Wrapping it up (the book, that is!)

I'm trying to finish the last several reviews to go in to the book and then I'll begin formatting it and getting it ready for the final push to publication. If you've got anything to contribute to it (ie live recordings, ticket stubs/scans, etc) please contact me...it'd be much appreciated!

And I hope to get back to a more regular schedule of updating this site and sharing new content, time permitting. Thanks for sticking around!

Still Plugging Along

I'm trying to tie up loose ends while working on my next Blur book, so if anyone has anything you could share with me to add to the book (mainly live/rare recordings, ticket stub scans, etc) please contact me and let me know. This book wouldn't be half as good without the generosity and help of you, my fellow Blur fans! THANKS!

From a Torrent to a Trickle

Well, I think I've reached the time I knew would eventually come...the number and breadth of new Blur live recordings coming in to me has now, for the most part, stopped. For the last 6-7 years, I've been able to hunt down and acquire (and share out, mostly) dozens of newly unearthed recordings. Even within the last 3 years or so I've been able to discover the existence, and in most cases, obtain copies of, rare and unheard tapes. But it seems like I may have finally hit the wall, so to speak, and the supply has simply dried up.

I actually still know people who have many recordings, and a couple of them, who I consider friends, are doing me huge favors by working to get me copies. I'm waiting on those, and to my two friends I'm very grateful. But I also know (or know of) many other people scattered around the globe with another 20-40 tapes who simply can't be reached or aren't interested in sharing. And of course, I know of the existence of many more tapes, but not necessarily who has them.

I'm still working busily on the next Blur book, which I think will be really great and a huge upgrade/improvement on the first one, in terms of size, content, information, and format. The reason for this second book is because, while finishing and publishing the first one, I was still getting loads of new tapes, and in total there are more than 50 new shows/sources/recordings added to the second book. It makes sense to offer fans even more information, not to mentions the numerous corrections/additions, etc that resulted from more careful listening and fact-finding. However, unless I can bring in another serious haul of that size, I don't think it would make sense to update and add on to the book for a long time after the second one, if ever.

I'm not upset or angry at this situation, I want to make that clear and I hope no one misconstrues what I've written as such. I'm so happy to have been able to work on this and it only deepens my love for Blur and their music. The only emotion, other than joy, that this hobby/project of mine brings me, is a slight sadness that there are so many more amazing recordings from Blur on stage that we may simply never be able to hear, whether the tapes don't exist, are lost, damaged, or hidden away in someone's closet who does not want to share them. Blur played over 600 concerts between 1989 and 2009, and my collection, which I believe to be the largest in the world, has slightly over 200 distinct shows in it. So 33% of Blur's concert history is available on tape, while a whopping 66% is still out there, waiting to be discovered, listened to, enjoyed, analyzed, studied, dissected...

Have no worries! I will not be giving up collecting Blur...I'll always be on the hunt for new tapes and recordings and, unless instructed by the donors of said tapes, I will share what I can with all of you, my fellow Blur fans, time permitting. I'm a busy guy with a wife, 4 kids, a full-time job, and a VERY busy and fulfilling life, so I do the best I can with this site, the Facebook page, and the Twitter page, and I apologize if it frustrates you that I can't update as frequently as I'd like...it frustrates me, too! But I will continue to update here with new and (hopefully) interesting articles, photos, recordings, etc, and I hope you'll stick around and continue to engage in discussions and comments, feedback and suggestions, anecdotes and memories...perhaps the best thing about this entire endeavor are all of the great people I've met, online and in real life.

And of course, I have to say it, but if you have any Blur live recordings, I'd love to hear about them and swap for a copy...I'd love to add them to my personal collection, as well as my digital archive and the book project. I'd, of course, give you credit in the book and would honor whatever wishes you had for the tape in regards to circulating it or not. Feel free to contact me via email (find the address in my profile to the right of this page) to discuss this.

Keep checking back here, there'll always be some new stuff posted as I find the time to do it...cheers!

I Need *YOU*

(SPECIAL THANKS to my friend Michael C. for customizing the above photo for me!)

I'm hard at work on the manuscript for the expanded next version of the book and working hard at getting a proper publisher. In the meantime, I'm awaiting a couple more batches of recordings from friends, but I'm always in need of more material to make the book and entire archiving project as detailed and complete as possible.

Everyone who reads this blog, the Facebook or Twitter pages, or my book, and has contacted me to donate recordings, ticket scans, etc, has been incredible and I appreciate and thank you for your kindness and generosity with the utmost in wholehearted sincerity.

With that being said, I'm making one last push over the next few months to compile as much as I can before I begin really flogging this around to different publishers (some of whom have already expressed interest). So...

...if you have ANY live recordings (see list below) that are on the list, or even if they aren't, and would be willing to donate/trade a copy to me for inclusion in the book, please contact me, it would be HUGELY appreciated. Some of these I am awaiting copies of, but the rest I'm still trying to get a hold of.

The same goes for any scans of ticket stubs to Blur concerts you've attended.

Your name will go in the back of the book on a special "THANK YOU" section that already has loads of names on it.

The list of KNOWN recordings (if you have these or any other, please contact me):

3/30/90 Falcon, Camden, London
5/16/90 Sir George Robey, London
5/19/93 Dolce Vita, Lausanne, Switzerland
5/23/93 Washington Heights, Reading
5/29/93 University, Manchester
8/7/93 Estádio José Bento Pessoa, Figueira da Foz, Portugal
11/3/93 Dynamo, Zurich, Switzerland
4/24/94 Casemates, Mons, Belgium
5/16/94 Plaza, Glasgow
5/23/94 Event Centre, Brighton, England
5/24/94 University, Reading, England
6/25/94 Old Trout, Windsor. England
7/9/94 Lummen Festival, Belgium
7/30/94 T in the Park Festival, Scotland
9/19/94 Masquerade, Atlanta
9/24/94 The Palace, Los Angeles
9/25/94 The Fillmore, San Francisco
7/7/95 Les Eurockeenes Festival, Belfort, France
10/25/94 La Bataclan, Paris, France
11/1/94 Christiana, Copenhagen, Denmark
6/10/95 Sonoria Festival, Milan, Italy
10/3/95 Metro, Chicago
11/9/95 NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan
11/28/95 SECC, Glasgow, Scotland
12/11/95 SECC, Glasgow, Scotland
1/26/96 Moe’s, Seattle
2/26/96 Aqualung, Madrid (full show)
3/13/96 Teatro Tenda, Florence, Italy
3/18/96 Capitol, Hannover, Germany
1/27/97 Town and Country Club, Leeds, England
2/15/97 Divan du Monde, Paris, France
4/10/97 Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, Germany
4/11/97 Arena, Berlin, Germany
5/14/97 Sports Hall, Cesena, Italy
5/26/97 Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
6/10/97 Electric Factory, Philadelphia
6/18/97 Showbox, Seattle
6/22/97 Ogden Theatre, Denver
6/26/97 Riviera, Chicago
6/27/97 Clutch Cargos, Detroit
8/8/97 Sudoeste Festival, Herdade da Casa Branca, Odemira, Portugal
8/14/97 Water Festival, Sweden
9/13/97 Orpheum, Boston (w/soundcheck)
10/14/97 County Bowl, Santa Barbara, California
11/8/97 MBK Hall, Bangkok
1/30/99 Depot Studios, London
3/30/99 Roseland Ballroom, NYC
4/1/99 Mayan Theatre, LA
6/20/99 Heineken Music Festival, Imola, Italy
7/31/99 Fuji Rock Festival, Japan (full show)
8/26/99 Goldsmiths College, London
11/18/99 Metrolpolitan Theatre, Mexico City (full show)
11/21/99 Credit Card Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil (full show)
11/23/99 Metropolitan, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
6/16/03 Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles
6/19/03 Roseland Theatre, Portland
6/20/03 Showbox, Seattle
6/21/03 Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, Canada
7/23/03 Metropolis, Montreal, Canada
7/24/03 Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia
7/26/03 Tabernacle, Atlanta
10/13/03 Circus, Stockholm (full show)
11/9/03 Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
11/22/03 Barrowlands, Glasow
7/12/09 T in the Park Festival, Scotland (full show)

Any correspondence with me will be kept confidential, and again, beforehand, I offer everyone a big...

THANK YOU!

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Hunting Down Blur Recordings

***DISCLAIMER*** LONG ARTICLE ALERT!

Also, I think I'm going to make this the first in a series of articles on the collecting/detective work that goes on behind tracking down rare and uncirculated Blur recordings. What do you think? Would this be interesting to you?

A poster on the Facebook page recently expressed interest in an article talking about what goes in to tracking down rare and uncirculated live recordings of Blur. I agreed with him that this would make a great idea for an article…I felt that it could offer insight into the meat of a project like this, which is, of course, the music. Also, as a collector myself, I always enjoy hearing these “behind-the-scenes” stories and I figure most other people would as well. Right up front, however, I’ll just mention that I am going to leave names and specifics out of this article, since a lot of the collectors/tapers I deal with like to remain behind the curtain, so to speak, and I’ll honor that (you’ll see that honor is quality that important as a collector…patience is another one, and we’ll get to that later!) and thus they’ll remain anonymous.

First, a bit of background: I grew up as a huge music fan and always enjoyed live albums in addition to the studio ones. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1990s, when I was finishing up high school, that I had my first exposure to bootlegs and live recordings. I was browsing the Led Zeppelin bin at my local record store at the time (In Your Ear Music in Plymouth, New Hampshire, sadly defunct) and found a CD called “White Summer” which I had never heard of. On the back it said “Recorded live at the BBC Playhouse Theatre in June 1969.” I promptly bought it and went home to listen to it and was astounded at the quality of the performance (I was also spoiled by the fact that it was a pristine soundboard recording, as most bootlegs sound far inferior!). It blew my mind because the only official Led Zeppelin live document (at the time) was the The Song Remains the Same album, and this was a world apart and had different songs. Some months later I was in another now-defunct record store in Dover called The Lost Chord, and the fellow had a box set of Beatles CDs called Unsurpassed Masters Vols. 1-7. Again, I had never heard of these and bought them. When I got home I realized these were studio outtakes and unreleased tracks, and some of the stuff on them was truly amazing. From here it grew to buying bootleg tapes and CDs from vendors at the local universities (including my own…yes, they used to sell bootlegs at colleges!) until, with my first exposure to the internet in 1997, I began tape trading and later on, CDR trading. As the years went by, technology advanced to the point we’re at today with torrents and online uploading and swapping of digital files…I still engage in the odd CDR trade here or there, but for the most part, snail mail trades are dead.

All of this brief background brings me to the gist of this article…tracking down and acquiring rare and/or uncirculated recordings. Because what ends up happening when you collect any band long enough is that, eventually, you end up getting a hold of everything that is available, but you know there is more out there, so the search begins. In the days before the internet, it was quite a challenge since everything was done by word of mouth or through the mail. Nowadays, it’s much easier (although it’s not *easy*) to search stuff out. Learning about the existence of rare tapes and figuring out who has them can happen many different ways:

1) A person who you’ve traded with already has some rare stuff they decide to let you know about and share it. This happens fairly often, where someone had been holding something back and will eventually let you know they have it and offer to trade it. Quite often, there will be conditions attached, such as not being able to tell anyone where you got it, not being allowed to share it out yourself, and so on. It’s always a good idea to honor these requests, as it’s the right thing to do from an honor standpoint, and also it shows that you’re trustworthy and keeps the tape pipeline open.

2) Someone you trade with knows someone. This happens quite a lot, too. Once you’ve become known as a serious collector of a band, a lot of time a trading partner will know someone (either personally or through their own trading circles) who has rarer stuff. These interactions can either be tricky or relatively smooth depending on how receptive the person your contact knows is to sharing with a stranger at first. I’ve been lucky in that every instance I’ve had this type of dealing, my collecting counterpart has always been very friendly and eager to share.

3) A kind and generous soul contacts you, offering a rare tape. This happens quite a lot, as well, although only since the advent of the internet. One thing I’ve been blessed with while working on my Blur book project (and my own collection) is this type of interaction, many times over. Whether they’ve contacted me via email, my blog, the Facebook or Twitter page, or just randomly, many kind souls have offered me recordings. I always offer something in return, but more often than not, despite my insistence, they decline, saying they don’t want anything in return. These are the best kind of people, willing to share with you simply to help out!

4) The last type of person you’ll deal with is someone who you contact out of the blue. Often times I’ll find these people’s lists while trawling the internet looking for shows. Sometimes it’s someone I used to trade with year ago who won’t remember who I am. It could be someone on DIME or another torrent site who seems to have some rare stuff, so I’ll send them an email, or they could be listed at a database site like Tape Trader or Etree. In any event, this is the hardest type of person to deal with since you have no idea what they’re like beforehand, and you’re contacting them out of the blue. I’ve found over the years that you need to be gracious, humble, and not too eager…I know in the past I’ve scared off quite a few potential trading partners by being too overeager and pushy, at times. The key here is to give them space and approach gently until you get to know them. I would say 95% of the people I’ve dealt with in this fashion have ended up being really cool and easy to deal with. The other 5% either ignore you, stop replying to your emails after agreeing to a trade (which is so aggravating!), or tell you in no uncertain terms to f**k off!

So the type of interactions I typically have in tracking down these Blur recordings are summarized for the most part above. I should add that, thanks to the internet, while the vast majority of these people hail from the UK and USA, I’ve also dealt with people all over the world, from Europe, Russia, Japan, Australia, Canada, South America, and so on.

I mentioned how it pays to be honest in your dealings with trading partners, especially those who are sharing out rarer material. This means don’t stiff anyone on a trade, keep the lines of communication open, and so on. There is one other quality that is ESSENTIAL and one I’ve gotten better at over the years: PATIENCE.

It can be excruciatingly slow sometimes to trade with some collectors. Oftentimes they’re very busy with work and their life and have to fit in your wants when they can. Some people don’t respond to emails for a long time. And some people are just SLOW. I’m currently in the middle of a trade I started in April of 2010 with a fellow…it was a small trade, 3 shows. I sent him the shows he wanted from me in April. I’ve gotten one from him and am *still* waiting on the other 2, which need to be converted from cassette to WAV. And, to top it all off, this fellow goes months in between replying to my emails. It’s frustrating, but I have to keep my cool and stay polite and patient. In the end it will be worth it. There was another fellow who promised to send me a rare tape, with nothing in return, in May 2010. He even asked for my address so he could send it right out. Not only do I not have the tape, I’m still waiting to hear back from him (he hasn’t responded to any emails). Some people have gone so far as to set up trades with me and, after emailing back and forth for over a year, have stopped responding. There are two great fellows I’m trading with right now who are taking a while, but that’s because they’re busy with life/family/work, and I know they’re doing a favor for me by taking the time to convert their tapes and send them to me…you guys know who you are if you’re reading this, and I thank you! In fact, that goes for everyone I’ve traded with since 1997, and everyone who has sent me ANYTHING for my collection and for the Black Book project. Without you it wouldn’t be nearly as detailed, complete, or fun!

I’ll end this article, for now, and leave you with a little (and true) anecdote. About 8 years ago, when I was a graduate student, I found a trading website run by a fellow from Australia. He had a few rare Blur tapes I’d never known about, ones he had recorded himself. I emailed him to set up a trade, and he had said he could do that, and instead of sending him tapes, could I buy him something off of eBay and have it shipped to him (he’d cover postage, but he wanted to get a better deal on the currency exchange rate…sounded reasonable to me). However, my wife and I were newlyweds and really strapped for cash at the time, so I said I couldn’t do it at the moment, but how about a trade in a few months. He said sure, no problem. Then I never heard from him again. Fast forward to 2009. Every few months since 2002 I had continued to send a gentle “hello” and reminder email to the fellow’s email address. It never bounced back, but I assumed he never used it anymore. And then, in 2009, a few months before I published Black Book, he replied! He’d been getting my emails and had always meant to write back but forgot and had just been so busy with life. He gladly agreed to trade the recordings to me, and within weeks I had the tapes I’d been pining away for since 2002. While most of the time, if you miss out on a trade, it’s gone forever, this was one of those rare, happy times where dogged persistence paid off. I’m currently doing the same thing with another tape I’ve had my eye on since 2001…I last heard from the fellow in March 2010, so we’ll see how that one ends. ;-)

Special thanks to Jon Muller from the Facebook page, who mentioned he'd be interested in reading about this subject. I thought it was a great idea for an articleand I hope you do, too!

How *YOU* Can Contribute to the 2nd Edition of Black Book

In addition to contacting me regarding any live Blur recordings you may have, as most of you know, I'm currently working on the 2nd edition of Black Book, which I'd like to have out in 2011 or 2012 at the latest. Besides the additional information and new shows added to it, I'm trying to add some interesting stuff related to their live shows, while being mindful that until I get official OK from Blur and EMI (if I ever even do) that I cannot use copyrighted material.

That's where *YOU* can come in. I've decided I'd like to *try* to include a section with pictures of tickets stubs across Blur's career. I have quite a few scans people have sent me and want to try to make this its own section at the end of the book...I think it'd be fun and informative, plus just plain cool to look at. So, if any of you have scans of ticket stubs you could send me from Blur concerts you've been to from any year, and would be willing to send me a scan to use in the book, I'd really appreciate it. I'll even put your name in the acknowledgments section.

And the same goes for any recordings you may have!

Contact me privately if you'd like to contribute!

Thanks in advance!

-Drew

One last thing for tonight...

...I know of the existence of one other 1997 Japanese show, the Budokan show from May 26, 1997...if anyone has this (or any other shows!) please contact me privately, thanks!

My New Year's Wish List

Below is the CURRENT list of *KNOWN* Blur live recordings I am actively looking for (please note this list does NOT contain "Holy Grail" recordings, such as a complete version of Glastonbury 2009 or the Gimme Shelter NME gig from 1992...these are the CONFIRMED KNOWN recordings):

3/30/90 Falcon, Camden, London
5/19/93 Washington Heights, Reading
5/29/93 University, Manchester
10/4/93 Queen’s Hall, Bradford
10/25/93 Vaartkapoen, Brussels
5/16/94 Plaza, Glasgow
5/19/94 Academy, Manchester
9/19/94 Masquerade, Atlanta
9/24/94 The Palace, Los Angeles
9/25/94 The Fillmore, San Francisco
6/10/95 Sonoria Festival, Milan
10/3/95 Metro, Chicago
11/4/95 Festival Hall, Osaka
1/26/96 Moe’s, Seattle
1/27/96 La Luna, Portland (full show)
2/26/96 Aqualung, Madrid (full show)
3/18/96 Capitol, Hannover, Germany
5/26/97 Budokan, Tokyo
6/10/97 Electric Factory, Philadelphia
6/18/97 Showbox, Seattle
6/22/97 Ogden Theatre, Denver
6/24/97 The Rave, Milwaukee
6/26/97 Riviera, Chicago
6/27/97 Clutch Cargos, Detroit
8/8/97 Sudoeste Festival, Portugal
9/13/97 Orpheum, Boston (w/soundcheck)
11/8/97 MBK Hall, Bangkok
12/12/97 Brixton Academy, London, England
3/30/99 Roseland Ballroom, NYC
4/1/99 Mayan Theatre, LA
6/20/99 Heineken Music Festival, Imola, Italy
7/31/99 Fuji Rock Festival, Japan (full show)
8/26/99 Goldsmiths College, London
8/28/99 Leeds Festival, England
11/18/99 Metrolpolitan Theatre, Mexico City (full show)
11/21/99 Credit Card Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil (full show)
11/23/99 Metropolitan, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
6/20/03 Showbox, Seattle
6/21/03 Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, Canada
7/23/03 Metropolis, Montreal, Canada
7/24/03 Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia
7/26/03 Tabernacle, Atlanta
10/13/03 Circus, Stockholm (full show)
11/3/03 Riviera, Madrid, Spain
11/9/03 Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
11/22/03 Barrowlands, Glasow
6/24/09 Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England (full show)
6/26/09 MEN, Manchester, England (full show)
7/12/09 T in the Park Festival, Scotland (full show)

The shows in bold font are ones where I am either in contact with the tapers/collectors or attempting to contact them. For many of these, talks are in progress, and for others, I'm still tilting at windmills...the hunt goes on!! My New Year's goal is to obtain most, if not all, of the shows indicated in bold font...a tall order, I know, but one I am going to attempt in any event!

Does anyone out there have any of these? If so (or if you have any others) please contact me privately! And thanks in advance!

Two More 2010 New Year Resolutions

Two more 2010 resolutions I'll make:

1) to continue my dogged (and sometimes obsessive) pursuit of new and rare Blur live recordings (loads of pending ones coming my way within the next few months, hopefully);

2) to continue making interesting posts about Blur's live history

So far the response to this page has been 100% positive and I am truly flattered and humbled that all of you out there are enjoying it. I will strive to make it even better in 2010!!

Please feel free to comment!!

And shortly after New Year's Day I will post the current list of known recordings I'm looking for...perhaps you could help me out by donating any you may have on the list?

Pending recordings

The following recordings are ones I have definitive leads on and should (hopefully) have by the end of the year/early 2010:

Roseland Ballroom, New York City 3/30/99
Goldsmiths College, London 8/26/99
Reading Festival (complete AUD tape) 8/28/99
Leeds Festival 8/29/99
Civic Hall, Wolverhampton 6/24/09
MEN Arena, Manchester 6/26/09
Apollo, Manchester 11/28/03
Barrowlands, Glasgow 11/22/03
University, Manchester 5/29/93
Academy, Manchester 5/19/94
Regent, Ipswich 5/?/94 (need to research date)
Queen's Hall, Bradford 10/4/93
Brussels 10/25/93
Plaza, Glasgow 5/16/94
Camden Falcon, London 3/30/90

Also trying to track down some more, so stay tuned!

Newly confirmed recording

Just found that an audience recording for Blur's show in London on December 12, 1997 exists (this is the night after the famous and common soundboard from the previous night)...

Wouldn't that be great to hear someday?

Recordings update...

Just got and listened to Summersonic Festival, Osaka August 3, 2003 and have a solid lead on Roseland Ballroom, New York City March 30,1999...stay tuned...

COMPLETE list of known uncirculating live recordings as of 11/10/2009

Here is the COMPLETE list, accurate as of today, for all of the KNOWN CONFIRMED Blur live recordings that are not currently in general circulation:

3/30/90 Falcon, Camden, London
5/29/93 University, Manchester
9/3/93 Barrowlands, Glasgow
10/4/93 Queen’s Hall, Bradford
10/25/93 Vaartkapoen, Brussels
12/4/93 Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia
5/16/94 Plaza, Glasgow
5/19/94 Academy, Manchester
9/19/94 Masquerade, Atlanta
9/24/94 The Palace, Los Angeles
9/25/94 The Fillmore, San Francisco
5/21/95 Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto
6/10/95 Sonoria Festival, Milan
10/3/95 Metro, Chicago
11/4/95 Festival Hall, Osaka
1/26/96 Moe’s, Seattle
1/27/96 La Luna, Portland (full show)
2/6/96 Cotton Club, Atlanta
2/26/96 Aqualung, Madrid (full show)
3/18/96 Capitol, Hannover, Germany
5/26/97 Budokan, Tokyo
6/10/97 Electric Factory, Philadelphia
6/18/97 Showbox, Seattle
6/22/97 Ogden Theatre, Denver
6/24/97 The Rave, Milwaukee
6/26/97 Riviera, Chicago
6/27/97 Clutch Cargos, Detroit
7/1/97 K-Rock Dysfunctional Family Picnic, New York City
8/8/97 Sudoeste Festival, Portugal
9/13/97 Orpheum, Boston (w/soundcheck)
11/8/97 MBK Hall, Bangkok
3/30/99 Roseland Ballroom, NYC
4/1/99 Mayan Theatre, LA
6/20/99 Heineken Music Festival, Imola, Italy
7/31/99 Fuji Rock Festival, Japan (full show)
8/26/99 Goldsmiths College, London
8/28/99 Leeds Festival
11/18/99 Metrolpolitan Theatre, Mexico City (full show)
11/21/99 Credit Card Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil (full show)
11/23/99 Metropolitan, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
6/20/03 Showbox, Seattle
6/21/03 Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, Canada
7/23/03 Metropolis, Montreal
7/24/03 Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia
7/26/03 Tabernacle, Atlanta
10/13/03 Circus, Stockholm
11/3/03 Riviera, Madrid, Spain
11/9/03 Gasometer, Vienna, Austria
11/22/03 Barrowlands, Glasow
11/28/03 Apollo, Manchester
6/24/09 Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England (full show)
6/26/09 MEN, Manchester, England (full show)

As you can see, this is a *HUGE* list!!

I've contacted the tapers/collectors who have all of these shows. Some of them I am currently in the process of obtaining, others I am wrangling with the holders, and others I am waiting to hear back.

For me, it's shocking that so many new recordings of Blur exist (and I'm sure there are LOADS more out there) and are not generally available. All of these were listed by people on their trade lists, so it's not as if they are hiding the fact that they have them (they are not hoarding)...these were clearly listed as "FOR TRADE". However, the fact that these are difficult to find, let alone get copies of, is amazing. I wonder why this is? My guess is there is not a huge demand for live Blur and thus these end up buried in boxes in people's houses or on seldom seen trade lists.

I will continue my work in trying to obtain copies of these shows and sharing them with the fan community. In the meantime, if anyone reading this has any of these or knows someone who has any of these, please contact me (my email address is in my profile, found on the right side of this page). Your correspondence will be kept completely confidential.

Wolves

Just found that a the Wolverhampton show from 5/11/94 is available on recording...in the process of getting a copy...

Also, these exist:

10/4/93 Queen’s Hall, Bradford
10/25/93 Vaartkapoen, Brussels
5/16/94 Plaza, Glasgow

Now to try and get copies of them!

New Discoveries

I learned this weekend that videos (and thus audio) exist for the following shows:

11/8/97 MBK Hall, Bangkok
6/20/99 Heineken Festival, Italy
11/21/99 Credit Card Hall, Sao Paolo

And so the work begins to liberate them...

Evidence for two more recordings...

I found evidence today online that recordings for:

1/26/96 Moe's, Seattle
11/8/97 MBK Hall, Bangkok

exist. I've also contacted people regarding:

3/30/99 Roseland Ballroom, New York City
11/12/03 Alcatraz, Milan

Fingers crossed!!

NEW: Existence of some new unearthed recordings

Before you get all excited, I have not unearthed these tapes...rather, I've unearthed that they do indeed exist. However, the listing online these were from is very old and the contact info does not work, so the search continues. But this list is enough to make me drool like Pavlov's dog...

9/3/93 Barrowlands, Glasgow
12/4/93 Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia
11/29/94 U-Port Hall, Tokyo
6/10/95 Sonoria Festival, Milan
10/3/95 Metro, Chicago
11/4/95 Festival Hall, Osaka
2/6/96 Cotton Club, Atlanta
2/10/96 Roseland Ballroom, New York City
2/12/96 Capital Ballroom, Washington, DC
3/18/96 Capitol, Hanover, Germany
3/15/97 Riviera, Chicago
5/26/97 Budokan, Tokyo
6/11/97 Capital Ballroom, Washington, DC
6/24/97 First Avenue, Minneapolis
7/1/97 KROQ Dysfunctional Family Picnic, New York City
8/8/97 Sudoeste Festival, Odemira, Portugal
9/16/97 Varsity Arena, Toronto
9/23/97 Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte
9/26/97 Garage, Cincinnati
9/27/97 96-X Fest, Mud Island Amphitheatre, Memphis (this was erroneously placed on the same date in 1996 in Black Book)
10/4/97 County Bowl, Santa Barbara
12/6/99 Waterfront, Belfast
12/9/99 NEC, Birmingham

Of course, if you have these or know someone who does, please contact me privately (your correspondence will remain confidential).

I will post the COMPLETE list (so far) of known recordings floating around out there. I then plan to do an individual spotlight posting on each of these (as well as all of the other ones I'm hunting down)...so stay tuned!

RECORDING SPOTLIGHT: Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles April 1, 1999

In keeping with yesterday's post about the Roseland Ballroom show in 1999, today's will focus on the only other American concert Blur played in 1999, in Los Angeles at the Mayan Theatre (pictured left). The set list was the same, so I won't post it again. And I won't belabor the point other than to say I know for a fact a recording of this is out there (I know a fellow who used to have it, but he doesn't anymore), and hopefully someday it will surface to complete the mini-tour of the USA/Canada in 1999.

And as always, if you have a copy or know someone who does, please contact me privately (and your correspondence will remain confidential).

RECORDING SPOTLIGHT: Roseland Ballroom, New York City March 30, 1999

In 1999, Blur surprisingly only played three shows in North America: one in New York City, one in Los Angeles, and one in Toronto. I personally recorded the Toronto gig and have spoken to people who have the other two shows, as well as seen them listed, but thus far they have remained elusive. Here is the setlist for the Toronto show, which would be the same for this one in New York City:

Tender
Bugman
Coffee & TV
Swamp Song
1992
B.L.U.R.E.M.I.
Battle
Mellow Song
Trailerpark
Trimm Trabb
No Distance Left To Run
Beetlebum
There's No Other Way
Popscene
Song 2

As you can see, it's a typical set list for this point in 1999. What makes this show (and the Los Angeles show two days later, but that's a topic for another post) so desirable is that that was it for Blur in the USA in 1999. Surprisingly, they never came back, and this was the only year (other than 1990 when they were too new, and 2009 when they stuck to the UK, Ireland, and France) they never did a proper tour of the USA. Thus, to have all three of the USA/Canada shows would be very nice in order to fill in this little piece of the concert history for 1999.

So, the hunt continues for this show. However, if you taped it or know someone who did, please contact me privately (your correspondence will, of course, remain confidential).

On a personal note, since I live close to Boston, I'm only about a 4-5 hour drive from New York City. I was a sophomore at university when this show took place and had tickets reserved to buy, with the intention of taking the bus to New York, seeing the show, and then sleeping on the bus overnight back to school. Except that a couple of weeks before the show, a VERY important mid-term exam was scheduled in my chemistry class. Since I was a chemistry major, I had to study and do well in it, thus no Blur show! And it would be four more years before I finally saw them (but again, that's for a future post)...

RECORDING SPOTLIGHT: Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto May 21, 1995

The first known recording of an uncirculating blur show I'm going to post on is one of my "Holy Grails", Blur's show at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada (picture at left) on May 21, 1995. Also on the bill were Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Our Lady Peace. This was part of the annual Edgefest festival for 1995. The date is often mistakenly listed as May 12 (an error on blur's official gigography, as well as in my book, I'm afraid!) but the correct date is indeed May 21, 1995.

This is an unusual show for a few reasons. It's the only North American show from early 1995 (blur wouldn't return to begin their US/Canadian tour until September 1995), and it has all the hallmarks of a warm-up show, especially since they previewed songs from the upcoming Great Escape album, including Country House, Globe Alone, and Stereotypes. In addition, it has a fascinating and unique set list:

Supa Shoppa
Popscene
Jubilee
Come Together
Tracy Jacks
End Of A Century
Country House
Magic America
Trouble In The Message Centre
Globe Alone
To The End
Badhead
Advert
Girls & Boys
Parklife
Bank Holiday
Stereotypes
This Is A Low

I've highlighted the real oddities in the set. Come Together is a surprise, as is the last time Trouble in the Message Centre must have ever been played live. Starting the show with Supa Shoppa is also pretty weird. All in all, this show has all the attributes of a warm-up show during a transitionary period (bridging the Parklife and Great Escape eras onstage). These "in-between" shows are always the most interesting for me to listen to (some of my favorite concerts are from 1996, as well as mid-1992 to late 1993).

I have come across a listing on the internet of a fellow who recorded this show, although the posting has not been updated since 1996! I've taken down his name (he will remain anonymous) and would like to contact him. I'm hoping someday this recording will become available so we can listen to it, enjoy it, and study it.

If you have a copy or know someone who does, would you please be so kind as to contact me at dkathans@gmail.com? Your correspondence will of course remain confidential.

EDIT: There may be a bit of a breakthrough here, as I think I've gotten in touch with a taper...stay tuned...