After a decade of ceasefire, this summer saw the re-ignition of the battle between Britpop Titans Blur and Oasis. If anyone previously thought that Oasis had automatically won the war based on their longevity status alone, Blur's triumphant comeback may now have them rethinking their alliances.
Albarn and co. first announced their live return at the start of the year, although rumours of such a reunion had been hanging in the air for many months beforehand. Two massive Hyde Park gigs (the first of which sold out 10,000 tickets in two minutes), a few tiny warm up shows and a sprinkling of festival appearances (including headline spots at Glastonbury and T in the Park) were all fans were going to be treated to though, and hopes for new material have been dashed. Albarn has since said that they will be doing no more live shows, despite the other band members, including the once estranged Graham Coxon, saying they'd be more than happy to continue.
In many ways this is incredibly disappointing; there are a lot of Blur fans who still didn't get the opportunity to see them live again and if Albarn stands firm, then there will be no chances for them in the future either. But perhaps this exclusivity is where Blur are being far more shrewd and successful than Oasis. The Gallagher brothers have performed stadium shows a plenty this year but they were by no means sell outs and the ticket buying public weren't running to their phones in a frantic scramble as they did for their old rivals. Oasis' continual presence on the music scene for pretty much two decades is undeniably admirable, but many would argue that they haven't released a great album this century, and that they carry on because they can, not because they necessarily should. Support for Oasis' shows came from The Enemy and Kasabian. The latter are a great band in their own right, but there is no question that all three bands have a very similar target audience, fan base and sound; Oasis weren't taking any risks having them as openers. In this sense, the band arguably showed as much of a lack of development in their live shows and performance mentality as they have in their recent musical releases.
Blur however, proved themselves to be far more adventurous and open minded in their choices of opening acts, showcasing artists such as Florence and the Machine, Vampire Weekend, Foals and Friendly Fires. The boys have had nearly ten years to heal rifts and they have matured both musically and professionally in the process. Whilst a recent Oasis show was marred with controversy after the Gallaghers bickered on stage and Liam stormed off leaving Noel to perform a large proportion of the gig by himself, Blur have cleaned up their act but not diminished at all in the process; if anything they are all the more impressive for it. While Noel and Liam are still acting like unkempt children throwing toys out of their cot, Albarn and Coxon have endearingly renewed the friendship that led to the band's original demise. All members admit to living life to the max back in the day, but they are all 'clean' now; Alex James has even made a name for himself as an expert cheese-maker and dairy farmer for crying out loud. He could not be any less rock and roll if he tried but they don't care. They've proven they can sustain themselves as a band without any of their personal crap diverting attention from the music, which, at the end of the day, is ultimately what it should all be about.
Blur's return has been immense because they quit at their peak, whilst Oasis have ambled on over theirs and are now well and truly back on flat land on the other side of the mountain. Music lovers remember Blur for the great songs they produced; Song 2, Country House, Parklife, Coffee and TV, the list in endless. Oasis have released some stormers of songs over the years too, Wonderwall, Morning Glory, Don't Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova are just a few. So it is a pity that these seem somewhat overshadowed by their more recent and far less successful work. Perhaps Oasis need to take a long break and come back with fresh material and attitudes to really remain in serious competition with Blur, not only over this summer, but in the Britpop legacy overall. Let's hope Coxon and the gang can pursuade Mr Albarn to stick with it for a few more gigs at least; they're right back at the top of their game and it would be a damn shame for them to quit before the battle has had a chance to really heat up again.
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