Blur have announced that they will not be playing any gigs to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the legendary album ‘Parklike’ which was released in 1994. The official date of the anniversary is April 25th, and many fans of the record have been eagerly waiting for some kind of celebratory event. 

Blur’s Damon Albarn has spoke out about this decision, stating that the main factor in turning down these gig opportunities is in fact Brexit. After being given the chance to perform the record in full, Albarn said “I would only want to perform if it was a positive thing”. 

Of course, the main track on the album is ‘Parklife’; a tune that defined BritPop and celebrated Britishness in the most positive and upbeat way. To the band, performing this song in the midst of the disastrous Brexit talks wouldn’t represent what the song is really all about – being proud to be British. 

Albarn went on to say: “Say we got to the point of having a second referendum, then I would be happy to play that record as a celebration and a way of reminding ourselves of a time when we had an idea of Britishness that wasn’t political”. 

Despite not re-uniting for such a momentous anniversary, Blur did perform a surprise gig in London at the end of March. ‘Africa Express’ was put together by Damon Albarn and is a celebration of music artists from around the globe; the event has been running since 2006, some of the previous performers being Paul Mccartney, Paul Weller and Johnny Marr. 

Even though we may not see Blur take to the stage anytime soon, we can still celebrate the anniversary ourselves, and hope that Brexit doesn’t ruin any other momentous British music milestones!