Blur played Coachella on Saturday night (4/13) on the festival’s main stage between Sublime and No Doubt. Maybe the crowd was just into ska, or that Britpop bands that aren’t Oasis just don’t do that well at American festivals in 2024, but the crowd was a bit lackluster, though Blur put on a great performance.
Frontman Damon Albarn certainly thought the crowd could do better when he tried to get them to sing along with Parklife hit “Girls & Boys.” He told them, “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing it.” Fans watching via the livestream seemed mostly of the opinion that, as one put it, “this coachella crowd doesn’t deserve Blur.” Hopefully the Weekend 2 crowd will be more into it.
Moods improved with their US hit “Song 2,” which the Coachella crowd definitely knew. “This song has been so good to us, “Albarn said, before adding, “But I did get shown a TikTok of it being kind of performed by a vacuum cleaner which is you know…It is humbling and inspiring at the same time.”
Like at their warm-up show in Pomona earlier in the week, Blur brought out the Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers for “Death of a Party,” and then again to end the show with a fantastic version of “Tender.” Check out Blur’s Coachella setlist and video from it below.
As for “never seeing us again,” we’re not sure exactly what Albarn meant, but Blur had already announced they were going back into hibernation after releasing 2023’s The Ballad of Darren and its subsequent UK/EU tour. “I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success,” Albarn said of the 2023 reunion, “but I’m not dwelling on the past.”
You can also watch a backstage interview with Albarn and bassist Alex James and KROQ’s Nicole Alvarez that appears to be before their set.
SETLIST: Blur @ Coachella 4/13/2024
St. Charles Square
Popscene
Trouble in the Message Centre
Beetlebum
Goodbye Albert
Trimm Trabb
Out of Time
Bird Song (with Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers)
Death of a Party (with Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers)
Girls & Boys
Song 2
The Narcissist
Tender (with Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers)