Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Blur debut new tracks at Twitter gig

Blur

Reformed Britpop band Blur debuted two new songs at a live show streamed on Twitter on Monday evening.

The group, whose last album came out in 2003, performed the tracks - Under the Westway and The Puritan - an hour apart, from a secret rooftop location.

The band wrote the songs for a concert in London's Hyde Park to coincide with the Olympics Closing Ceremony.

"I'm really excited about getting out there and playing them for people," said frontman Damon Albarn.

Blur performed in the rain for around 50 invited guests, fans on the street who had discovered the location, and the online audience on Twitter.

The last time they had played together was in 2009, on a brief reunion tour that included a headline set at Glastonbury.

In a question and answer session with fans between the two songs, the band revealed the Olympics concert, on 12 August, would feature a career-spanning set "including the new tracks".

When asked how it felt to be playing together again, guitarist Graham Coxon answered: "Like a silk smoking jacket."

The two songs and performances seemed to capture the two sides of Blur - the frantic and the epic. Both sounded wonderful despite the grey rainy overcast sky and were maybe even made more poignant for being played in the shadow of The Westway - London's least glamorous landmark, which lent a melancholy beauty to the song sharing its name.

In response to one fan who said she was wiping away tears, bass player Alex James responded: "I feel quite emotional too."

Under the Westway also received its first radio play on Steve Lamacq's BBC 6 Music show.

Afterwards fans took to Twitter to voice their approval, calling the song "stunning", "absolutely perfect" and "emotive, haunting and beautiful".

The two Blur tracks were the band's first newly-aired material since the release of a limited edition seven-inch single, Fool's Day, produced for 2010's Record Store Day.

The new songs have already been made available online. A limited edition double-A-side 7-inch single will follow on 6 August.

They will also perform three warm-up dates during early August, ahead of the Hyde Park concert, at venues special to the band - Margate Winter Gardens, Wolverhampton Civic Hall and Plymouth Pavilions.



Source & Image : BBC

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