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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Andy Rudd

I saw Blur at Wembley and saw four 'ridiculous old men' put on the show of their lives

It’s Saturday night and four ‘old men’ are throwing themselves around on stage and in their own words looking 'ridiculous’!

But these four guys make up one of the biggest Britpop bands in history - Blur!

And Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Dave Rowntree and Alex James are back on tour - eight years since their last reunion.

The band are opening their first of two nights at Wembley Stadium and the atmosphere is electric and the show far from ‘ridiculous’.

But after belting out hit after hit for almost two hours Damon Albarn, 55, halts the intro to Song 2.

“There’s something, for me and I’m sure for you, something vaguely hilarious about old men throwing themselves around stage right? It’s bit ridiculous, but f**k it.

“You made us this way so it’s your fault.”

Well, judging by tonight’s performance these ‘old men’ definitely shouldn’t be collecting their pensions just yet.

The band are clearly hyped for their first London show since 2015 with guitarist Graham clenching his fists and screaming ‘come on’ as he walks on stage.

Damon follows, hands aloft, shouting ‘Good evening Wembley! Oi!’

For a moment he pauses, soaks up the incredible buzz in the air and savours the deserved applause.

Blur's Damon Albarn goes into the crowd (Blair Brown)

There are only two tracks from their new album The Ballad of Darren that have made it on tonight’s setlist - The Narcissist and St. Charles Square which kicks off proceedings.

Then it’s hit after hit as Damon, wearing a suit jacket over his trademark polo shirt, moves across the stage in-between numbers with a cool swagger.

He leads the first mass sing-along of the night to There’s No Other Way then invites the sell-out crowd to all ‘bounce’ to Popscene as we are taken back almost to the beginning.

And there’s no signs of any Zimmer frames being needed as Albarn air jumps on stage and performs at times as though an electric current is passing through his body - turning back the years.

He looks like a kid in a sweet shop, clearly enjoying every second - constantly grinning to the fans and blowing kisses.

He tells them: “Obviously, we’ve waiting for this moment all our lives.

“It’s lovely to share it with you. Thank you so much.”

He repays the hours the die-hard fans have been waiting at the front by climbing on to a safety barrier and getting them to sing into the microphone for Tracy Jacks.

“I didn’t think it would be like this,” admits the singer.

Then, with his jacket off, he picks up his acoustic guitar for the start of Beetlebum sending fans into a frenzy and one bloke straight out of the exit door for crowd-surfing.

Animated Albarn is on top form with his fantastic frontman antics - licking the camera, funny walks and expressions during Stereotypes.

The band then take it down a gear with Out of Time as Wembley is lit up by tens of thousands of mobile phone lights.

Albarn then drops to his knees and bows to the crowd, saluting them.

Coffee and TV and End of a Century follow and Albarn asks fans to celebrate “genius” Freddie Mercury for the ‘greatest entry to the Wembley stage of all time’ at 1985’s Live Aid concert.

For Country House - the number one hit which won their infamous battle with Oasis in 1995 - Albarn emerges from a workman’s tent stage right wearing a deerstalker hat.

The band take a bow at the end of their incredible two-hour set (Phoebe Fox)

He then tells fans: “If you think that’s bad, it’s just going to get worse” before actor Phil Daniels appears saying: “This is my very big house in Wembley.”

It can only mean one thing!

Parklife sends the crowd wild before This is a Low bring the set to a close with Albarn saying: “Wow! Thank you so much . Without you, obviously, none of this is possible. We love you.”

A six-song encore includes For Tomorrow and Girls and Boys with Damon wearing the original Fila tracksuit featured in the 1994 video after the company recreated it for him.

The London Community Gospel Choir then join the band on stage for a “very London moment” as they perform Tender.

And after giving it his all for two hours, Albarn pretends to be sung to sleep by the incredible choir - after all, ‘old men’ need their afternoon nap.

Albarn, who has seemed genuinely taken aback by the reaction all night, tells fans: “Obviously you’re a very generous crowd and we appreciate you. We hope you’ve had a good time tonight. “Honestly, that’s all we give a f*** about. It has been a dream come true.”

And with that, the two gigantic glitter balls that had hung above the tens of thousands all night long were turned on and twinkled in the night sky as The Universal began leaving fans in no doubt that if they wish hard enough it, really, really CAN happen.

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