A long way from Primrose Hill
by DedalusDC on 10/26/15Madison Square Garden - New York“It’s only taken us twenty five years to play here, but as I keep telling myself, better late than never.” – Damon Albarn It’s been a prolonged journey from Primrose Hill - complete with band breakups, numerous side projects, and second careers in law and caseiculture along the way – but after 24 years, Blur finally made their debut at The Garden. As the second of only two official US appearances on “The Magic Whip” tour (though they did also play a free show in Brooklyn earlier this year), the nearly sold-out New York show came hot on the heels of their other bi-coastal concert at the Los Angeles Bowl earlier in the week. Like so many before them, including their old nemesis, Oasis, Blur have always struggled to tame the elusive beast that is the U.S. market, and it was hard to shake the view that their condensed tour wasn’t in large part engineered out of a desire to scratch a personal itch, specifically the chance to play at Madison Square Garden. Albarn was clearly enamored to be playing at the iconic venue, as evidenced by the numerous thanks that he bestowed upon various people, which at times made it feel more like a farewell performance. In contrast to the Williamsburg show earlier in the year in which they played the new album alone and in its entirety, this was a shut-up-and-play-the-hits affair for the most part. While new tracks dominated the opening third of the show, punctuated with a crowd-pleasing “There’s No Other Way”, the meat of the evening was decidedly old school. Despite band members having seemingly managed to stave off the middle-age spread – resident bassist and gentleman farmer, Alex James, in particular looking youthful and (admittedly, slightly disappointingly) cigarette-free - the band itself has grown beyond its lean foursome to include a horn section and group of backing gospel singers. Their presence added weight though, especially on the always rousing “Tender” which cumulated with an outro in which Albarn denounced hometown blowhard, Donald Trump, as a chump. Albarn had commented in an interview earlier in the week that he had hoped to persuade Mike Myers to perform the spoken-word component of “Parklife”, preferably in character as Austin Powers. For reasons unknown, Myers refused - perhaps he was busy filming “The Love Guru 2”. Instead, Albarn invited several young fans up on stage to give their very best Phil Daniels impression, with one young lady nailing it, cockney accent and all. It was however hard to shake a slight sense of sour grapes from the frontman, not helped by Fred Armisen having cameoed at the Los Angeles show earlier that week. While Blur may have been newcomers to The Garden, their biggest American hit, “Song 2”, was anything but. A staple of Knicks games for well over a decade, it made a memorable live debut, drawing the biggest cheer of the night. The band concluded their set with an outstanding rendition of arguably their best song, “This is a Low”. It was not the first time I had heard it live – they played it at their 2004 New York show, but that was during the Coxton-free years, and his soaring guitar solo only underscored what was previously missing (though it should also be worth noting that a drunken Damon Albarn fell off the stage at that show – in front of David Bowie, no less – which is perhaps the epitome of rock & roll). The band returned with a four song encore. American audiences by their nature lack some of the drunken, rambunctious personality that makes “Girls & Boys” such a live treat in the UK, but the excitable fans in the General Admission area gave it their best shot. The overblown but always welcome theatrics of “The Universal” brought the evening to a close, with Albarn proclaiming New York to be his favorite American city to stop by. A quarter of a century into their career, Blur remain a talented outfit who manage to play the sometimes dangerous nostalgia game while remaining relevant. Now that they’ve gotten MSG out of their system though, here’s to hoping that they play some smaller venues next time.