of my bank account. Thieving shits.

WHAT, ARE YOU SHITTING ME?

 

Seriously, though. Why did they send them to your uni address in the first place and isn't there a way the person who signed the parcel instead of you could contact you about it? Fucking hell.

 

Weren't the security supposed to be checking the identity of people with the tickets? What a shit situation, I'm really sorry and frustrated on your behalf. :(

[Mark]

WHAT, ARE YOU SHITTING ME?

 

Seriously, though. Why did they send them to your uni address in the first place and isn't there a way the person who signed the parcel instead of you could contact you about it? Fucking hell.

 

Weren't the security supposed to be checking the identity of people with the tickets? What a shit situation, I'm really sorry and frustrated on your behalf. :(

 

They sent them to my Uni address because that's where I thought I'd be in five days time (the time they said it would take to get the tickets). They later changed that statement.

 

Someone could've contacted me about it, they just chose not to.

 

It's reeeally shit. But I guess these things happen. Still getting my money back, one way or another!

[loudefix]

This is the worst that could happen. I'm so sorry for you. And the one who signed for you should be ashamed for agreeing to sign without telling you you had a letter.

 

You can maybe ask to see the signature they had and prove that it's not yours. That could be helpful to get your money back.

 

Oh and did you see that Ticketmaster email that said doors will opened at 12:00 instead of 14:30. I shouldn't have take an hotel room for saturday night and just sleep at hyde park to be sure to have a good spot!

[bedofroses]

Yeah, so I bought tickets for the Sunday Wolves show.

 

Eventim sent the tickets to my address. I waited til the Saturday - the last possible day - to receive the tickets but did not. Rang Eventim. They did not answer, despite their website stating that they should between the times I phoned them.

 

So I couldn't go.

 

Monday morning, I ring Eventim. They sent the tickets to my uni address. I no longer live there, therefore they have no right to sign for my post. Someone did sign for it. So Eventim aren't going to give my money back.

 

Am I the only one who thinks that's wholly out of order?

 

I'm not stopping until I see all one hundred and five of the Queen's good English pounds back in its rightful place of my bank account. Thieving shits.

 

That is absolutely horrible, :( I feel so bad that it happened to you. Keep fighting to get your money back, because that is the least you deserve from them back after that.

 

Yay, that's great! I'll send you a PM so we can sort things out, OK? :sneaky:

 

 

Yes ok sure, send me a PM :D, oh I think you already have :lol: silly me.

[Ms Magpie]

If I hadn't have luggage on me, I would've cancelled the first night in hostel. Yep.

[James.]

Yeaaa Superfitz please do write a full review in here once you get back, I am insanely jealous of anyone that went to these smaller blur gigs :dead: but glad some massive blur fans got to these gigs.

 

Well, I wasn't planning on writing a full review but I will see what I can do :nice:

 

Yeah, so I bought tickets for the Sunday Wolves show.

 

Eventim sent the tickets to my address. I waited til the Saturday - the last possible day - to receive the tickets but did not. Rang Eventim. They did not answer, despite their website stating that they should between the times I phoned them.

 

So I couldn't go.

 

Monday morning, I ring Eventim. They sent the tickets to my uni address. I no longer live there, therefore they have no right to sign for my post. Someone did sign for it. So Eventim aren't going to give my money back.

 

Am I the only one who thinks that's wholly out of order?

 

I'm not stopping until I see all one hundred and five of the Queen's good English pounds back in its rightful place of my bank account. Thieving shits.

 

Awwww, I feel so bad for you man :(

[bedofroses]

Well, I wasn't planning on writing a full review but I will see what I can do :nice:

 

:lol: Oh sorry, whatever you want to do obviously. Whatever info you can spare about it is well received :)

[James.]

OK here is my 'review' of the concert. This was my first ever proper indoor concert so I apologise if I come across as a bit of a rookie :lol: Also, it was a few days ago so the experience isn't so fresh in my mind :( And sorry, no pics. I foolishly only brought my iPod Touch whose camera is shockingly bad.

Warning: LONG-WINDED REVIEW INBOUND! Only read if you really have nothing better to do :laugh3:

 

Before the show:

 

 

Until about 4 o'clock on Monday it was no certainty that I would actually be able to go to this concert. Having been away for about a week, I had missed the tickets being delivered so I had to go to the sorting office to collect them. Following an unbearable wait of what seemed like ages, the tickets were finally in my hand. However, things soon turned for the worse. According to the terms and conditions which came with the tickets, the ticket holder must provide proof of ID and the name must match the name on the credit card. Shit. I had used my mother's credit card to buy the tickets. After an excruciatingly long phone call to the Eventim helpline, during which time I missed 2 trains, everything finally seemed sorted out. I was told to present my passport as well as my mother's credit card to some official representative when I got to the venue.

With that crisis averted, I could finally get on the train to Wolverhampton, via Wellington to pick up my date. Other than having to sit behind an extremely foul-mouthed young mother, the journey was fairly uneventful and we shortly arrived in Wolverhampton.

Seeing as I'm a bit of a gig rookie, I had no idea how early we should arrive at the concert. We turned up at the Civic Hall at 6:30, with 30 minutes to go until the doors opened. There were already large queues forming, but my date needed the toilet and also insisted on going to the nearby KFC. As a gentleman, I was unable to say no to a lady, so off we went. After wandering about for ages looking for toilets (which turned out to be closed) we popped into KFC (where the service was unbearably slow) before arriving back at the Civic Hall with minutes to spare. We were let into the venue despite my previous fears, and by some stroke of luck we met two friends of mine from college who had secured places quite near the stage on Graham's side. (oh yes, and it turned out there were toilets and food inside the venue :facepalm:)

 

 

The show itself:

 

 

Finally, we get to the actual concert! :dance: The support act (The Bots, anyone heard of them?) were nothing special. Just a guitarist and a drummer with a huge afro who looked about 14. They pretty much sounded like they were just playing random riffs and jams for about half an hour. Got to applaud them though, for playing to an audience who were there for one band and one band alone: Blur.

At 9 o'clock the house lights went down and the atmosphere was unbelievable. Knowing that we were just a few seconds from being in the same room as four of the greatest musicians of the past 20 years (sorry Radiohead) was one of the strangest feelings of my life. Suddenly without warning we could see them walking down the spiral staircase next to the stage... and there they were! Before I could even recover from the feeling of actually seeing them before my own eyes, they launched right into the first song, the unmistakeable Girls & Boys! Not one of my personal favourites, but it worked perfectly to get the crowd going. Barely had Girls & Boys come to a crashing end, when the first notes of the next song started. I could hardly believe my ears - London Loves! Just a few days previously I had wondered to myself if they would bring out any of the old Parklife album tracks that they hadn't played in years, but I never expected it to actually happen. You wouldn't think it was a song that no-one had heard live for 18 years - the audience were deafening, and it seemed everyone knew every word. And that's pretty much how it was for the rest of the show - fan favourites such as Tracy Jacks, Jubilee and Trimm Trabb were greeted with as much enthusiasm as any of the hits. The main set went continued without surprises (Beetlebum's ending was incredible as always, the fans went wild for Graham singing on C&TV, Out of Time was once again the only song from Think Tank to make an appearance) until a couple more new additions: Young & Lovely and Caramel. These weren't a complete surprise as I knew they had been played at Maida Vale a few days ago, but they were sublime nonetheless. One of the highlights of the concert was the fantastic Trimm Trabb. As Dave started to drum the intro and Damon ad-libbed into the microphone, I heard one guy behind me say "Oh, this is the intro to Song 2!" :facepalm: As the song reached its climax I couldn't help bellowing out the "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" at the same time as Damon. :wacky:

Following this were 3 hits spanning 3 albums: Sunday Sunday, Country House and Parklife. Before Parklife, Damon said something about Phil Daniels being unable to make it so he wanted us to sing it instead :lol: I think he fucked up the second verse but you could hardly tell over the deafening audience singing along. At this point I couldn't imagine how it could get any better, until Damon and Alex exchanged a look and Alex started up a familiar bassline... it took me a few seconds to realise what song it was, but even when Graham started to play the riff I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not. It was only when Damon started to sing "Colin Zeal knows the value of mass appeal..." that it dawned on me. :o Colin Zeal is one of my all-time favourite Blur songs, and I had never imagined that I would one day hear it live. I think I may have been the most excited person there at that point, and I couldn't help feeling a bit self conscious as I went crazy to Graham's solo :wacky: Then came the first of the new songs: "This is a new one, it's called The Puritan" was followed by huge cheers which soon turned to laughter as Dave prematurely started drumming while Damon was still taking a swig of water: "You're not supposed to start until I'm ready!!! :angry:" :laugh3:

Following this, there came a trio of 'loud' songs with Popscene, Advert and Song 2, the latter of which got the audience pretty much bouncing off the walls (not unlike the music video :laugh3:) and I ended up separated from my friends :uhoh:. The lights went down and I wondered if this was the end of the main set before I realised that Damon was still standing there with a guitar, with the rest of the band taking a back seat. I was extremely surprised to hear No Distance Left to Run, as I had read somewhere he didn't like playing it because it made him too sad :cry: Certainly it was extremely moving and emotional to hear it played live for what must have been the first time in 12 years. Next was another song from the same album, the wonderful Tender, accompanied by a huge singalong by the audience. The monster of a set was brought to a perfect close by the inevitable This is a Low. It’s hard to imagine a Blur setlist that doesn’t have this incredible song closing off the main set or an encore, and this time the boys didn’t disappoint.

The encore break came as a welcome breather, as my throat was beginning to ache from singing along so much. As always, there were chants of “Oh my baby…” and “We want Blur!” from the crowd, and it wasn’t long before the band came back for a few more songs. Damon took a seat behind the piano, and I was certain they were about to play Under the Westway. But to my surprise, Damon started to play the piano chords of Sing! I seem to remember that at the Maida Vale gig he played the first couple of notes of Sing before switching to UtW, but this time they played the whole thing! I would have sung along but my poor tired throat was unable to keep up with the “Aaaaaah”s in the chorus. Instead I just stood there in awe as they played this beautiful song. After that they really did play Under the Westway, which was as great as I expected and the audience sang along as if it were an old classic. I was expecting that final booming piano note to be the end of the encore, but Damon continued to play and the crowd were cheering so loudly it took me a while to realise that he was playing Intermission :wacky: another of my personal favourites! This was a new arrangement which didn’t quite reach the ridiculously fast climax of the album version, but it was still epic.

After this trio of piano songs, Damon came to the front and I was puzzled as I couldn’t think what songs they hadn’t played yet :huh: Someone next to me seemed certain that they were going to finish with Charmless Man (:facepalm: #3) Well, our questions were answered with Graham playing the first 13 notes of End of a Century. Damon stood there and grinned at us for a few moments (at this point I heard someone drunkenly singing: “Ants in the carpet… dirty little monsters” unaware that the song hadn’t started yet :laugh3:) before launching into the classic song. Another classic followed: For Tomorrow, the wonderful brass section’s finest moment, and another rousing singalong. Finally, Damon uttered those tragic words “We’re going to play one more song and then leave you…” but what more perfect way to end than with The Universal. Somehow I had managed to find my way back to my friends, and we finished the night with an emotional singalong. Although the band had been on for a good 2 hours, and played an impressive 27 song setlist, it was hard to “just let them go” but just like that it was over. Damon thanked us and said we had been brilliant, and before we knew it the band were off the stage and the house lights were back on :cry: But it had been a perfect end to a perfect night.

 

 

The amazing setlist:

 

 

Girls & Boys

London Loves

Tracky Jacks

Jubilee

Beetlebum

Coffee & TV

Out of Time

Young & Lovely

Trimm Trabb

Caramel

Sunday Sunday

Country House

Parklife

Colin Zeal

The Puritan

Popscene

Advert

Song 2

No Distance Left to Run

Tender

This is a Low

 

Sing

Under the Westway

Intermission

End of a Century

For Tomorrow

The Universal

 

 

 

I ended up writing a lot more that I originally intended :uhoh: hence the multiple spoilers.

[bRITAnka]

So short period of time is left for the concert!!

Let's meet maybe? It's so cool to see many people at one place with the same interests in music.. Coldplay and Blur lovers!

Add me if you like http://www.facebook.com/margarita.koreneva

(i am very friendly. feel free to add me)

if you know where damon albarn lives, message me please)

See you all!