A Concert Memory: Blur live at the Avalon in Boston, July 18, 2003 (with link)

Sorry it's been so dead here as of late...with little to no new Blur activity going on, there's not much to write about on a regular basis! However, I did recently write up a long and detailed review of the time I saw Blur in 2003...it's over on my personal blog and I invite you to check it out HERE. Thanks! 

Also, I am still working (very slowly) on a third and most-likely final edition of Black Book, but not sure yet when the release will be. Stay tuned, though, as it'll be coming eventually.

ALBUM REVIEW: The Magic Whip

The long awaited new Blur album, The Magic Whip, was released last week and is a fantastic addition to their discography.  I was asked repeatedly by my readers when my review was going to be online...now, I hadn't planned on writing one but since so many people asked I decided I'd better! I posted it on my main blog and rather than reposting it here, I figured I would share the link so you can head over there to read it. HERE it is...let me know what you think of the album in the comments either there or here...enjoy!

A Band Profile About blur

On my personal blog, I write band profiles on favorite bands of mine. It's a chance for me to give a general overview of some of my favorite music makers and hopefully spread the word about how great they are. While most hardcore fans won't get much in the way of new information out of them, they're still fun for me to write and the response to all of the ones I've written so far has been really positive. Here's my latest one, on Blur. Go on over and read it and leave comments to let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy it!

Damon live at Royale, Boston (June 9, 2014): A Concert Review

As promised, here it is, my review of last night's show...it was fantastic!

http://rnrchemist.blogspot.com/2014/06/damon-albarn-live-at-royale-boston-june.html

I'm Still Here, But I'm Not *HERE*

Hi everyone,

As you've noticed, there hasn't been much activity on this site as of late. The reason for that is mainly due to the fact that life has been very busy for me, but the other huge reason is that there just hasn't been much (or much interesting) in the way of Blur activity. I was not a big fan of their Greatest Hits reunion tour in 2014 and for me a lot of enthusiasm for the band waned. I'm still a massive fan and still a collector, but the spark just wasn't there for me. That doesn't mean that I am abandoning this site or going to stop updating it...I could never do that! But it means that things will be a bit slow here for the foreseeable future (of course that could always change). 

I'm going to try to update more regularly, in the short term regarding Damon's forthcoming solo album and tour that look to take up most of his 2014. I also have been receiving numerous requests for re-uploads of shows due to all of the dead links. Please know that I've been keeping track of what needs to be updated and I really do want to get those back in working order for all of you. I've been so busy that I either don't have the time to do it or it slips my mind and I forget, but I am going to try and make the effort to be better about this.

I still update the Facebook page with news snippets and my Twitter account as well, so please continue to follow me on those.

I still have some ideas of how to make the experience on this site even better but again, free time is in short supply!

I've also been concentrating on my writing and blogging on my personal website much more, as it's allowed me to really flourish creatively and as a writer and has begun to open up a lot of opportunities for me that go beyond Blur. I invite you to please visit that site and follow it because I think there will be quite a lot that readers of this Blur site will enjoy over there, including music book reviews, write-ups, and article on various other topics of interest to me (and, I hope, you!). The website is HERE and I hope to see many of you there as well!

That's all for now, so keep checking in because I *will* update when I can find the time, you just never know when!

Thanks,

Drew

CROSSPOST: Blur, What the Hell is Going On?

From my personal blog, a post about how I feel about the state of Blur in 2014.

http://rnrchemist.blogspot.com/2014/01/hey-blur-what-hell-is-going-on.html

AUDIO: Dublin, August 1, 2013

Here's the audio...enjoy!

Download it HERE (link updated 8/19/13). 

AUDIO: Live at Picnic Afisha, Russia July 13, 2013

Here is the show from last night available for download. Enjoy!

VIDEO: Blur live at Provinnsirock Festival, Finland June 14, 2013

I found a copy of an audience-shot video of ~60% of the show...I've uploaded it for you all, so go HERE to download it.

While the press said that Blur were the highlight of the festival and they sound in fine form, it's jarring how thin the crowd are in the video! It's especially crazy when contrasted to the mad crowd when they played the same festival in 1999.

In any event, enjoy!

AUDIO: Blur live at Asia-World Arena, Hong Kong, May 6, 2013

Here's a link to Blur's Hong Kong show from last week (link courtesy of Dom on the Blur forums). 

Enjoy!

http://www.4shared.com/zip/irmmYw-2/blur_hong_kong_06-may-2013.html

AUDIO: Blur live at Coachella Festival, Indio, CA April 12, 2013

Here's Blur's headlining set from last night's Coachella Festival, freshly recorded. A rather subdued set to an awful crowd, but the guys give it their best. Link below, let me know what you think or if there are any problems with the download. (the link will be only be active for 2 weeks so grab it ASAP!).

Download link HERE

Enjoy!

Tokyo Rocks Festival Cancelled

The Tokyo Rocks Festival in Japan that Blur was due to appear at in May has been cancelled...

http://louderthanwar.com/tokyo-rocks-2013-cancelled/

This is unfortunate for the band's Japanese fans, who are known as being amongst the most rabid and fanatical of all of their fans, especially judging from multiple bootleg recordings and videos of shows. They also seem to bring the best and wildest side of Blur out, so this is really too bad.

It's still unclear why this was cancelled...what do you think? Any ideas or info why?

(And NO, this is not an April Fool's post! I posted this same news item on my Facebook and Twitter pages yesterday...this is legit!)

Blur 21 Exhibit...now online!

I just received the following email from Blur's official site:

http://m.news.emihosting.com/nl/jsp/m.jsp?c=61b3312c7c4a1b0e1f

For those of us who couldn't get to London this past summer to see it, the Blur 21 exhibit is now online for our viewing pleasure...nice!

DOWNLOAD: Blur Demos '93

I was going through my files the other night and found an old cassette I'd digistised ages ago. Included are all of the Parklife demos (including ones not on the Blur 21 box set), as well as rare demos tacked on to the end of Never Clever and Seven Days.  Hope you enjoy!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/limcbd

Watch Blur's 6 Music session from last night

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00wrxkd

Official Blur Timeline

http://blur.co.uk/timeline/

Go on, have a look...I will!