December/January/February98/99
Finally 9PM rolls around. The anticipation is sweet, yet punishing. Things go dark, then blur appear! They come onstage one by one in a relaxed manner. First damon heads to the center of the stage. I notice that he looks slightly different. He got a haircut recently, it seems. He makes a gesture to the crowd which indicates his desire to have us go more hysterical. We respond by letting it all hang out, so to speak. Then Alex, Graham and Dave appear onstage and the first song, Beetlebum begins.
The crowd roars with delight and begin swaying to the music. I'm here, in London, listening to blur with all these people. 17,000 or so of them. I'm in my T-shirt now. Already the heat from the crowd is sauna-like. I take a closer look at damon with the binoculars that I had rented (even though I'm standing about 5 rows from the front, though on Graham's side). Some of the hair on the back of his head is standing (haircut, remember?) He is wearing a grey long-sleeved cotton top with a red block pattern on it, with his requisite worn blue jeans and the white sneakers with the black swoosh.
He had a hole in his top near his navel. He later studied this long and hard during one of his songs. A sure sign that he pays attention to detail, and that he does cherish his clothes.
Musically speaking, blur are on a roll. Their sound is complete in that they complement one another beautifully. damon's voice is in top condition, and he's belting the songs out, one after another. To be this young, and to be so perfect musically, is a wonderful thing! I hope that they'll continue to evolve and experiment musically, they've certainly got the wherewithall to do just that.
damon is an extremely expressive individual. Each concert is different in that he expresses himself in all sorts of ways as he sings. He lets the music run through him, feed him, energize him, as he shows us what he is feeling and how he is feeling it. The way he sings also differs according to his mood at that moment. He might shout the words out or thoughtfully utter them with care. He might moan and groan if the spirit moves him, as he did this time during the intro of On Your Own. Oh what a naughty boy!
damon was definitely(not maybe)in a good mood as he declared,"I feel good." Looking at his face was enough to tell anyone that. He had a calm, cheerful, countenance.
At about 10:20pm blur ended their set with This is a Low. My favorite song of theirs. I watched damon during this whole song with the binoculars. He sang the song with such earnestness, emotion, and exactness, that I was moved to the point of tears. A smile appeared on his face after he finished singing it. He was pleased with himself, and rightly so.
Come encore time, we were treated to six songs ending with Song 2, which he indicated to us would be the last song by raising his index (not the middle, mind you) finger. Mass hysteria was rampant as we whoo-hooed and pogoed up and down. Then it all climaxically ended with the "Oh, yeah." and a good night. What an understatement!
BRITGIRL
KNOCK, KNOCK. WHO'S THERE?
This is the first in a neverending series of blur gig reports by BRITGIRL. The gig reports will be updated every quarter. BRITGIRL's gig reports are protected under copyright laws and may only be reproduced with the permission of the creator.
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