Blur's Damon Albarn fumes at Coachella crowd and vows band will never return

Lisa McLoughlin
·2 min read
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Damon Albarn was left unimpressed during Blur’s main stage set at Coachella on Sunday when the crowd failed to take part in a sing-along.

The British group played a 13-song set, including several of their nineties classics like Girls & Boys, Popscene and Song 2.

During the performance, Albarn repeatedly tried to involve the audience, urging them to join in singing the choruses of their hit songs. However, his efforts were met with complete silence from the American audience.

Despite numerous attempts to energise the lacklustre crowd, the 56-year-old musician became visibly frustrated during another failed attempt at a singalong during the bridge of Girls & Boys.

He told the audience: “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well f*****g sing it."

However, Song 2 was met with a huge reaction from the audience and had Albarn revealing: “This song has been so good to us.

“But I did get shown a TikTok of it being kind of performed by a vacuum cleaner which is you know…. It is humbling and inspiring at the same time.” Since acknowledging the video, it has been reshared online.

After videos of the performance went viral on social media, Blur fans have shared their disappointment regarding the crowd's response – claiming if they were performing in the UK, audiences would “go absolutely feral”.

One fan wrote under one TikTok video: “They have THE Blue playing song two... and that's the crowds reaction... in the uk there would be beers flying.”

“The UK would go absolutely feral over this. The crowd is very disappointing,” another commented.

“And the crowd goes mild,” a third quipped. “Does this crowd know who's standing in front of them?”

Their performance marked their return to Coachella since 2013, when they delivered a memorable performance of their greatest hits to a much livelier crowd.

Albarn himself graced the festival in 2010 with his band Gorillaz, where they showcased a comprehensive set spanning their three-album discography.