SHOW: Reading Festival, England August 28, 1993

By special request, reuploaded (since the old link is dead). Enjoy it this weekend!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/fx7okc

Blur 21: To the End?

The Blur21 Deluxe 22-disc set

 

The big announcement from Blur yesterday was the release of Blur21, which is a massive 22-disc career retrospective box set containing remastered expanded editions of all of the albums, three DVDs containing live footage (Showtime, Singles Night, etc), discs of rarities and demos, a 45 of Superman, and a book detailing the band's history.  A vinyl box set containing all 7 albums on vinyl will also be released, as well as individual versions of the remastered albums. 

 The Vinyl Box

I've personally already pre-ordered the deluxe 22-disc box set...while I have a lot of the rare stuff, the demos alone make it worth it to me, as well as the fact that I'd buy anything they released :-).  They can be pre-ordered at Amazon.co.uk, although I've noticed the price has TRIPLED in just the 24 hours since I ordered it...it's a limited edition so my advice is, if you're interested, pre-order ASAP!

This raises an interesting question, though. Many fans believe this is just a nice release and that we can still expect a new album and tour from Blur, but to me this screams "wrapping up the career." Bands don't typically release career retrospective sets where they empty out (just about) everything from the vaults. In addition, Damon has stated in numerous interviews since the Brits award in February that the Hyde Park Olympics gig will be the last show ever, Under the Westway will be "a nice little coda" for the band, and that he can still make music with Graham but not "the other two."  It all adds up, in my mind, to a nice and graceful farewell for Blur after this August's shows.

And honestly, I'm not only happy with that, but I actually hope it is the case. With as good as the vibe and the momentum was in 2009, if they couldn't make new music then, I just don't see how they will now. The overall mood within the band seems to be rather down, at least judging from recent interviews with them (individually, of course), and after the excitement of the Brits award performance and the promise of big announcements in terms of shows and releases, we got nothing until last night. Of course, the news of the Blur21 release is very welcome, but offering no *NEW* music, instead packaging up all of the old stuff...well, I see this as a nice exclamation point at the end of the Blur story as the curtain gracefully and classily (is that a word?) draws to a close and we all move on.

What say you?

Black Book v2.0 News

So after giving it a lot of thought and getting some good advice from friends, I'm going to hold back the 2nd Edition of Black Book until this Fall. This is so I can include all of the information on this summer's shows and make the book as complete and current as possible, especially if this turns out to be Blur's last hurrah.

I'm still interested in any recordings or ticket stubs scans you may have to donate to the project and of course I will give you credit...your name will join all the others in the thank you section.

Right now the book is at a whopping 650 pages and will only get more info-packed between now and its release so any contributions are most welcome!

Thanks and feel free to comment/suggest anything here and shoot me an email or private message if you want to contribute anything.