Blur at Coachella 2013. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)
The first night of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival featured two U.S. debuts for major Britpop bands The Stone Roses and Blur.
After a knockout set by Karen O and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Blur reunion had a lot to live up to.
The band came out hits blazing, kicking off with the popular “Girls & Boys.”
RELATED: See photos of Blur’s 2013 Coachella performance.
Singer Damon Albarn (who has played Coachella with Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad and the Queen AND with Blur as the band was disintegrating about a decade ago) thanked the crowd and and said “it’s nice to be here again” before going into “There’s No Other Way.”
Almost apologetically, Albarn explained that a lot of the band’s songs were influenced by Britain’s gray weather.
“It’s very nice to enjoy your sunshine,” he said.
Albarn explained that the next song, “Tracy Jacks,” was about a character who was bothered by the weather.
As the set went on, Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon loosened up, with “Beetlebum” and “Coffee and TV” being highlights mid-set.
RELATED: See more photo galleries of day one of Coachella.
However, the addition of a horn section and four backup singers brought another level of depth to Blur’s sound.
I keep thinking back to Pulp’s set from Coachella 2012. Jarvis Cocker had the rock star moves and the band had a giant purple neon logo behind them and it was great, a fun dance party and my favorite set of 2012. However, there was something about the harmonies and crowd singalong to “Tender” that gave Blur’s set a more metaphysical Coachella moment of just being that I don’t think translated on the YouTube video.
“Parklife” was another fun foray into Blur’s spectacular catalogue, and apparently the band did bring out Phil Daniels for the song.
“Song #2” was a huge crowd pleaser and got Albarn and Coxon up and animated. Albarn was also thankful to the fans that had seen the band when they first played California 20 years ago and dedicated “20th Century Boy” to them before closing the beautifully curated set with “The Universal.”
To my fellow Britpop fans out there–what did you think of the set?