Damon Albarn calls Bob Vylan Glastonbury set a “spectacular misfire”
Blur frontman Damon Albarn has revealed his thoughts on the Bob Vylan controversy after the band led a crowd through a “death to the IDF” chant during their Glastonbury set.
“It was one of the most spectacular misfires I’ve seen in my life,” Albarn commented of the affair in a new interview with The Times, shaking his head. “Especially when he started to goose-step in tennis gear,” he added.
The Blur frontman continued, “I mean I’ve had my moments — not quite as catastrophic as that but you do get carried away. The old testosterone gets you going. But it’s unfortunate. Everyone’s just so hysterical.”
Albarn admitted, however, that he understood the urge from the frontman: “I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and I still haven’t got any bloody answers. You want to say what you believe in and what you feel. That’s important, but it comes with huge caveats. We live and learn, or not.”
But the statement, he admitted, lacked nuance. He agreed that a lack of dialogue now exists as a result of deeper political polarisation. “People get angry,” he added, “Say stupid things because they’re not communicating with each other properly. Therein lies the rub, as dear Shakespeare once said.”
Bob Vylan are now facing an ongoing police investigation into the set. The BBC, which streamed the performance live, have also experienced huge backlash; their director of music has relinquished her duties as a full investigation into the stream takes place.
At a recent surprise show at London’s 100 Club, the punk duo urged fans to stop chanting “death to the IDF,” as it will likely land them in “a lot of trouble”.
Recently, Albarn conceded that the decades-long Britpop war between Blur and Oasis is over. “I think we can officially say that Oasis won the battle, the war, the campaign, everything,” he stated, wishing his former rivals the best with their reunion.
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