William Orbit feud with Blur continues- "Damon was really awful"

Blur's feud with super-producer William Orbit is not yet over. William Orbit has announced that he will "never" work with lead singer Damon Albarn again after the Blur frontman halted recording sessions they were collaborating on last year in 2012.

It was reported in May last year that Albarn had worked on new Blur material, with Orbit confirming that the four-piece had been in the studio before the sessions were stopped "suddenly".

Orbit had previously hinted that he was recording with the band in a series of tweets. In January 2012 he wrote: "I just found out that she [Diawara] has done tracks with Damon A, who I’m in the studio with from Wednesday!" 

In an exclusive new interview with NME magazine, Orbit says he will never work with Blur again because he claimed that he didn't get paid for his time recording with the band last year. 

"Oh don’t start me on Blur," he says. "Put it this way, I’m not going to work with them again – Damon was really awful. That’s all I’ll say. Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t care to go back. I wouldn’t be hurrying back to do that album. I didn’t get paid! But, you know, I’m not the first." 

In January of this year, Blur announced to excited music fans that would begin work on a new album after singer Damon Albarn releases his solo LP in 2014. The band had been on tour since the start of 2013 and are nearing the end of their set of gigs. The band have released standalone tracks 'Fool's Day', 'The Puritan' and 'Under The Westway' since Graham Coxon rejoined them after a long hiatus in 2008, but a new album has not been forthcoming so far.

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

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Blur confirms Tokyo for 2014 - Live in Budokan

The organizers for one of Japan's biggest music arenas, the Nippon Budokan known as simply Budokan have confirmed that Blur are back on the list for a show in 2014. Blur fans nearby can rejoice, as the chance to see Blur in Tokyo is here again despite a cancelled gig earlier in 2013.

Blur will head over to the other side of the world and visit Tokyo following the cancelled Tokyo Rocks show scheduled for earlier this year. Official confirmation came from Blur's Facebook page and the gig's organizers in Japan.

The Budokan arena is where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded, including those by musicians Bob Dylan, Blur and Ozzy Osborne. The stadium was originally used for judo competitions in the Olympics of 1964. The first rock group to perform in the stadium was The Beatles, who played a series of shows there in 1966.

The last time Blur played in Japan was ten years ago in 2003 at the Summer Sonic event and have since been waited upon by fans from all across the world who will be travelling to see them play live.

Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Time: 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Location: Budokan, Tokyo, 2-3 Kitanomarukoen

Venue opens: 18:00

Ticket price: A seat ¥9,000,  S seat ¥10,500

Full show guide release date: October 5 (Sun) 10:00 am

Organizer: Creative Man

Blur also released a two-disc live album in 1996 titled "Live at the Budokan" which comprised of recordings from a live show in Japan during their The Great Escape Tour of 1995. Up until 2009, "Live at the Budokan" was the only official live Blur album. Listen to the whole album (including Damon speaking broken Japanese) for free below.



Blur have extended their 2013 tour to the early months of 2014. Will more venues in Asia follow? What will be next for Blur in 2014? All that is known for now is that Japan will be the second venue confirmed and will precede the recently announced Blur concert in Australia, set for January next year.

For more information: www.creativeman.co.jp/artist/2014/01blur/

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Blur- Splitting up was best thing we ever did

Blur bass player Alex James says that that best thing the band ever did was split up and that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher are now best mates who smoke cigars together.

Blur bass player Alex James says that that best thing the band ever did was split up and that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher are now best mates who smoke cigars together.

Speaking ahead of Blur's gig at IMMA, Dublin on Thursday, August 1st with support from Bat for Lashes and The Strypes, James told Today FM's Ray D'Arcy about his new life as a cheesemaker and farmer.

"Blur came to an end in 2003 and at that point we'd been doing the same thing for 15 years and after that amount of time it does become cyclical," he said. "We needed to go off and do other things. 

"We've all worked with other people since then. I think splitting up was the best thing we ever did." 

During the interview, D'Arcy recalled having the old Blur vs Oasis argument with his friends "in Snaffles Nightclub in Kildare" and asked James who did he think eventually won The Battle of Britpop.

"It's funny because these days Damon and Noel are best mates," James said. "They go off and smoke cigars together. I think we realised we were all on the same side eventually."

 The 44-year-old father of five now lives on a farm in Berkshire and makes cheese. "People throw cheese at me when I'm on stage. Some musicians get underwear," he said.

"Ireland is a fantastic place for cheese. I was over there last year looking at Bries. "There are so many great Irish cheeses. Did you know Brie was invented in Ireland? The French monks took it back to Normandy. They stole it!"

Asked what was the most rock `n' roll thing he'd ever done, James said, "We sent a spaceship to Mars."

(Source)

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Blur confirms show in Lima, Peru- Latin America Date 2013

Hola Peru! Blur have been officially confirmed to play in Lima, Peru at the Estadio San Marcos Stadium on October 29th 2013. A large-scaled Blur fan campaign pushing for Blur to come to Latin America have yielded much results: Before announcing Peru, Blur's management also confirmed one month ago via Facebook that they will be adding Brazil to their list of tour venues this year. 

The message posted a few weeks ago goes: 

Calling all fans in Brazil! Your campaign has not gone unnoticed... Blur are coming to BRAZIL. 
Playing Planeta Terra Festival Sao Paolo on November 9th. 
More information to follow soon.

The band and their management team have been very receptive to call-for-action campaigns from fans this year, even going as far as personally answering fan mail and private messages via Facebook and Twitter. 

Blur visited South America 14 years ago as part of their 1999 world tour. This year marks Blur's most extensive tour of the region, covering countries such as Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil in a bid to please their fans. 

Tickets for Blur live in Peru will be on sale from Thursday July 4th (11:00 am) on local Ripley and Phantom Music Stores. Those with a Ripley card can enjoy a 20% exclusive discount. 

Don't forget to head over to Blur Peru's Facebook page for more updates. 



Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Blur confirms place in Argentina's Quilmes Rock Festival

Blur has officially confirmed Argentina as a tour destination as part of their large-scaled 2013 World Tour. The news, which was announced one week ago via the band's official Facebook page, came as no surprise to fans since rumours had been circulating for weeks on forums and fan-sites beforehand.

The festival's name was also revealed. The band will headline one of Argentina's most elaborate and biggest music festivals, the Quilmes Rock Festival on November 2nd 2013 (Saturday).  The festival is a held annually in several venues in Buenos Aires, including the Ferro Stadium and River Plate Stadium. Notable local and international artists, including several Britpop bands, have previously performed at the event.

Exclusive Presale tickets for the Quilmes Rock Festival are available for French Bank customers from Thursday July 4th at TuEntrada.com. The general public can buy tickets from July 11th on the same site or via telephone services.

The last time Blur visited Argentina was in 1999 as part of their '13' promotional tours. Fans in Argentina have voiced their delight that the foursome will return to visit the nation in 2013.

Blur Q Magazine feature - 2013 Photo Shoot

Blur were recently featured in the latest issue of Q Magazine. Included in the pages are a selection of drummer Dave Rowntree's behind-the-scenes Instagram images from the 2013 Blur world tour and a long article about the band's 'Early Days of Britpop'. 

Credits: 101reykjavik 

(Click to enlarge and read)

Blur's latest gig scheduled in Turkey for the 'One Love Festival' have been cancelled due to political unrest. The band's next destination will be Poland, where they are playing a music festival from the 3rd - 6th July.

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Damon Albarn- "We are going to try to record a new album" HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Beck supporting Blur in Chile and Planeta Terra Festival '13

The latest announcement regarding Blur's 2013 world tour is that Blur's supporting act for the Planeta Terra Festival will be none other than American musician Beck Hansen, a.k.a Beck. The music festival will be held in Brazil at the end of this year.

Both Blur and Beck will also head to Santiago, Chile on November 7th 2013 for a show in the National Stadium Athletic Track. The singer will support Blur and open the show, performing there for the second time since his 2007 debut concert. 

Local Blur fans will have the chance to see the band perform for the first time in Chile, as the band have not previously played in the city before. The special gig is scheduled just four days after Blur's gig in Argentina.

Many fans have voiced surprise at the choice of Beck for the supporting act, stating that it should have been "the other way round". 

Last year's acts in Planeta Terra included Kings of Leon, Garbage and Gossip. More supporting acts including the rumoured Atoms of Peace and Jack White will be announced in the upcoming months. 

Read more about the Chile gig HERE. 

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Damon Albarn- "We are going to try to record a new album" HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Blur to headline Australian festival Big Day Out - 2013

Britpop heroes Blur are shaping up as headliners for the Big Day Out next year, according to industry sources.

Damon Albarn and co haven't performed in Australia since reuniting and returning to the touring circuit in 2009, the year they starred at iconic UK festival Glastonbury. Many fans had the Londoners on their wish list for this year's Splendour in the Grass festival, to be held at the North Byron Parklands in New South Wales in late July, when Blur have dates in Italy. The band touring schedule consists mostly of festival dates until early September.

With the Splendour line-up out of the bag this week, sources now suggest that the Big Day Out will host Blur's long-awaited return to Australia. The BDO bill won't be revealed until about mid-July. Blur, who won the Brit Award for outstanding contribution to music last year, were reportedly working with producer William Orbit on the follow-up to 2003 album, Think Tank, but those sessions were subsequently shelved.

However, the quartet, consisting of singer Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, did release two singles, The Puritan and Under the Westway, last July.

Blur have earned an incredible dozen UK Top 10 hits. Albarn has worked on various side projects such as Gorillaz and the Good, the Bad and the Queen. He features on the debut album for Dutch modern soul man, the Child of Lov, released next week.

Source: Yahoo Australia News 

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Robbie Williams bashes Blur and Alex James

Robbie Williams has continued his rant against Britpop stars, this time saying his nan could take Alex James' place in Blur.

Recording the first of his Radio Rudebox podcasts, the Take That singer said James "hadn't been very nice" to him when they've met in the Nineties, adding: "Alex is the bassist in Blur — my nan could do that. All she needs is a new haircut."

Williams explained he first met Blur during a TV show appearance in Manchester with Take That when he was 16. He said: "From what I now know, looking back, they were suffering from a little bit of middle-class angst. I did feel like I was part of the shit beneath their shoes for being in a boyband."

He did, however, praise Damon Albarn for being a "majestic songwriter", said he loves Graham Coxon's solo albums and believes drummer Dave Rowntree would make a "great politician". Williams also revealed intimate moments he shared with a who's who of Britpop, including taking heroin with Elastica and reading poems to Jarvis Cocker at Glastonbury. 

Earlier this month, Williams wrote a blog post criticising Britpop bands including Suede, Kula Shaker, The Bluetones, Echobelly and Northern Uproar, and went some way to apologising for it on his podcast, which you can hear here, particularly to Shed Seven's Rick Witter, who contacted Williams on Twitter, saying: "We've had good chats in the past. What went horribly wrong?" 

Robbie said: "I don’t want to upset him, he's a nice guy. I’ve met you three times, Rick, we have chatted and we’re on a level. I’m sorry that I slagged your band off." He then insisted his “misguided blog” was just defending pop, saying: “There is a lot of snobbery towards pop music, to me and pop in general — it’s kind of a despised art form. There’s a lot of ‘Check out that fat c***, he’d be nothing without Guy Chambers'. I'm coming from a place of, ‘Hang on, I’m being picked on here, I don’t like it'."

(Source)



Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Poll: Blur 2013 Comeback

With the new 2013 World Tour almost taking full shape, Blur have once again generated rumours amongst fans. Everyone is asking the same question: Will Blur release new material in 2013 as part of their tour to surprise the audience? Or will Blur drop a brand new album after their worldwide tour after they fine-tune the sound ? 

Or perhaps Blur will follow the footsteps of bands that have reformed but will not release new material ? Speculations about whether the band are in it "for the money" have also been hot amongst music forums. However if that is the case, then why bother with playing numerous festivals all across the world ?

Some also say that Damon Albarn will go back to his Gorillaz project with cartoonist Jamie Hewlett and focus on releasing a fourth pop album. Others talk about the diverging paths of the four Blur members and how a new album will be incompatible and impossible. 

What do YOU think? Is 2013 the biggest year for Blur and fans alike? 

Vote in the poll below and let us know. Catch up on the Blur World Tour page for all the concert dates in one convenient table.