A week after telling an indifferent Coachella audience that they will “never [see] us again,” Blur frontman Damon Albarn doubled down yesterday (April 20) at the desert festival by announcing “in the spirit of clarity and truth, this is probably our last gig” near the close of their set.
The show featured the same songs as the weekend prior, with appearances by Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers on “Bird Song,” “Death of a Party” and the finale “Tender” and performances of favorites such as “Beetlebum” and “Popscene.”
Blur, which also features guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, had not played Coachella since 2013. During a break from Albarn’s Gorillaz, the group went back on the road in 2023 for the first time in eight years and also released The Ballad of Darren, their first new album since 2015’s The Magic Whip.
Sounds like Damon just announced Blur breaking up. #Coachella @blurofficial pic.twitter.com/VdTLsCf7gq
— Gibster (@gibbyage) April 21, 2024
The mercurial Albarn signaled an end to this phase of Blur in an interview last year with Les Inrockuptibles, deeming the reunion a “beautiful success” but admitting it was “time to wrap up this campaign. It’s too much for me. It was the right thing to do and an immense honor to play these songs again, spend time with these guys, make an album, blah-blah-blah. I’m not saying I won’t do it again … but I’m not dwelling on the past.”
