Blur. Live at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend - 21st June 2009.I've had a long history with Blur, having liked them right from the 'baggie'\'Madchester' days. Rather scarily, E.F Rice and I first saw them live some 18 years ago in 1991 (ouch!). 1993's Modern Life is Rubbish was a defining moment for me, and was the album that gave a very early kick-start to what would become that whole indie-mod\Britpop scene. Blur will always be the band who sum up that era for me... so many came and went during those exiting times, but looking back now, how many had any real depth? One or two good songs, but so many are now largely forgettable. Oasis were seen as the 'big winners' back in the day, but it's quite laughable now. Look how diverse and interesting Blur have been over the years... and there's Oasis still plunking out the same sound!
I've seen Blur live a lot over the years, but none more so than when I followed the Parklife tour in 94, with the added bonus of blagging all the after-show parties too! which is why, dear reader, I'm oddly quite nervous about going to this gig. Reform shows can be a dicey business... If it's a band you never saw originally, then the risks are low. But a band you used to see at the time is a much bigger gamble. I have such wonderful, warm memories of those days... but if tonight's reunion show is disappointing, there's a real chance of it tainting all those happy days locked away in the memory bank.
The band walk on stage to the sound of The Debt Collector from Parklife, there is thunderous applause to greet our long lost heroes.. so much so that the band almost look embarrassed at just how long it continues. Eventually they are allowed to launch into their opening track, She's So High. The track is almost twenty years old, but it sounds as fresh as a daisy, and already I'm starting to relax! When you have a back-catalogue as strong as Blur's, you don't need to save the big-guns for the encore, so we're treated to an early appearance of Girls and Boys. It's the signal for the crowd to go ballistic... and they don't stop for the next two hours! Girls and Boys is our first glimpse of the Parklife, an album which dominates the evening more than any other... no less that 8 of tonight setlist are taken from the 94 masterpiece. I already know this is going to be a show to remember!
The setlist at any reunion show tends to be a bit of a no-brainer, a general run through of the hits is usually the order of the day, but I'm delighted to see some real 'non-single' gems pulled out of the bag too... Tracy Jacks, Jubilee and the glorious Badhead are all unleashed early on with more treats to follow. It honestly feels like I've been transported back to the mid-ninties! The band look great and sound incredible... the energy being generated on stage is frightening! Damon has the energy of a man half his age, Graham is proving once more that he is the finest guitarist of his generation, Alex keeps his hands on the coveted title of 'coolest bass player in the world' and Dave too shows perhaps how underrated he has been over the years... The setlist has been compiled very intelligently too, so rather than a hotch-potch 'lucky dip' feel, it has been carefully crafted to hone in on specific periods and\or tempos.
Beetlebum finally allows the heaving crown to catch their breath a little, and sets the scene for a few slower paced tunes, Out Of Time, Trimm Trabb, Coffee And TV and Tender... which evokes possibly the biggest applause of the night (and a nice sideline of impromptu singing from the crowd!). There is a massive reception too for Country House... not a particular favourite of mine, but it goes down a storm!
One thing is for sure tonight, this reunion is for real... sure there's good money to be made along the way, but theses guys want it bad. There is a hunger about them, passion, and a spark... the kind of spark usually reserved for new bands who are still genuinely excited by what they do, before the music industry makes them jaded... Blur are genuinely excited by what they do. There is a fire burning in Damon's eyes that tells me that there are certainly more chapters to come in the Blur history book.
The spotlight switched to Modern Life is Rubbish as we are treated to a trio of songs from that album.. Oily Water, Chemical World and Sunday Sunday. Before starting the latter, Damon tells us that he's not really into audience participation, but when he starts jogging on the spot, we're all to start pogo'ing!! The moment comes when the frantic Sunday Sunday guitar solo starts, I swear I can feel the floor moving! We move seamlessly back to the Parklife album, and the title track (no Phil Daniels this time!), followed by End Of A Century and To The End... During the midway instrumental, I notice Damon look up to the ceiling with both hands raised aloft. After a few moments he turns to look at Graham with a mock confused look... It's a nod to the Blur shows of old, where at this point a large 'mirrorball' used to take centre stage. Graham grins like a schoolboy as Damon continued to search for the elusive disco accessory! There is an emotional rendition of This Is A Low and the band bow out to an incredible reception.
On their return we are fortunate to get what is likely to be a one-off rendition of Essex Dogs. I guess it's been added especially for tonight's location, and Damon tells us it's unlikely to remain in the set after tonight. He then asks the audience if they have some more energy.... they are going to need it, because the tempo is about to go off the scale! Popscene, Advert and Song 2! Damon is leaping around like a man possessed, including a trip or two into the heart of the audience... the grin on his face says it all... he's missed this interaction with his people! After another farewell, they return for the final three numbers.. Battery In Your Leg, For Tomorrow and the simply beautiful The Universal, which again leads to an impressive audience singalong.
There is genuine emotion from the band at the end, particularly Damon.... He tells us we have no idea how much the reception means to them. It's like they somehow had something to prove, and boy did they prove it.
Two hours ago I was worried the gig might not live up to my memories.... now I stand spellbound, having witnessed the best I've ever seen them... it really was that good. From Mod-life through Park-life and now into Mid-life... the years have been kind to the Blur back-catalogue, every song sounding as fresh and contemporary as it ever did. These songs may have shaped a generation, but now they are the anthems of a broad section of the population.... teens, twenties, thirties and forties were all bouncing together tonight in unison.
It's weird to think that having played to 1500 tonight, they will play for 100,000 in just a few days time as headliners at Glastonbury. Then it's onwards and upwards to their own Hyde Park shows. This is indeed the summer of Blur!
Finally, I'd just like to say a big 'thank you' to good friend Debbie, who secured the tickets for us... and without whom, we'd have missed out on this incredible night. Cheers Debs, we owe you a lunch!
SETLIST
She's So High
Girls And Boys
Tracy Jacks
There's No Other Way
Jubilee
Badhead
Beetlebum
Out Of Time
Trimm Trabb
Coffee And TV
Tender
Country House
Oily Water
Chemical World
Sunday Sunday
Parklife
End Of A Century
To The End
This Is A Low
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Essex Dogs
Popscene
Advert
Song 2
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Battery In Your Leg
For Tomorrow
The Universal
A very shaky POPSCENE! But it sums up the evening well - just check out the on-stage energy in this 3 minutes of mayhem!
Piley
The Damned are one of my all time favourite bands... other bands come and go, but too many are a flash in the pan, or show promise then wuss out and\or disappoint (Kings of Leon anyone??!). But The Damned have continued to entertain, excite and genuinely interest me for three decades now, and they still remain one of the most consistent bands out there.... I mean, there can't be many bands who have been going for 30+ years, and on your way to the gig you utter this sentence "I hope they do some stuff from the new album"! But it is precisely those words that did pass my lips in the car, only to be endorsed by Mrs P and the Brownster! Y'see, the Damned's new album ('So, Who's Paranoid?'), is a bit of a revelation, and I have no doubt that were the exact same thing released by some trendy young whipper-snappers, it would be blowing the minds of the music press... but as it is, it's 'only the Damned' and so largely ignored by everyone except those in the know. Believe it or not, this album is right up there with what is almost universally considered to be their finest work (The Black Album - 1980, and Strawberries - 1982). There is a lovely 60's psychedelic feel to the tracks, and it finishes with an epic 13 minute 'space-rock' stormer (Dark Asteroid) that just about out-Hawkwinds Hawkwind!
Tonight's show is a warm-up for the new tour, a triple-header with 80's indie Welsh rockers The Alarm, and original Stiff Little Fingers guitarist, now solo artist Henry Cluney. It's an insanely small venue, more like a pub than a club (a bit like having a mini punk festival in your front room!) so the atmosphere is pretty electric. The band (minus lead-singer) push there way through the crowd and squeeze on to the tiny stage, of which 70% is already taken up with Pinch's ever expanding drum kit! They crank into the opening bars of 'Love Song', and Dave Vanian appears stage right, bang-on cue to provide the vocals. Unbelievably, Vanian is now in his 50's, but he's still as cool as they come. Tonight he's looking particularly dapper, decked out like a 1940's Hollywood film star! A cross between Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, complete with 40's cut suit, crisp white shirt, braces and a necker-chief - all topped off with a pencil-thin moustache. The hair too is very Flynn-esque, except for the addition of the white 'skunk-stripe' through it!
Unfortunately, the band are dogged by technical trouble for the early part of the show. Vanian's earpiece was obviously not working, neither were the stage monitors, making it particularly tough for them to play as a unit. The band are not slow in pointing these problems out to the sound-desk, but with precious little assistance. Understandably, as the night goes on the band start to get a little irritated at the lack of urgency to sort out these issues... I notice at least twice Captain Sensible give the guitar technician a well aimed 'boot up the arse' for his trouble, whilst he was bending down to sort out malfunctioning leads, pedals and such like! To their credit, they battle on regardless, but the problems don't get much better, The Captain's guitar dips in and out (annoyingly right at the crucial moment in the intro to 'New Rose'), Vanians vocals keeps dropping out... culminating in a real disappointment, as they have to abandon one of my favourite tracks from the new album ('Under The Wheels') within a minute. Vanian and Pinch's patience with the sound engineer runs out at this point and they both give him a bit of a verbal dressing down! The audience breaks into a impromptu "the soundman is a wanker, the soundman is a wanker, la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la...". The Captain seems delighted with the chant "it's normally me" he laughs! and with perfect comedy timing, the crowd switch to the more traditional words, which brings and even bigger smirk to the face of the Sensible one!
It could be a coincidence, but having been berated by the band, and called a wanker by 200 fans seems to kick the guy into action, and things do seem to improve considerable from this point. The stage monitors never do kick in though, and they are eventually removed... which at least gives Vanian some much needed extra room.
The set-list is heavy on early material tonight, with more than half the songs coming from between 1977-1979. But these fast punky numbers are ideal for this small sweaty venue. The odd change of pace is thrown in from time to time... covers of 'Alone Again Or' and 'Eloise', as well as the excellent new album track Dr. Woofenstein, which all go down very well (and give the heaving mosh pit a much needed break to gasp for air!).
Towards the end of the set, Vanian spots someone at the side of the stage who he is obviously very pleased to see! He grins and waves manically, then points out the guest to the Captain. I've no idea who it was, but it was obviously someone of considerable influence, because when they return for the encore (well, Pinch never actually left the stage! He just stood next to his drum kit for a bit!), Vanian casually announces to the rest of the band that they have "had a request", and are doing 'Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde'. Now I've seen 'fake' impromptu songs in a set-list before, but this was definitely a genuine 'spur-of-the-moment' thing! You could tell this just by looking at the faces of the rest of the band... particularly Pinch! "a request?" he says exasperated "from ONE person??? Why??! When's the last time we played it??!" But it's all to no avail and they busk their way admirably through a very convincing rendition. It may have been played for one lucky person, but it made the night for many more... not least the Brownster, who having had The Black Album almost permanently on repeat for the last couple of days, had only been thinking earlier in the day how great it would be if they played that very track!! Job done Sir!!
The Captain is given the floor to perform one of his earliest solo recordings, 1978's Jet-Boy, Jet-Girl. It's a hundred times faster than the record, and is ably assisted by Dave Vanian on backing vocals! Great fun! The finale is a crunching version of 'Smash It Up' ("it's not an instruction" the Captain warns the audience, who have already been told off several times by 'the management' for being too lively!).
To sum up - an absolutely blistering 90 minutes, and quite possibly the best I've ever seen the Damned (and I've been seeing them since the 80's). Vanian is in a rich vein of form, and his vocals are top notch, the Captain remains one of the most underrated guitarists of our time, Stu West is quietly becoming the bass player to rival Damned legend Paul Gray, Pinch is a cracking drummer and Monty Oxy Moron is providing some wonderful keyboards to the set-up. The on-stage banter and jokes show these guys are all genuinely fond of each other, and that is the final ingredient that makes this current line up gel so well.
DHC is actually a one-man-band, Ben Nicholls. But don't go imagining that sad 'ol fella who you once saw playing under the railway bridge, cymbals attached to his knees with string, a drum operated by a rather odd, sidways leg-action and a kazoo sticking out the side of his mouth... this is the coolest one man band you'll ever see. Incredibly, Ben plays guitar, bass drum, high hat, organ bass pedals and 
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I was delighted to see that the Dorset Letting Agency in 
