Such A Blur

Can you remember what you were doing at 9:50pm on June 28th 2009? You can’t? Well, I’m not some sort of mind reader that has the ability to look into the past of people that I’ve never actually met; however, I do know that 170,000 of you were gathered together to partake in something special simultaneously. And when I mean special, I mean really special. Admittedly, both stumbling across money stuffed down the back of your sofa, or finding out that the bird you always fancied at school likes you back are special; yet neither can compare to what happened between 9:50pm and midnight on that memorable summer evening. Why? Because Blur were back together again performing to the masses on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.

This performance has gone down in history as one of Glastonbury’s finest. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, in terms of live music there isn’t a better setting than Glasto. It’s the epitome of what rock & roll stands for. It makes bands and breaks bands. It’s the one time of the year where likeminded people from up and down the age ladder gather together in order to rejoice and have it off to something amazing. And 2009’s festival delivered in abundance.

This moves me on to point two. As a band, Blur have achieved vast amounts of success. They grabbed the attention of the youth and gave them some much needed southern-style direction, during a time when northern bands were hogging the limelight. When Coxon left the band in 2002 and Blur subsequently stopped recording music or playing live, an obvious gap in the market was formed. The public missed unique sound of a Colchester based band that’s music was laced with erudite quips of the highest caliber. And with Glasto being the festival that it is, there is no better setting to gel it all back together again.

And the third reason that Blur’s performance at 2009's Glasto has gone down as one of the greatest is because they didn’t fail to deliver. Their show was packed with hit after hit; with each one sounding as good this they ever did. In fact their show was so good that they won Best Vintage Headline Performance at the UK Festival Awards.

Other notable winners at this years awards include:

Best Headline Performance: Blur, Glastonbury
Best Major Festival: Glastonbury
Best Breakthrough Act: Florence & The Machine
Best Metropolitan Festival: Gaymers Camden Crawl
Best Medium Festival: Bestival