The Five-Night Astoria Run in London, 2003

In May 2003 during the week of Think Tank's release, Blur played a 5-night run of concerts at the famous (and sadly now-defunct) Astoria in London, on May 8-10, 12-13.

During these shows, Blur played most of the songs from their new album, introduced touring guitarist Simon Tong to the London audiences, and threw some nuggets into the long and varied set lists. Luckily, recordings exist for four of the five nights (the middle night, May 10, so far has no available recordings. Of course, if you have one, please email me ASAP!)

The set lists were as follows:

May 8

Ambulance
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Out Of Time
Beetlebum
Girls & Boys
Good Song
Badhead
Gene By Gene
Top Man
For Tomorrow
Brothers And Sisters
Crazy Beat
Song 2
Trimm Trabb
Battery In Your Leg
Popscene
On The Way To The Club
We've Got A File On You
This Is A Low

May 9

Ambulance
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Beetlebum
Girls & Boys
Sweet Song
Badhead
Gene By Gene
Top Man
For Tomorrow
Out Of Time
Brothers And Sisters
Crazy Beat
Song 2
Trimm Trabb
Battery In Your Leg
Caravan
Popscene
On The Way To The Club
We've Got A File On You
Coping
This Is A Low

May 10

Ambulance
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Beetlebum
Girls & Boys
Good Song
Badhead
Gene By Gene
Top Man
For Tomorrow
Tender
Out Of Time
Brothers And Sisters
Crazy Beat
Song 2
Trimm Trabb
Battery In Your Leg
Caravan
Popscene
On The Way To The Club
We've Got A File On You
This Is A Low

May 12

Ambulance
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Beetlebum
Girls & Boys
Good Song
Badhead
Gene By Gene
For Tomorrow
Tender
Out Of Time
Brothers And Sisters
Crazy Beat
Song 2
Trimm Trabb
Battery In Your Leg
Caravan
Popscene
On The Way To The Club
Me, Whitenoise
We've Got A File On You
This Is A Low

May 13

Ambulance
Beetlebum
Girls & Boys
Good Song
Badhead
Gene By Gene
For Tomorrow
Top Man
Tender
Caravan
Out Of Time
Crazy Beat
Brothers And Sisters
Song 2
Trimm Trabb
Battery In Your Leg
Popscene
On The Way To The Club
Me, Whitenoise
We've Got A File On You
This Is A Low

Some interesting things to note is that the set order didn't really stabilize until the final night, when Beetlebum was installed as the second song, where it would remain (with a few exceptions) for the remainder of the year. This shifting of the song order is most apparent during the first half of the set...the encore sections remained relatively consistent. Also, Top Man was surprisingly played during the first three shows, although it was dropped by the fourth night. A rare (and so far, the only) version of Coping from 2003 was played on the second night. Me,Whitenoise was played during the final two nights, both times with Phil Daniels reprising his role from the album version.

What is special about these shows is that, apart from having recordings for all but one of them, the set lists are a little different each night...it's a portrait of the band tinkering and fine-tuning their live act, onstage and in front of an audience. In addition, we get some treats like the aforementioned Top Man and the rare (for 2003) Coping. The stage banter is revealing as well (see Black Book), as Damon is constantly trying to explain why Graham is not there but "it doesn't mean he's not coming back," something we now know was no sure thing, even though this was a line constantly brought up by Damon throughout 2003.

While the recording quality of these shows ranges from good audience to excellent soundboard, they are all worth seeking out, not only for the performances, but for their glimpse into the band when they were still rather unsure in the wake of their emergence as a 3-piece playing new material in front of their hometown crowd on the week of the new album's release.

And as I said before, if anyone out there has a recording of the show from May 10, 2003, please email me! It will, of course, be kept confidential.