Blur The Ballad Of Darren Live: A perfect one-off full of rarities and hidden gems

On a special night in Hammersmith, Blur eschewed the hits in favour of a full runout of their acclaimed new album The Ballad Of Darren and a sprinkling of rarities, hidden gems and the very deepest of deep cuts. Headliner was there for a truly one-off night in the capital…

If those career defining nights at Wembley Stadium earlier this month were the greatest hits, then July 25 at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo was the b-sides and rarities. For one live-streamed night only, Blur followed up their much-celebrated Wembley Stadium double header with a far more intimate outing in Hammersmith to perform their new album The Ballad Of Darren in its entirety. Clocking in at just 36 minutes, it was inevitable that there would be more than those 10 songs, but as for what would follow was anyone’s guess. A condensed set of cast iron crowd pleasers to offset the balladry of their new material? It’s a route other bands have taken with full album shows. But not Blur.

First of all though, The Ballad Of Darren. Released to virtually unanimous praise, the band’s first album in eight years is arguably their best in over two decades. Preceding singles The Narcissist and St. Charles Square already feel achingly familiar. The latter is a thrilling outlier both on the album and in the context of tonight’s gig. Graham Coxon’s slithery, unpredictable guitar lines and Albarn’s spoken lyrics and wild shrieks sit at odds with the gentle ebb and flow of the rest of the album, yet still it nestles neatly into the set.

Any concerns about the album's ability to hold the crowd for the duration are quickly quashed, with each song greeted with the kind of rapturous reaction typically reserved for ‘the hits’. Opener The Ballad sets the tone for much of what’s to come, while the unhinged St. Charles Square seems destined to be a staple for any future Blur setlists should they decide to reconvene beyond this campaign. Likewise Barbaric, which already has the feel of a fan favourite. Russian Strings and The Everglades (For Leonard) place the string quartet onstage front and centre to beautiful effect, while The Narcissist delivers one of the high points of the evening. It’s a devastatingly brilliant piece of music that stands toe-to-toe with the likes of To The End, Beetlebum, and The Universal in its ability to blend that overwhelming sense of heartbreak and euphoria like only Blur can.

Album closer The Heights brings the first half of the evening to an intense close, with a Coxon-driven white noise blast signalling the end of The Ballad Of Darren portion of the set. This alone would have been enough to send the crowd home happy, but there is almost tangible anticipation as to what the next segment will bring. What ensues catches pretty much all but Damon, Graham, Alex, and Dave off guard.

Returning to the stage for a run through an assortment of rarely and/or never before played songs – with the exception of a suitably stirring The Universal to sign off – Blur kick off the encore with a performance of Pyongyang from 2008’s The Magic Whip. It’s a dark and eerie rendition that virtually stuns the Apollo into silence while putting paid to any thoughts of a rattle through Girls and Boys, Parklife, and Country House.

Next up is Parklife album track Clover Over Dover, which, unthinkably, they have never before played live, save for a ramshackle acoustic version many years ago. Suffice to say it draws one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Mr Briggs, a b-side from 1991 single There’s No Other Way follows, while the unpredictability continues as the band roll out a blistering All Your Life – a b-side from 1997’s Beetlebum.

The last of the rarities marks another Blur first as they launch into the never-before-played Parklife b-side Theme From An Imaginary Film. Its waltzy playfulness makes for one of the night’s most joyous moments, and begs the question why has it never been played live before?

As Albarn teases that they should probably ‘not be so obtuse’ and play something everyone knows, the swelling strings of The Universal fill the venue. It's a song that somehow feels more profound and emotionally weighted with every outing. Perhaps because we never really know if, when, or in what form we'll see Blur again.

With no more UK shows scheduled – a handful of international festival dates are lined up for the remainder of 2023 – the future is anybody's guess. If The Ballad Of Darren and this year’s run of shows prove to be their farewell they could hardly have delivered a more triumphant one. Let's hope it’s not.