(a) setlist
- Go Out
- There’s No Other Way
- Lonesome Street
- Badhead
- End of a Century
- Ghost Ship
- Coffee & TV
- Out of Time
- Country Sad Ballad Man
- Beetlebum
- Thought I Was a Spaceman
- Trimm Trabb
- Tender
- Parklife
- Song 2
- To The End
- This Is a Low
Encore:
- Stereotypes
- Girls & Boys
- For Tomorrow
- The Universal
(b) highlights
- dude!!! BLUR!!!!
- in the 4th row of the pit at a sold-out Madison Square Garden – only the second time in the band’s career playing = AMAZING
- this was easily one of the best shows of 2015, probably in the top 10 ever – the crowd was unbelievable (perhaps the best I ever witnessed in the Garden), the set was unrelentingly phenomenal, Damon Albarn was TOP NOTCH, and seriously everything about it was the highest of levels
- the band management (presumably) had been going through the crowd and pulling out the people having the best time and brought them all on-stage for “Parklife”; Damon let this super cool 17-ish-year-old black chick do the talking parts of the song and she straight up KILLED IT – everyone was cheering her along and Damon was definitely impressed, even hugging her at the end of it
- it was one of those strangely perfect shows where it honestly felt like every single person around me knew every song
- I feel like the pictures I took were most indicative of the performance – crazy water everywhere, blurred (ha) faces in the crowd, awesome lighting – all of it
- the massive crowd singalong during “Tender” was truly one of the most moving moments in recent concert memory; it’s not something I’ll forget for a very long time
(c) lowlights
- this really isn’t a bad thing but a douchebag in the pit literally dumped his entire cup of beer right on Damon like three songs in; Damon laughed and kept going, but like what???? I would’ve been piiiiiissed if it was me
(d) overall thoughts
One of the best shows of 2015. Hands down. Perhaps one of the best shows I’ve ever gone to in my life. I’ve been a fan of Blur for awhile – I discovered them about the same time I found Oasis…and I actually always preferred Oasis. Regardless, I’ve thought Blur was awesome and their last album, The Magic Whip, was one of the best of their career, so there was no way I was gonna miss this show. My friends are also massive Blur fans – perhaps even more so than me, so we knew this show was gonna be special.
Somewhere around “There’s No Other Way” I realized this show was gonna be one for the books. Damon, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree were all in top freaking form – it was especially great to watch Graham all night. Damon frequently came up to the crowd and interacted, whether taking people’s hands or gifts (a packet of stickers I believe was one?). It felt like the entire crowd – both in the pit and in the seats – was so incredibly present for nearly every song. One of my favorite moments ever was a near-acoustic singalong to “Tender,” a truly beautiful song that I swear transcended that entire goddamn venue. Watching members of the crowd – clearly huge Blur fans – join the band on-stage to sing one of the ultimate classic tracks of all time “Parklife” made me so, so happy.
The encore, especially “Girls & Boys,” was just so joyful, it was impossible to feel any more elated. You know a show is next-level when people around you are stepping outside of themselves and the performance before them to say aloud, “Wow, this show is amazing.” Those are my favorite moments, and this show was chock-full of them.
Bottom line: Blur are some of the best performers I’ve ever seen, and there was something seriously special about this Madison Square Garden performance; this one is one for the books.
Kat Goes To Shows 