Blur played a concert in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 15th 2013 as part of their phenomenal world tour this year, where they headlined one of Indonesia's biggest music festivals- Big Sound Festival 2013. Images of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree in Indonesia, at the gig, with fans, at the airport and playing pingpong backstage at the concert have surfaced.
Here's a first look at the Jakarta gig:
Blur in Indonesia - Photo gallery
Setlist: Blur at Big Sound Festival, Jakarta Indonesia 2013
Girls and Boys
Popscene
There's No Other Way
Badhead
Beetlebum
Out of Time
Caramel
Coffee & TV
Tender
Country House
Parklife
End of a Century
Death of a Party
This is a Low
Westway
For Tomorrow
The Universal
Song 2
Watch the concert (videos)
Blur interview for Kompas TV Indonesia - May 15th 2013
For more images of Big Sound Fest di Jakarta, visit this gallery.
Stay tuned for a review and more exclusive photographs of the show.
Damon Albarn has surprised Blur fans yet again. The frontman announced during Blur's first Hong Kong gig (May 6th 2013) that the band "will try to record a new record" in a week-long period during their stay in the vibrant city, and the news (captured in our exclusive video) had taken the world by storm.
The Blur forums have been given a revamp, Damon's been spotted abroad the Hong Kong MTR train, Graham Coxon was seen in the city's "Soho" Lan Kwai Fong, plus Dave's been tweeting meticulously about Hong Kong. Something's definitely up.
A few days ago, a Hong Kong music sharing page "Zenegeist" shared a photo of a new Blur demo in their official Facebook page. The photo has the text "Front of House" written in front, as well as some technical details of the brand new demo tape.
The original post message was in Chinese: 剛才在Avon 樓下碰到blur 的roadie Steve . Steve 透露樂隊已完成在港的錄音工作，並已錄下數首demo.
曲風仍然很blur 和帶有lofi 感覺。
Blur 將會在明天離港
The text can be translated into "We just bumped into Blur at Avon and met their roadie Steve. Steve revealed that the band had completed their recordings in Hong Kong, and produced a few new demo tracks. Blur's new demos still retain the original 'Blur' sound and has a very low-fi feel. Blur will leave Hong Kong tomorrow."
As with many news recently, this is speculation as to whether the information is legitimate or not. The picture seems real albeit the weight, and Damon Albarn indeed announced in front of thousands of live audiences in Hong Kong that they were going to try making new material last week. However, as some fans pointed out, the item in the picture weights 83kg - impossible for a small demo tape.
Graham Coxon also posted a picture of biscuits on what seems like studio equipment on Twitter, presumably from the studio they hired in Hong Kong after the announcement.
Biscuits on studio equipment - speculations on Blur's new recordings 2013
It could very well be that Blur will polish up these demo after their tour, or perhaps finally gather all their previous recordings from the old William Orbit sessions and release a new Blur album. Or perhaps the band will choose not to use the new tracks they recorded in Hong Kong this week. Or, will Damon Albarn change his mind again and decide to drop Blur after the world tour?
Amidst rumours of a new album, new Blur EP and new tour venues for the latter part of the year, anything can happen.
One thing's for sure - the recent Blur news are all pointing to a positive direction, and the band's prospects for releasing a new album are looking rather positive.
For the premier of the Virgin Media Shorts short film competition, Alex James, bassist and cheese-maker from Blur directed, scored, wrote and acted in his very own short film, all under the main motif of the contest- "Life is Short". For the film, Alex James was given a sponsored Nikon D5200 and asked to let his creative juices spill.
The Blur bassist's final film is a mere 2.20 minutes long, but manages to include an exclusive, new Alex James song titled "Superordinator". The brand new track is the background music to the short film and will definitely keep Blur fans hoping for new sounds satisfied.
Scene from Alex James's directing debut for the Virgin Media Shorts competition
Alex's film, titled "Slice of Life" was filmed in Los Angeles, USA, and features Alex James dancing to the beat, shaking his head, brushing his teeth and walking around the sunny Los Angeles streets.
The film highlights that colorful, high-resolution scenes can be created using a normal-priced DSLR camera. Additionally, the background track also sounds somewhat like an early Blur demo . It also has a surprise ending which you can find out by scrolling down and watching the full film.
David Alexander De Horne Rowntree, a.k.a Dave Rowntree (born on May 8th 1964, aged 49) from Blur, is an English musician and the drummer of Blur. He is also a registered solicitor and political activist, and has an interest in computer animation and graphic design. Though known as the "quiet one" in Blur, Dave regularly updates his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook stream, even posting pictures straight from the backstage of Blur concerts.
Blur are currently on a week-long visit to Hong Kong, where they played an energetic concert at the Asia World Expo arena.
BLUR FACT:Did you know- Dave Rowntree is the oldest member of Blur, being 3 years older than Blur frontman Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon (both born in 1969). He's 4 years older than bassist Alex James, who is a year younger than Damon and Graham.
Happy 49th Birthday Dave!
Check out the top Dave Rowntree quotes of all time HERE.
Blur announces firm plans to record a new album during their Hong Kong concert on May 5th 2013. Not only a new single or a track, but a new album is next up for Blur.
Yes- it is true , Blur will be recording a new album for release soon and will be starting the recording process this week. We heard it straight from the horse's mouth, live from the Blur covert in Hong Kong's Asia World Expo this evening as Damon announced it to the Hong Kong audience.
"It's a secret" said Damon Albarn before announcing the news to the live audience. The Blur frontman seemed relaxed and excited at the prospects of working with Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree for a new Blur album.
"We were supposed to play in Taiwan and Japan next week, but due to unforeseen circumstances we weren't able to go there" he said, "so we have a week in Hong Kong, so we thought it would be a good time to try and record another record".
It looks as if they are planning to use the week in town to record and plan the new Blur album. If that's so, then Blur may have plans to tour the city and gain inspiration from the aesthetic views of the city's skyline for new Blur songs.
Hong Kong fans heard it live - Blur are working on a new record for 2014/2015 release
This news confirms strong rumours that Blur are recording a new album after their massive 2013 world tour, which brings them to cities such as Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Istanbul and other American, European and Asian destinations around the world. Check out a full list of tour dates and venues from our site.
Once again, Blur are definitely recording a new album and if it successfully gets released, will be releasing new singles , new songs, new Blur B-sides and new albums after their current tour. 2014 is looking to be a fruitful year, with many new Blur songs coming your way if Damon keeps to his word.
Blur's reunion has been a surprise - a very pleasant surprise for the long time fans and devotees. Fans who were in Hong Kong had it lucky since this is the first time the band officially confirmed the new album rumours, ending months of speculations. Perhaps the new Blur album will sound like completely different, unexpected and experimental; or will it be centered around rock and pop ? Who knows.
All we know is that - as Damon Albarn chants : it really really really could (and did) happen.
Exclusive Blur news from Blurballs.com, live from the Hong Kong gig.
Blur announces firm plans to record a new album during their Hong Kong concert on May 5th 2013. Not only a new single or a track, but a new album is next up for Blur.
Yes- it is true , Blur will be recording a new album for release soon and will be starting the recording process this week. We heard it straight from the horse's mouth, live from the Blur covert in Hong Kong's Asia World Expo this evening as Damon announced it to the Hong Kong audience.
"It's a secret" said Damon Albarn before announcing the news to the live audience. The Blur frontman seemed relaxed and excited at the prospects of working with Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree for a new Blur album.
"We were supposed to play in Japan and Taiwan" he said, "but it was cancelled so we have a week in Hong Kong".
It looks as if they are planning to use the week to record and plan the new Blur album. Blur plans to tour the city and gain inspiration from the aesthetic views of the city's skyline for new Blur songs.
Blur at Hong Kong - original picture by BlurBalls
This news confirms strong rumours that Blur are recording a new album after their massive 2013 world tour, which brings them to cities such as Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Istanbul and other American, European and Asian destinations around the world. Check out a full list of tour dates and venues from our site.
Once again, Blur are definitely recording a new album and going to be releasing new singles , new songs, new Blur B-sides and new albums after their tour. 2014 is looking to be a fruitful year , with many new Blur songs coming your way.
Blur's reunion has been a surprise - a very pleasant surprise for the long time fans and devotees. Perhaps the new Blur album will sound like completely different, unexpected and experimental; or will it be centered around rock and pop ? Who knows.
All we know is that - as Damon Albarn chants : it really really really could (and did) happen.
Exclusive Blur news from Blurballs.com, live from the Hong Kong gig. new blur single
Blur will be playing Hong Kong for the first time in 20 years in less than 7 hours - and the excitement is building up. Spatially, Hong Kong is an extremely small and dense city, but information travels fast. Hype has bee building up for this special gig for more than a month since the announcement of Blur live in Hong Kong, and it's only getting bigger.
@daverowntree on Instagram tweeted this picture of Hong Kong's Soho area last night
A few lucky fans even met the Blur boys at the Hong Kong airport last night when they arrived in the vibrant city at 12:00a.m midnight, May 4th 2013.
#BlurHongKong - Live gallery
There is a new Blur feature on the Blur official website - the Blur Live 2013section will feature all the fans' images, videos and media, and will be updated immediately after the show for all to see. If you're going to see them tonight and have a smartphone, remember to tag #blurhongkong for a chance to be featured on the official Blur website gallery.
The 'Blur Live' galleries on the website also gathered media from Blur at Coachella and the Vive Latino Festival, where they played for their first few months on tour. Check them out to re-live the experience and to see exciting new fan pictures.
BlurBalls will be heading to watch Blur live in Hong Kong tonight at the Asia World Expo. We'll be taking lots of pictures and doing an exclusive review after the show.
Tweet us @danomind to say hello if you're at the Hong Kong show! Blur follows us, you should too!
It's official - Blur have confirmed to play in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 2nd 2013 as part of their large-scaled world tour this year.
Fans in Argentina have been celebrating the news all over social media yesterday after the announcement was made online via a tweet from a reputable journalist Diego Zuccari. Diego tweeted "Blur en Bsas 02/11/13" yesterday, sparking more than 140 retweets and many more shares.
Many fan-made posters and comments have cropped up in celebration.
Fans are right to rejoice in the confirmation, because the last time Blur performed in Argentina was for a concert held in Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, on November 27, 1999 as part of the '13' Tour.
There has not been more official details or news from the band. More information are expected to be released in the next few weeks.
Blur have been touring the world starting from the beginning of 2013 as part of their new comeback series, although there hasn't been any new songs released. Rumours of a new album and single have been circulating for months, as well as many new tour dates and venues in South America and Asia.
Blur last played in Argentina in 1999 at Luna Park
Blur recently cancelled their scheduled gig in Tokyo and Taiwan unexpectedly, stating the reason as promotion and management issues.
Hope's in for Blur in Argentina and the recently confirmed Brazil gig (Planeta Terra Festival 2013), in which Blur seems to be announcing more and more South American dates.
Check out the event and RSPV for Blur live in Argentina HERE.
Follow Blur Argentina on Twitter. Stay tuned for more updates.
Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown HERE Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE
A new Blur biography titled 'The Life of Blur' by Martin Power will be available in bookstores and online in June 10th 2013. Blur book description
'The Life of Blur' is about. According to the book description, it "delves into every detail of Blur's pock-marked history, also shedding new light on the group's various solo activities, including Damon Albarn's experiments with Gorillaz and Graham Coxon's one man assault on the indie charts".
The book will also feature new interviews with Blur's collaborators, Britpop rivals and friends, as well a detailed biography of the four members of Blur and their Britpop years, which were spent playing in crammed London bars, huge stadiums and rooftops. There are also going to be rare photographs and a full up-to-date discography up until 2013. It may well be the definitive biography of one of the UK's biggest bands.
The book's author is known for writing a line of biographies for celebrities and musicians, including renowned talents such as Queen, Jeff Beck, Manic Street Preachers and Aerosmith.
Hence, the book will be most suitable for casual fans, new fans or the reader who wants as much information about Blur as possible. There hasn't been an updated Blur book covering the band post-1999.
Check out the other Blur books ('Bit of a Blur', 'Damon Albarn', 'All Things Great...') from the past below.
Order 'The Life of Blur'- Pre-order 'The Life of Blur' by Martin Power on Amazon by visiting the page below - only £16.96.
