Blur’s glorious opener

Blur paid tribute to estranged guitarist Graham Coxon in London last night, as they made their triumphant return to the UK live scene, according to the reports. The band, playing with three backing vocalists, a percussionist and a keyboard player, were joined by new guitarist Simon Tong, formerly of The Verve, for the show at the Astoria.

However, frontman Damon Albarn commented on the absence of Graham, who left Blur during recordings for their new album, ‘Think Tank’, which was released on Monday. Albarn, speaking as Blur began a five-night residency in London, said the band were recently reunited at the wedding of bass player Alex James, where Coxon is said to have DJed.

He told the crowd: “Alex got married last weekend and Graham came along. We had a nice time...”, before making a gesture with his arms to suggest that their relationship was still something of a rollercoaster ride.

Blur played a 19-track set, featuring ‘Think Tank’ highlights such as opener ‘Ambulance’, first single ‘Out Of Time’, ‘Crazy Beat’ and ‘Battery In Your Leg’, the only album track to feature Graham Coxon. Among the older material played was ‘Popscene’, ‘Bad Head’, ‘Top Man’, ‘Song 2’ and the storming closer ‘This Is A Low’.

They also performed ‘Think Tank’ track ‘We’ve Got A File On You’ twice and gave drummer Dave Rowntree a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.

Blur’s setlist:

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