Damon Albarn: “Coachella is the embodiment of today’s social media”
The frontman of Blur Damon Albarninterviewed by Rolling Stone magazine together with the other Gorillaz Jamie Hewletthe returned to talk about the not exactly happy experience of participation in the Californian Coachella festival by Blur in 2024.
The performance of Blur was not welcomed with the right heat from the audience present, irritating Albarn quite a bit. During the performance of one of the British band’s best-known songs, “Girls & Boys”those present at the concert were completely calm, so much so that Damon scolded them by saying: “You can do better.” Not having achieved the desired effect, he added: “You will never see us again.”
During the interview he was asked for his opinion regarding the different popularity of
Blur
in Europe compared to the success reported by i
Gorillaz
in the United States. “When we came with Blur to Coachella, we realized that maybe there was a slight discrepancy with our presence at that festival. It’s kind of the embodiment of social media today.” Liam Hewlett added, in support of his companion’s thesis: “It’s the only festival where the phones are not pointed at the stage, but at the person holding the phone.”
In a previous interview with California radio station KROQ, he stated regarding the Coachella crowd: “I don’t know, Coachella is weird when it comes to the crowd. Sometimes it’s hard to understand because it’s like it’s on a planet apart.”
The same strangeness was also perceived by the guitarist of
Blur Graham Coxon
who speaking to the British magazine NME reported: “It’s just a very restrictive festival. You get stuck in a small complex and it’s impossible to go out and see anything. It’s really hot and there are those strange five days off (the festival takes place on two consecutive weekends, ed.) where you don’t really know what to do. It was me, Rose (Elinor Dougall, her bandmate in Waeve, ed.) and her mother, wandering around Santa Monica, not knowing what to do.” Coxon further added, speaking to GQ: “It takes 14 hours to get there, and then you find yourself playing for people who don’t care. They look at you like ‘who is this old man?'”.
