Blur: To The End
Disarming, intimate documentary following Britpop band Blur during the period when the band made a surprising and emotional comeback with the album The Ballad Of Darren (2023), their first album in eight years.
‘The less we do, the bigger we seem to get,’ says drummer Dave Rowntree. After a break of almost a decade, Blur resurfaced in 2023. Audiences clearly had not forgotten the band. In fact, Blur managed to sell out Wembley stadium twice; with a total of 180,000 visitors, the biggest gigs for the band ever. This documentary follows singer/bandleader Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree as they prepare for Wembley: we see the group of friends in the practice loft and during gigs at smaller venues. Personal conflicts from the past do not appear to have been fully dealt with and sometimes surface. The band members are closer to sixty than to forty and although booze and drugs are still on the menu, there is also talk of back pain and whether the cake is gluten-free. The documentary works towards the obvious climax, with highlights from the performances at Wembley.
NB: For Blur fans who want to see the whole gig at Wembley, Lumière is also screening BLUR: LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM.