Blur frontman says Coachella show was ‘last gig’

Damon Albarn has cast doubt on the future of Blur after telling the Coachella that “this is probably our last gig” during the band’s set at weekend two of Coachella 2024 on Saturday.

Playing on the festival’s main stage for the second consecutive Saturday night, the Britpop legends, who sold out two hometown Wembley Stadiums shows last summer, reportedly experienced a lukewarm response from the Coachella audience across both weekends.

Blur’s appearance during the first Coachella weekend saw Albarn blasting an unenthusiastic audience that refused to respond to his calls to join in with a rendition of ‘Girls & Boys’. “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing it…” he told the crowd.

Faced with a similar quiet gathering on the second festival weekend, Albarn took the opportunity to address fans before launching into the last song of the set, Tender. “In the spirit of clarity and truth, this is probably our last gig,” he stated.

“I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past.

Despite being portrayed as an onstage tantrum, the statement backs up earlier hints that the current run for Blur has come to an end.

In December 2023, Albarn revealed the band would be going on hiatus after meeting its campaign obligations for album The Ballad of Darren. “It’s too much for me,” he reportedly said. “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.

“I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past.”

The reaction of the crowd would not have come as a surprise to Blur, as Albarn had noted in a radio interview prior to the band’s first Coachella show, “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.”

And while the backlash is being reported in the mainstream media as the end of the band, the Coachella appearance on 20 April was scheduled to be Blur’s final show for 2024, according to their own website.

Coachella 2025 has been confirmed for the weekends of April 11-13 & 18-20.

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