Nineties Brit Pop Legends Blur bring Eastbourne Winter Gardens to life

FOR many of us in our forties, our musical influences are still as popular these days – Oasis, Pulp, Suede and such like are still very much played on major UK radio stations. 

Hailsham News Editor Paul Gibson was invited to witness one of the largest groups from the nineties, Blur, playing live in Eastbourne…

“Being the age I am, the nineties were a huge part of my life, it was the era where I was out discovering who I was, meeting new people, partners, living alone for the first time – we’ve all been there and probably remember the biggest chart-toppers of that time in our lives.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I learned Brit Pop legends, Blur, were heading to Eastbourne just days after announcing a new album and warming up for two almost sell-out performances at Wembley.

I first saw Blur in concert in 1995, when the Parklife album was in its prime – I can almost ’sing’ every word of that album and I almost wore off the shiny bits of the CD nearly 30 years ago in my bedroom.

As a guest, I was honoured to get into the Winter Gardens ahead of the queues, but then, I was faced with a very tricky decision. As a ‘ahem’ man in his late forties, do I head to the front row, or do I engage Mr Sensible and keep a distance to allow for visits to the bar and toilet? I then had flashbacks from 1995, and decided to keep a distance and enjoy the gig from a grown man’s perspective. 

The 3,000-strong, higher than average age range crowd, gathered in anticipation of how Blur would perform after being out of the major touring scene for eight years. It was obvious from the outset there were many hardcore Blur fans in the house with some pretty retro haircuts and more double-denim than a Levi’s factory.

Lead singer Damon Albarn, now in his mid-fifties, was welcomed by Eastbourne with huge roars and kicked the night off with a song, from their first album in 1991, ‘There’s no other way’, and within three songs throwing a variety of drinks over the crowd – obviously enjoying the huge welcome return.

The Eastbourne gig was the second of a series of ‘warm up’ gigs in preparation for two dates in July at Wembley, supported by Paul Weller. They kicked off in their hometown of Colchester and will see them go to Wolverhamton and Newcastle before heading out to Europe in June. The tour will end in Columbia in November.

For fans like me, who haven’t followed the band in detail since the Parklife days, were kept waiting an hour until the songs we knew came out, kicking off with ‘End of a Century’, ‘To The End’, followed by a huge surprise as Actor Phil Daniels, star of the film Quadrophenia, strolled on stage to perform the classic ‘Parklife’. 

There was a moment which showed how important warm up gigs are when Damon called off a song half way through stating: “My timing was ****”, forcing the band to start the song from afresh – all in the name of getting it perfect for the rest of the tour, I suppose.

Their new album, the first in eight years, is called ‘The Ballad of Darren’ and comprises of ten new tracks and lands in July. 

Damon said: “This is an aftershock record, reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now.”

It was obvious Damon hasn’t relaxed with age and continues to give everything possible to give the crowds what they want. If you’re of a certain age, then a ticket for their European and Wembley dates is highly recommended.