{"id":269,"date":"2015-07-28T03:46:09","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T17:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greatgigs.com.au\/?p=269"},"modified":"2019-05-09T22:09:49","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T12:09:49","slug":"blur-rod-laver-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatgigs.com.au\/index.php\/2015\/07\/28\/blur-rod-laver-arena\/","title":{"rendered":"Blur & Jamie T"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For Blur<\/strong> fans, it\u2019s been an interminable wait \u2013 more than 18 long years \u2013 since everyone\u2019s favourite Britpopper\u2019s last played Melbourne. It was by all accounts, a modest affair in 1997 at Monash University, which apparently wasn\u2019t even sold out. It\u2019s fair to say there\u2019s a HUGE contingent of music fans here tonight at Rod Laver Arena who are well and truly hankering for a large, fresh serve of Magic Whip!

One senses that the band are very much aware of this hunger. A quick glance at the recent setlists from Sydney and Splendour In The Grass in Byron Bay paint a very clear picture that these Australian BLUR gigs are all about celebrating their complete body of work. The boys have gone back with an appraising eye and polished up nuggets from their past that have withstood the critical ravages of time. These crowd pleasers have been lovingly interspersed with choice cuts from the new album \u2018The Magic Whip\u2019.
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Tonight Blur have elected that Wimbledonian Jamie T<\/strong> will fill the support slot. It’s well documented Damon Albarn has been a friend and mentor for Jamie, with Damon volunteering his studio ‘anytime he needed it\u2019 for Jamie T to record \u2018Kings & Queens\u2019 during a difficult time as he convalesced his parent through sickness.

After seeing his \u2018lightning in a bottle\u2019 set earlier this year at the Forum where there was multiple crowdsurfing from the first song, I am dead keen to get there early and see what he has in store for us tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He appears bang on time with his band the Pacemakers and strangely, it\u2019s a quieter set. Largely taken from his latest album \u2018Carry On The Grudge\u2019 with only one track each from the stellar ‘Kings & Queens\u2019 and \u2018Panic Prevention\u2019. He explains they just played a frantic gig at Splendour In The Grass where they \u2018frightened the shit out of the crowd’, so tonight they have chosen to play a slower, quieter set. Rod Laver Arena is a hard place to play a support slot at the best of times, and the choice to concentrate on slower, quieter numbers probably contributes to the subdued reaction from the audience on the floor, who at this early stage are still only just trickling in.
It\u2019s not until the last few more rockier numbers that we start to see some moshing down the front. \u2018If You Got The Money\u2019 and \u2018Zombie\u2019 are very well received with the crowd recognising the tracks and singing along in the choruses. Jamie is very appreciative and thanks Blur for the opportunity to play as opener saying he\u2019s been a fan since he was knee high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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