Damon Albarn said “this is probably our last gig” during Blur’s set at Weekend 2 of Coachella 2024 last night (April 20).
The legendary Britpop band – comprised of Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree – took to the annual music and arts festival’s main stage for the second consecutive Saturday night (April 20).
And as they prepared to launch into ‘Tender’, the last song of the night, Albarn confided to the crowd: “In the spirit of clarity and truth, this is probably our last gig”.
“In the spirit of clarity, and truth, this is probably our last gig” – Damon Albarn introducing the last song of the Blur set at Coachella, Weekend 2 pic.twitter.com/52Fy56y702
— Damon Albarn Unofficial (@DamonUnofficial) April 21, 2024
It comes 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.”
You can find Blur’s set at Coachella Weekend 2 in the official livestream video below:
Blur played at Coachella Weekend 2:
‘St. Charles Square’
‘Popscene’
‘Trouble in the Message Centre’
‘Beetlebum’
‘Goodbye Albert’
‘Trimm Trabb’
‘Out of Time’
‘Bird Song’
‘Death of a Party’
‘Girls & Boys’
‘Song 2’
‘The Narcissist’
‘Tender’
Blur’s set at the first weekend saw Albarn airing his frustration with the unenthusiastic crowd during a rendition of ‘Girls & Boys’.
“You can do it better than that,” he told attendees at one point, which was met by a quiet crowd. When he still didn’t get the desired response, the frontman said: “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing it. Know what I’m saying?”
Albarn had previously spoken with KROQ about the Coachella audience, saying: “I don’t know, it’s a weird one Coachella when it comes to audience you know. It’s hard to know sometimes because they’re quite sort of on their own planet really.”
On both weekends, Blur were joined by the Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers, a group of tribal singers from the area local to the festival’s Mojave Desert, California setting. You can find highlights from their Weekend 1 set here.
Later this year, a new documentary and a concert film will be released that chart Blur’s huge 2023, including the making of their first album in eight years, ‘The Ballad of Darren’, and their two massive shows at Wembley Stadium.
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