Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has hinted there may still be a future for the band, despite them appearing to announce that they had played their last ever show.
The Britpop band played at this year’s Coachella Festival, during which frontman Damon Albarn said, “this is probably our last gig”.
That came after Albarn stated in December that the band would be going on a hiatus until further notice, saying “it’s too much for me”.
“It is time to wrap up this campaign,” he said. “It’s too much for me. It was the right thing to do and an immense honour to play these songs again, spend time with these guys, make an album, blah-blah-blah.”
He continued: “I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past.”
But now, in an interview with the Daily Star’s Wired column, Rowntree has offered renewed hope that there may still be more to come from the group.
“There’s still tons of stuff we could do,” he teased. “It’s about finding an offer that’s very hard to say no to.”
“When we first got back together in 2009, we were very happy to be the first people to play what has become the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park. Then we were asked to headline the party to end the 2012 Olympics, and you can’t say no to that.”
“So there’s absolutely no reason why we couldn’t consider another interesting idea, if we’re all available,” he added. “But there’s absolutely nothing in the diary for Blur at the moment.”
Blur are at the centre of two new films at the moment: Blur: Live At Wembley captures the band’s huge reunion shows at the iconic London stadium last summer, while Blur: To The End finds the band reflecting on their legacy ahead of those same shows.
Live At Wembley is released in UK and Irish cinemas on September 6 – find ticket information here – and earlier today, the trailer for the film was released. Beginning with an aerial shot of the venue, we hear a roar erupt from the massive crowd, while Blur are seen in the wings before making their way to the stage. “Good evening, Wembley,” Albarn says to greet the audience.
That trailer coincides with the release of the accompanying live album, which is out today. See the trailer and listen to the record below.
To The End, meanwhile, saw its cinematic release last week (July 19). NME gave it the full five stars, describing it as a “spiritual sequel” to 2010’s No Distance Left To Run that “shows a band simply supporting each other”. It added: “Whether they return again or not remains to be seen. But even if they don’t, this was one hell of a final fling.”
Both feature films were directed by Transgressive Records founder Toby L, who said that To The End captures the band’s “friendship dynamics and brotherhood”.
Speaking to NME about the films and the band’s future, Toby said: “The reason it matters each time that Blur make a record or play shows is that they all want it to but it also feels like the last time. That’s something the film flirts with: ‘is it the end?’ I kind of feel like that’s irrelevant. As long as we’ve got the moment and the music, that’s all that matters. We’re all obsessed with putting a pretty ribbon on things, but sometimes it’s a bit more complex than that.
“Whatever the band choose to do in the future, things are currently in the best place they’ve ever been for them.”
“What I love about Blur is that there have been so many times where I thought it was over,” he added. “I have no idea. At the end of the film, there are allusions as to whether it could continue or not. Again, it is ambiguous. That’s what’s great about this film and the live concert movie from Wembley: regardless of what happens, these are wonderful souvenirs that will always exist.”
“The band always have life and that impetus in them. I hope there’s more to come, but you’d have to ask the great men themselves.”
Alex James, meanwhile, has just announced his new book Over The Rainbow: Tales From An Unexpected Year, which he says will discuss Blur’s reunion and the Wembley shows.
The book is set for release on December 5 via Penguin Random House and is available for pre-order here.
Rowntree, meanwhile, failed in his bid to become the Labour MP for Mid Sussex at the recent general election, losing out to Alison Bennett of the Liberal Democrats.
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