Has it really already been 20 years of blur. Absolutely gutted I will miss them this summer. The compilation of moments and comments from the Guardian is a great trip down memory lane for Blurophiles. I remember (like it was yesterday!) buying the CD Single at Tower Records because I heard “There’s No Other Way” on the radio in 1991 (99.1 WHFS). “I’m All Over” became my favorite, far eclipsing “There’s No Other Way.” I bought Leisure a few days later and have been hooked ever since. I also remember absolutely hating Modern Life is Rubbish when it came out, but coming to love it after a few weeks and now it is probably my second favorite blur record.
Flash forward a few years, I was in college and Parklife was out and blur were playing in Atlanta to promote it in the US. I had asked the label to be put on the guest list (naively I believed in guest lists). Got to the gig and discovered I was not on the list. Bought a scalped ticket. Show was absolutely amazing. Later we hit the after-party and blur actually showed up. Damon was rather friendly but shy. I was completely starstruck and blabbering, I’m sure. Graham was slightly more approachable and we ended up discussing guitar parts from Modern Life is Rubbish. It was completely surreal. Even better, when I got back to school I faxed a letter to the label complaining about driving 4 hours to find out I wasn’t on the list and for whatever reason they took pity on me and sent a giant care package of Blur schwag. CDs, Posters, shirt, etc. It was amazing.
8 responses so far ↓
1 AJW // Jun 1, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I remember Blur in Atlanta in February 1996. The Cotton Club, right? There were scalped tickets at that show??!?! Dang.
Even though I didn’t have a ticket, I drove 4 hours, thinking there’s no way that Blur could sell out. (These were the days before tickets could be bought online.) I got there, saw the sold-out sign on the door, and drove back to Columbia, quite dejected.
Finally saw them on the Graham-less Think Tank tour at the Tabernacle. Great venue, great show.
Modern Life is Rubbish contains my favorite Blur song ever, “For Tomorrow.”
Great that you met them and got swag!
2 K // Jun 2, 2009 at 8:06 am
I was at the Cotton Club show, as well. Don’t know if there were tix for that show. But the first time I saw them was at Masquerade. I think I saw blur 3 times in Atlanta, but I may be mistaken. I’ve seen them on both US coasts but sadly never in the UK.
3 AJW // Jun 2, 2009 at 9:03 am
When I was in London in 1994, they were playing Shepherd’s Bush Empire, right about the time of the release of Parklife. Sadly, that show was sold out. I was starting to think I’d never seem them live!
4 K // Jun 2, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Everything is always sold out in LDN. It’s so annoying.
5 AJW // Jun 2, 2009 at 4:37 pm
By the way, great article. I loved Sleeper’s fromage-themed anecdote.
6 K // Jun 2, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Hey, now that I think about it, I was at that Tabernacle show. Moving Units opened up for them. Twas strange without Graham.
The strangest blur show I think I’ve ever seen was when Smash Mouth opened for them in Santa Barbara. Yeah, Smash Mouth. WTF?! The crowd was full of frat boys. Totally bizarre.
7 AJW // Jun 2, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Dude…that’s almost like that infamous Klaus Nomi / Twisted Sister double bill.
8 DrBlur // Dec 4, 2009 at 2:54 pm
These are great memories people. I’m a huge Blur fan, wrote a book on them. If you’re interested in Blur check out my website.
I’m looking for copies of tapes of three Atlanta Blur shows (’94 at Masquerade, ’96 at Cotton Club, ’03 at Tabernacle), if anyone has them, please contact me 🙂