Damon Albarn says Blur at Coachella was a “mismatch” and calls festival “the embodiment of social media”
Damon Albarn has said Blur performing at Coachella in 2024 was a “slight mismatch” with the festival’s demographic.
The Californian event, which runs for two consecutive weekends every April, saw the legendary British rock band make their third trip to the desert in 2024, having previously performed at the event in 2003 and 2013.
Before they’d even stepped on-stage, Albarn admitted to radio station KROQ, “It’s a weird one, Coachella, when it comes to audience. It’s hard to know.”
Then, during their first performance at the festival, he told the crowd during a rendition of ‘Girls and Boys’, “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing it. Know what I’m saying?”
Additionally, Graham Coxon aired his frustration with the audience at Coachella, telling GQ that “you’re playing to people who don’t give a shit” and claimed that the crowd were “bored”.
Now, in a new interview with Rolling Stone ahead of the release of Gorillaz’s new album, The Mountain, Albarn reflected on the saga, sharing, “We did feel at Coachella, when we came over with Blur [in 2024], that maybe it was a slight mismatch, us being at that festival. It’s kind of the embodiment of social media now, isn’t it?”
His Gorillaz creative partner Jamie Hewlett also observed, “It’s the only festival where the phones aren’t pointed at the stage, but at the person holding the phone.”
While there are no plans for Blur to return to the stage at Coachella or anywhere else anytime soon, Albarn didn’t rule out the prospect of another show by the Britpop icons in the US in the future.
However, he did caveat this by sharing the major issue with Madison Square Garden, adding, “Something like that’s more possible, yeah. The only problem with bloody playing Madison Square Garden, and I’ve done it a few times, is that there’s all these banners for flipping … what’s his name?”
After being informed that the name he was reaching for was Billy Joel, who performed a monthly residency at the New York venue between 2014 and 2024, Albarn added, “Billy Joel. Any sense of achievement is just so deflated. I can’t bear it.”
Gorillaz have yet to announce a North American tour, but are set to begin their UK and Ireland arena tour next month. The run includes two dates at the Co-op Live in Manchester, as well as visits to Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin.
In the summer, Gorillaz will play a series of European festivals, including Rock Werchter, Primavera Sound (in both Barcelona and Porto), and Way Out West in Gothenburg, as well as a huge headline show at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
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