The Last Ten Years In Music

The last ten years in music have been an exciting first ten years of the new century. Read more

Libertines, Interrupted.

With Peter Doherty claiming The Libertines have been offered £2million to reform for a series of festivals would Carl Barat be doing the right thing if he buried the hatchet? Read more

Which summer 2009 festival? Glastonbury? Download?

It is coming towards that time of year again when you ask yourself the question: which festival? With so many to choose from, it is getting harder to decide where you are going to spend those hazy summer nights. Read more

Blur reform, headline Glasto?

Britpop heroes Blur have announced that they will reform during the summer of 2009.

Singer Damon Albarn has been prolific since the split, first spawning cult cartoon band Gorillaz, then forming supergroup The Good The Bad & The Queen, and then working on his Africa Express project, but he has clearly decided now is the time to resurrect the Blur juggernaut.

Two live dates have already been announced for mega-venue Hyde Park in London on the 2^nd and 3^rd of July, with the Thursday show still having tickets available to buy from the usual outlets for £45.

And it looks like the Sunday slot at Glastonbury is free for them to play, meaning they could close the three-day bash in Somerset.

Since the band’s split five years ago, the four members have had mixed fortunes. While Albarn’s career has gone from strength to strength, guitarist Graham Coxon has battled through a well-received but not commercially-successful solo career. Bassist Alex James has become a cheese farmer, written for various publications and presented a Panorama programme on cocaine in Columbia, and drummer Dave Rowntree lost an election as he bid to become a councillor.

During the summer Albarn was quoted in an Argentinian newspaper as claiming that ‘Blur are over’. Coxon retaliated on an internet form by stating “Damon didn’t consult anybody else before he took it into his own hands to make this comment. Therefore I think it is nonsense. It isn’t for him to decide.” Coxon and Albarn had fallen out after the former’s alleged alcohol problems had threatened the future of the band. Blur then went on to record their final studio album, Think Tank, without Coxon.

A month ago Albarn did a U-turn on his comments, changing his mind to say that “It’s very possible I’ll go back to Blur. It really is very possible.” He continued by saying “Graham and I have been hanging out together a bit. We had lunch the other day. He’s great, it’s fantastic to get my old friend back. So it’s good, but I can’t really say any more than that.”

And then two weeks ago Albarn revealed that the band would reunite next summer. Coxon and Albarn then gave an interview to the NME, in which the Hyde Park dates were announced.

Fans are now waiting to hear about tiny warm-up dates before the pair of huge London shows. It remains to be seen whether or not the band will record any new material.