Apparently, Blur's Plymouth Pavillions gig was something similar to those of a "mosh-pit band". The band's interaction with each other were great, but the audience that night was quite varied and wild. Blur forum member 'dave griff' wrote:
"Last night was a great performance, loved Bugman, Caramel, Puritan, No distance, Popscene. There were indeed some idiots in the mosh bit, during Bugman I just waded in all guns blazing to prove a point I guess. There was a really irritating large woman who tried to put we finger in my mouth at one stage when I was trying to get some air in my lungs - she also flailed her arms a lot, creating a large zone around her. Did anyone else see her? I thought the interaction between the band was very warm and they made several mistakes but had a laugh with it. Amazing to see Damon look younger and younger as the set went on. Too loud at the end though. My ears are screaming!"
Some mistakes were also made by the band. The same forumer and fan said:
"Someone messed up the intro to London loves so they all stopped and there was minute of trying to work out what went wrong. Damon got some words wrong in for tomorrow, he nearly came in too early on one song, can't remember which one, may have been Popscene - someone help me out? There were some nervous glances across the stage from Alex and graham, seemed like Alex was looking to Graham for some cues for stopping songs. Damon kept playing piano through one of the stops on intermission - it was shambolic but really good. Graham was obviously in pain with his bad finger at times, but seemed to enjoy some of the crowd reaction. There was one great moment when the crowd started chanting his name after beetlebum and he looked quite chuffed."
The sounds emerging from Graham's guitar are nothing short of incredible, ripping into 'Bugman' with mind blowing power. At one point during 'The Puritan' his instrument sounds like an old engine revving up, before the band launch into a berserk 'Popscene'. 'Advert' is delivered with blistering force, and the whole place erupts for an amazing 'Song 2'. This madness then makes way for the wonderfully delicate 'No Distance Left To Run', a much needed moment for the crowd to catch their breath, before 'Tender' arrives and affirms itself as a most glorious anthem. Damon dedicates 'This Is A Low' to Plymouth and other seaside towns like it, and the band disappear for a while.
Remember to read Mr Scott Music Blog's full review of this warm up show. Check out No Crowdsurfing's review of the gig too for more insight and a little bit more of Blur. The setlist was the following (credits to LizBerry):
Two more days till Hyde Park !