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...

Nice review of Black Book

Here is a nice review of Black Book:

http://veikko.climax.dk/viewtopic.php?t=442&start=15

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!!

1994 Japanese Tour (LONG POST ALERT!)

Blur has made multiple tours of Japan (1993-1995, 1997, 1999, 2003). However, based on the available recordings, none of them can compare to their 1994 tour there. Blur played eight concerts in Japan between November 18 and November 29, 1994. Three recordings are available:

November 19, 1994 Club Citta, Kawasaki
November 26, 1994 Shibuya Kokaido, Tokyo
November 29, 1994 U-Port Hall, Tokyo

What makes this tour so interesting to me as a fan and listener is that something special that always seems to happen in Japan with big bands. I'm going to make the analogy to another legendary band, Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin played two tours in Japan, one in 1971 and one in 1972. Every show from each tour is available on recording, and while the 1972 was very good, 1971 was superlative. The band was followed by absolutely maniacal fans cheering loudly and enthusiastically from beginning to end. Additionally, they played with abandon, really stretching out with extended sets and throwing in covers and album tracks that they'd never play ever again. I'm making this analogy because Blur did the same thing during this 1994 tour, which saw rabid fans treated to long concerts with some real unique set lists. The typical set list for a late 1994 show (taken at random from the European tour) was:

Lot 105
Coping
Jubilee
Popscene
Tracy Jacks
End Of A Century
Chemical World
Badhead
There's No Other Way
To The End
Advert
Supa Shoppa
Parklife
Girls & Boys
The Debt Collector
Bank Holiday
This Is A Low

Contrast that with this set list from the set lists from the three Japanese recordings:

November 19, 1994

Lot 105
Coping
Jubilee
Tracy Jacks
Magic America
End Of A Century
Popscene
Chemical World
Badhead
There's No Other Way
To The End
Advert
Supa Shoppa
Parklife
Colin Zeal
For Tomorrow
Girls & Boys
Mr. Robinson's Quango
The Debt Collector
Bank Holiday
This Is A Low


November 26, 1994

Intermission
Sunday Sunday
Coping
Jubilee
Tracy Jacks
Magic America
Happy Birthday/The Tuning Song
End Of A Century
Popscene
Trouble In The Message Centre
Chemical World
Badhead
There's No Other Way
To The End
Advert
Supa Shoppa
Parklife
Colin Zeal
She's So High
Girls & Boys
The Debt Collector
Bank Holiday
Day Upon Day
This Is A Low


November 29, 1994

Intermission
Sunday Sunday
Coping
Jubilee
Tracy Jacks
Magic America
End Of A Century
Popscene
Trouble In The Message Centre
Chemical World
Badhead
There's No Other Way
To The End
Advert
Supa Shoppa
Parklife
She's So High
Colin Zeal
For Tomorrow
Girls & Boys
Theme from Batman and Robin
Mr. Robinson's Quango
The Debt Collector
Bank Holiday
This Is A Low
Day Upon Day


You can see the first show has a longer set list than typical for the European tour. However, they really let loose with the last two shows, extended the set with many more songs (bringing back Trouble in the Message Centre, She's So High), starting the shows with Intermission (Lot 105 was the opener used for all of 1994 previously), bringing Day Upon Day back into the set in the encore section. Additionally, they played these shows with reckless abandon and energy, making these some of the most exciting concerts of their career.

While recordings from Japan in 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2003 exist, all with their own treats (Yuko and Hiro in 1995, You're So Great, Beard, and Strange News From Another Star in 1997), none can match the mania and energy of these 1994 shows. I can only hope more recordings from this tour come to light in the future!

The Preservation Project

After thinking it over for a long while, I've decided that when I have the extra money, I'm going to invest in an external hard drive (1TB or so). Not only to back up the personal data my wife and I have, but my goal is to put all 225 (and counting) Blur shows on it to preserve them digitally as flac files. Right now everything is on CDR and arranged chronologically, but it will be great to have them backed up and preserved for years to come in a digital format.

I take it very seriously to preserve their live history, as I consider them to be one of the best bands of the last 20 years and akin to the Beatles in cultural impact and importance (except for in the USA, although they do have a dedicated and hardcore cult following here).

SHOW: Fillmore West, San Francisco January 29, 1996

Here's a hard to find show from early 1996. Enjoy!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KGNL8PY5

A breakthrough...

In the process of setting up a deal to obtain copies of several uncirculated shows from the taper himself...stay tuned...

SHOW: La Bataclan, Paris May 19, 2003

Here's Blur's Paris show from May 19, 2003. This is a newer soundboard source I've recently found that sounds bloody fantastic! Great show here, check it out!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T8JUVK7U

Tilting at windmills?

Throughout my crawling across the internet, I've come across a LOT of Blur recordings that people have that I'd love to get my hands on to add to the band's history, the book, and eventually share out. However, a lot of these are old postings on message boards or trade lists going back as far as 1995! And of course most of the webpage and email addresses bounce or are no longer active. These are the shows I have been passionately pursuing in this regard:

7/1/97 NYC (was available for download from the taper in 1997, webpage is down)

9/3/93 Glasgow
12/4/93 Philadelphia
6/10/95 Milan
10/3/95 Chicago
11/4/95 Tokyo
1/27/96 Portland (full show)
2/6/96 Atlanta
3/18/96 Hannover
5/26/97 Tokyo (all of these were for sale from a fellow in 1998, email address bounces)

8/8/97 Portugal (email address of taper bounces)

There are also numerous ones with active webpages/email addresses who never reply, including

3/30/90 London
1/27/96 Portland (full show)
3/18/96 Hannover
6/26/97 Chicago (fellow was replying to me but haven't heard back in a while)
8/26/99 (currently in talks to get this...)
6/20/03 Seattle (taper is going to send it to me in a bit)
6/21/03 Vancouver (taper hasn't responded)
11/3/03 Madrid (taper hasn't responded)
11/9/03 Vienna (taper hasn't responded)
11/12/03 Milan (taper hasn't responded)
6/24/09 Wolverhampton (full show, in talks with taper)
6/26/09 Manchester (full show, in talks with taper)

It can get awfully frustrating, but hopefully the "three P's" (see post below) will pay off!!

And of course, if you have any of these PLEASE CONTACT ME PRIVATELY IMMEDIATELY...your correspondence will remain confidential.

The Frustration

This post is not meant to sound whiny or complaining, but expresses genuine confusion and frustration over being a Blur fan and trying to collect their live recordings.

The main gist of this post is that it seems that there is MUCH more information, MANY more resources, and MORE available recordings for bands that are Blur's peers, while not for Blur themselves. I am speaking, for instance, of bands such as Radiohead, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. As an example, I am routinely scouring the internet looking either for Blur shows I don't have, or (much more often) uncirculated/new recordings. While it's a very arduous task (although I've had much success over the years), I am constantly seeing a number of webpages devoted to Oasis, Radiohead, etc and their live shows. Large databases, trading pages, etc. In addition, the sheer number of available recordings from these two bands is astounding and numbers in the several hundred. In contrast, while Blur has played 600+ concerts in their 20 years, there aren't even half that many available. I have the largest collection of their recordings (as far as I know), numbering 225, which is a far cry from the number for bands like Oasis, for example. A quick search online, however, will give a webpage that has over 400 (!) Smashing Pumpkins shows available for download...

The frustration over very little information on Blur's recordings led me to write Black Book, which is both a history and a guide. That being said, I'm still puzzled as to why a band that is as popular and successful as Blur has such a small fanbase dedicated to their live recordings.

Thoughts, anyone?

Potential new recordings...

This is a list of shows where I am actually in contact/actively trying to contact the people (sometimes the taper themselves) who has the show:

3/30/90 London
3/18/96 Hannover
1/27/96 Portland (full show)
6/26/97 Chicago
3/30/99 New York
4/1/99 Los Angeles
8/26/99 London
11/3/03 Madrid
11/9/03 Vienna
11/22/03 Glasgow
6/24/09 Wolverhampton (full show)
6/26/09 Manchester (full show)

Stay tuned and wish me luck!

The three P's of seeking out recordings...

...are persistence, perseverance, and patience. They are all extremely important, although the last one perhaps more so. Currently I am trying to get a copy of an extremely rare recording from someone. After two months of back and forth, I got the first song last week and am eager to get the rest, but don't want to push the person away, so I'm being patient. It's hard to do, but I'm hoping in the end it will be worth it...