Colchester councillor calls for Blur hometown warm-up gig

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Colchester Council’s culture boss is calling on Blur to stage a warm-up gig in the city ahead of their huge Wembley reunion shows.

As the Daily Gazette reports, frontman Damon Albarn grew up in Colchester and met guitarist Graham Coxon when they were both studying at The Stanway School (known then as Stanway Comprehensive).

Councillor Pam Cox – Portfolio Holder for Culture and Heritage, and Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Colchester – told the outlet: “I’m a massive Blur fan. I saw Albarn at Latitude festival a few years ago and it was amazing.

“It would be great for us if they performed here before next year’s [London] gig[s].”

Cox, who is also a professor at the University of Essex, revealed that she had already started making enquiries regarding a potential Blur show, and will continue to pursue the matter.

Blur announced a one-off concert at Wembley Stadium in London on Monday (November 14). Scheduled for July 8, 2023, the event currently marks the Britpop icons’ first headline gig since 2015.

Earlier today (November 18), Albarn and co. added an extra Wembley date for July 9 “due to phenomenal demand”. Slowthai, Self Esteem and Jockstrap are set to support Blur on the first night. It’s not yet known if all three acts will return for the second edition.

Additionally, Blur are scheduled to appear at the Beauregard Festival in Normandy, France on July 6. Details of a potential wider tour have not yet been revealed.

In a recent interview, drummer Dave Rowntree described the comeback as a “bucket list” dream.

“We’re a band that’s done almost everything it’s possible to do… what an iconic place, what an iconic venue. It’s just incredibly exciting,” he said.

“[Wembley is] one of these iconic places that are secretly up on your bucket list, even though you pretend they’re not. I sincerely hope we are a band that can fill a stadium like that. I don’t want there to be four people and a dog.”

Bassist Alex James, meanwhile, has teased on the possibility of new music from the band. Blur’s eighth and latest studio album, ‘The Magic Whip’, came out in 2015.