Graham Coxon has revealed that he is open to the idea of Blur getting a hologram show similar to that of ABBA Voyage, but on one condition.
The Britpop guitarist discussed the potential of the band getting their own avatars made as part of a hologram show during a new interview with Radio X. In the discussion, he revealed that while he is open to the prospect, he would only want to entertain the idea if it captured the band when they were “a little younger”.
“Well Damon’s sort of tackled that a bit with Gorillaz, ain’t he?” Coxon responded when asked about the idea, referring to frontman Damon Albarn’s other band. “Yeah I’m up for it, I’ll go and see it… If they made us a little bit younger, yeah. That would be good!”
ABBA Voyage launched back in spring 2022, and takes place at a purpose-built venue in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It immediately became a hit with fans, and welcomed more than one million fans in its first year. It was also given a glowing five-star review by NME’s Andrew Trendell, who described it as “a feel-good sensory overload”.
Since then, other artists have expressed their interest in pursuing their own hologram shows – including KISS, who recently wrapped up their farewell world tour and told fans that their avatars were on the way.
Fellow Britpop legends Oasis have also discussed the idea of the project too, with Noel Gallagher saying that he would be “bang up” for an Oasis hologram tour earlier this year.
“I was very impressed by [ABBA Voyage] to be honest but yeah, if anybody wants to do an Oasis one, give us a shout,” he said “I would be bang up for it. I’d say ‘great’, speak to that guy over there and then come up with a figure and then he’ll relay it to me and I’ll say either yes or no.”
The interview with Coxon comes just days after the guitarist joined his Blur bandmates for the London premiere of their brand new documentary, Blur: To The End.
Directed by Transgressive Records founder Toby L, the film follows the reunion of Albarn, Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, the recording of their 2023 comeback album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’, and massive shows at London’s Wembley Stadium last summer.
It received its official London premiere on Tuesday (July 16) and was released in cinemas on Friday (July 19).
The project will also be followed by their concert film of the Wembley gigs: Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium. A live album will be released this Friday (July 26), before the film arrives in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on September 6.
Recently, the director of To The End spoke to NME about the emotional process of making the film, and bassist Alex James revealed that ahead of their comeback last year, he had doubts about whether the members would ever join forces once again.
In a five-star review of To The End, NME wrote: “They bicker, they hug, they call each other c**ts, they get the job done. While Blur’s last doc and accompanying live movie No Distance Left To Run was a portrait of a band celebrating their legacy and giving a nostalgia-hungry world exactly what they craved, this spiritual sequel shows a band simply supporting each other.
“Whether they return again or not remains to be seen. But even if they don’t, this was one hell of a final fling.”
Similarly, NME praised the Wembley shows as an “eruption of pure, utter joy” in a five-star review. “Albarn remains a top-tier frontman, making deadpan remarks and climbing into the audience while still allowing each of his bandmates their own moment in the spotlight,” it read. “This cheeky sense of humour made Blur stand out from other Britpop stars in the 90s, and Albarn’s childish grin as he performs the song – like he’s doing something naughty – remains the same after all these years.”
The future of Blur at this point remains somewhat uncertain, with Albarn recently announcing that the band’s show at weekend two of Coachella 2024 would “probably [be] our last gig”.
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