English rock band Blur have released a teaser for their Documentary concert film which will detail the two nights in which they played Wembley Stadium last year with their latest album The Ballad Of Darren. Despite their longstanding popularity throughout the UK, this was the first time the band had played at the stadium, which they sold out all 150,000 seats.
The creators of one of the defining records of Britpop, ‘Parklife’, formed in London in 1988 originally under the name Seymour. They released their ninth studio album, The Ballad Of Darren, in 2023 and it was written by frontman, Damon Albarn, while he was touring with Gorilla in 2022. Before embarking on their two night sold out at Wembley that would become the live album and concert film, Albarn sat down with Consequence to talk about the album. He notes that he “wrote it in [his] downtime in hotel rooms in America…But it became Blur with the four of us.” The band announced yesterday via social media that the live album would be released on the 26th of July along with footage from the show which you can see below.
The band described recording the album as ‘utter joy’ and according to NME, during one of the shows at Wembley last year, “At one point, [frontman Damon] Albarn turns to us and says, “You’re properly mad, you lot, for sticking with us for so long.”
During the gig, Frontman Albran stated that the band had been ‘waiting all their lives for this,’ so what better way to commemorate the moment, than to capture it in its entirety on film so it can be relived for years to come, especially since it was announced in December that the group would be disbanding again after their reconciliation for their latest album.
Alongside the live album release and upcoming concert film, Blur will also release their documentary ‘To The End’. The previously announced feature length film details the band’s reunion and will hit the big screens on the 19th of July, just a week before the live album will be available to stream and buy. The film’s name is taken from the 1994 song To The End which debuted as a single following the release of what is arguably Blur’s most iconic album, ‘Parklife’. However, fans are understandably suspicious of the name choice, anticipating that, though the group have dissolved and reformed a number of times, this will be the final time they will see them united. According to Far Out Magazine Albran spoke to French magazine Les Inrockuptible in December of last year, noting that “It is time to wrap up this campaign [Blur]. It’s too much for me…I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past,”.
The album will hit steaming sites on the 26th of July and you can also pre-order a physical CD or vinyl variants of the live album from the link here, while the concert film will land in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on Friday, 6 September so fans will have to wait a little while longer. You can watch the full teaser trailer for the ‘Live at Wembley Stadium’ below.
