Damon Albarn: “I didn't want to do the second night at Wembley”

In November 2022, i Blur they announced a reunion at Wembley Stadium for 8 July 2023. Due to popular demand, the concert turned into a double date, with a second show announced shortly after.

The second performance, held on July 9, became their “best ever” concert, according to himself. Damon Albarn. However, the show on 9 July was on the verge of being canceled by Albarn, who did not want to perform.

Albarn revealed the near-cancellation during an interview with KROQ during the opening weekend of Coachella, stating: “I never thought I'd love Wembley. The first night was amazing, but the next night I didn't want to do another concert. I was trying to find reasons to cancel it. I was sitting in a hotel at Wembley Parks and watching people go to the stadium and thinking, 'Well, I can't cancel it'.”

And he continued: “And it was really, maybe the best concert of that period that you could ever, ever dream of having. But it was strange, I didn't really like going on stage and then I went on stage and it was very nice” .

In another part of the interview, Albarn and Alex James they talked about Blur's upcoming reunion documentary, the Wembley concerts and their comeback album”The Ballad Of Darren“.

James said: “We filmed the shows at Wembley and I never thought we'd top Glastonbury 2009.”

After the chat with KROQ, Blur performed at Coachella. During the show, Albarn vented his frustration live on stage as he performed to the unenthusiastic crowd. “You can do better than this,” he told those present at one point, greeted by a silent crowd. When he still didn't get the response he wanted, the frontman said, “You'll never see us again, so you might as well fucking sing it. You know what I mean?”

Although the frontman said this would be the last time audiences would see the Britpop group, the band will return to the Coachella Valley for the festival's second weekend (April 19-21).