This isn't the only rarity here - they haul out the Modern Life Is Rubbish B-side "Young and Lovely," which Damon Albarn introduces with a preamble dedicating it to the band's children, an acknowledgment of Blur's advancing years, a subject he also alludes to by changing a lyric on "End of a Century" to "as you get closer to 50." Blur are indeed now 20 years on from their '90s peak and it's evident in the music: where they were once frenetic they are now muscular and Albarn's ambition has mellowed into a quiet confidence. Considering the occasion, Blur serve up plenty of the former, playing roughly half of Parklife - Phil Daniels himself comes out to bark out the title track - and have fun digging deep, playing "London Loves," which has rarely ever been played on-stage. Given the amount of time the reunited Blur spent trawling through their back pages, it's not much of a surprise that the set list of Parklive is constructed as a chronicle of their past, one that touches lightly on their beginnings and end - there's one song apiece from Leisure and Think Tank - one that accentuates two through-lines in their history: the churning, darkly psychedelic art rock band and the proudly patriotic, albeit wildly sardonic, British pop group. The band celebrated its 21st anniversary in grand fashion, reissuing its catalog as deluxe double-disc sets, boxing these deluxe editions in a mammoth rarities-laden box set called Blur 21, releasing a good reunion single in "Under the Westway"/"The Puritan," and, finally, performing this concert, releasing it digitally the following week as the double-album Parklive (which is due to be expanded into a five-CD box later in the year). Under the Westway / Intermission (Live)īlur headlined a Brit-pop blowout at Hyde Park on the final day of the London 2012 Olympic games, a concert that not so coincidentally also capped off a flurry of Blur-related activity. This Is a Low (Live At Wolverhampton Civic Hall)
No Distance Left to Run (Live At Wolverhampton Civic Hall) The Puritan (Live At Wolverhampton Civic Hall) Colin Zeal (Live At Wolverhampton Civic Hall) Young and Lovely (Live At Wolverhampton Civic Hall) London Loves (Live At Wolverhampton Civic Hall) The Puritan (Live from 13 - Matt Butcher Mix) Under the Westway (Live from 13 - Matt Butcher Mix)
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