Blur
Bowery Ballroom, New York (March 16, 2003)
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Blur
Bowery Ballroom, New York
March 16, 2003
Setlist: "Ambulance"
/ "Moroccan People's Revolutionary Bowls Club"
/ "Girls & Boys"
/ "Out Of Time"
/ "Beetlebum"
/ "Gene By Gene"
/ "Caravan"
/ "Brothers And Sisters"
/ "Good Song"
/ "On The Way To The Club"
/ "Song 2"
/ "We've Got A File On You"
/ "Popscene"
/ ----
/ "Trimm Trabb"
/ "Crazy Beat"
/ "This Is A Low"
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As evidenced by the band's concert Sunday night (March 16) at New York's Bowery Ballroom, Blur without Graham is not the same band. But -- somewhat surprisingly -- the new Blur is still a great band, and has taken strides toward a fresh, exciting sound that heralds a new era for the group. Blur MK 2, as seen at the Bowery show, only had one-half of the original band present (Albarn and drummer Dave Rowntree), as bassist Alex James was sidelined by visa difficulties, and never made it to the U.S. But this was far from a stripped-down show. Guitarist Simon Tong (ex-Verve) and bassist Chris Traynor (ex-Rival Schools) were recruited to fill the shoes of the missing members, and the makeshift band was augmented by a keyboardist, a second drummer/percussionist, and three backing vocalists. The nine-piece Blur was able to achieve a much broader sound than the traditional band could, and it showed off its new noise with passion.
Before things got underway, Albarn gave a cell-phone call to James, whose answering machine picked up (it was about 3.15 a.m. London time) and on cue, the entire audience roared a "Hi, Alex" toward the stage. While the bassist would be missed over the course of the show, Traynor did an admirable job filling in, from keeping things rooted with his slick bass lines (taught to him via phone by James the previous week) to even resembling James a bit with his teased hair and low-key demeanor.
Then the band broke into what was to be a set filled with largely new material. "Ambulance" kicked things off with a slippery bass line, cacaphonous rhythms, and mantra-like lyrics ("I've got nothing to be scared of...I was born out of love" Albarn crooned, backed up by his trio of vocalists). It was followed by the "Moroccan People's Revolutionary Bowls Club," a tune Albarn dedicated to Joe Strummer. The song was also a bit murky but showed flashes of Blur's pop genius sprinkled into the chaos, with the hook of "if we go and blow it up then we will disappear."
The Strummer reference, not an uncommon one only four months after the legend's passing, does point out some parallels in Blur's music. While a couple of the new songs exhibited a sort of rock bombast not dissimilar to the Clash's London Calling-era anthems, Blur's newfound use of worldly rhythms and fuller instrumentation recalls some of Strummer's latter-day work with the Mescaleros.
The band recorded a good deal of Think Tank in Morocco, and the sojourn seems to have had its own sonic effect on the music -- not that the band is literally taking cues from music native to that nation, but that its surroundings certainly inspired some of the album's tunes. The dirgey "Caravan" fit right in this group, trudging along like its namesake, with electronic samples burbling in the background. An unruly audience member shouted "boring!" at the conclusion of this track, but i couldn't agree less -- would the heckler rather have heard a retread of "To The End" or "Parklife"?
Other highlights among the new tracks were the bombastic "Gene By Gene" and the Wire-recalling pop-punk nugget "We've Got A File On You," but the real killer was "On The Way To The Club," a dark and convoluted track that may rank among Blur's best. It built steam as Albarn related a story about getting sucked into another dimension, and later exploded into an energizing wall-of-sound coda.
A few older songs fit right in with these new ones -- "Popscene," from the 1992's Modern Life Is Rubbish, with its punkish demeanor, and 13's "Trimm Trabb" (which was introduced as "one of our favourite old songs") both formed sort of a bridge to Blur's past, sitting alongside new cuts like "Brothers And Sisters" and "Crazy Beat." An encore of "This Is A Low," the anthemic 1994 ballad, was thrown out as a gesture of faith to the audience -- sure, the band is well into some new shit, but it hasn't forgotten some of its finest moments of the past.
Maybe Gorillaz and Mali Music really did do Blur some good. Coxon was a great guitarist, but his leaving -- while certainly extinguishing a big part of the band's identity -- has not killed Blur. Far from it, the band sounds more alive than it has in a while. So, onward and upward, and perhaps the old adage about near-death experiences making a body stronger also applies to rock bands.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.