BRIT Awards 2012: Perhaps Blur should mime at Olympics gig after clumsy performance
i used to be on my as far back as my seat from the toilets on the O2 because the Brits drew to an in depth once I heard some drunken yelling from contained in the arena.
It seemed to be coming from the direction of the stage. Was it some drunken reveller who’d wandered somewhere he do not have? Perhaps not, as he seemed to be joined by someone who was rather clumsily hitting a bass guitar and one more musical incompetent bashing away at a hard and fast of drums.
They gave the impression to be attempting some vague, lumpen approximation of that Britpop classic, Boys and girls. ‘It is quite some stage invasion,’ i assumed, thinking that today’s headlines could be hogged by whichever miscreants were making the godawful racket onstage.
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A writer not a singer: Damon Albarn’s BRITs performance was a working example of the indisputable fact that Blur boast great songs but shaky live vocals
Turns out i used to be right. Except it was Blur playing a quick set, not some inebriated office juniors from Polydor or EMI fooling about. And so they’re within the headlines not only because they won a Brit last night but since it’s been announced that, inclusive of The Specials and New Order, Blur would be playing on the Olympics closing ceremony this year.
Perhaps, they’ve been away too long, what with Damon Albarn writing Chinese operas and consorting with cartoon bands and Alex James making terrible cheese and writing pompous columns for newspapers. Perhaps they didn’t rehearse. But knowing what a perfectionist Albarn is, that seems unlikely.
Unpleasant to hear? Damon, who was joined on stage last night by Phil Daniels, arguably ‘shouts’ as opposed to sings
Something to contemplate? Perhaps Damon should mime his forthcoming Olympics performance
IT WASN’T ALL BAD
Blur, who were honoured with the phenomenal Contribution To Music award in the course of the evening, have seen sales in their albums go up by 2,700 per cent following their BRITs performance. They played five songs on the end of the ceremony.
Adele, who took home the awards for British Female Solo Artist and Album Of The Year, has also seen sales of her albums 19 and 21 increase by 166 per cent.
Ed Sheeran, who won British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist, has seen sales of his material shoot up by a whopping 796 per cent after the awards, in keeping with Amazon.
Maybe, just maybe, Blur were never
really that good live anyway. I certainly have few good memories of Blur
shows. Albarn can’t really sing he just shouts. The band he fronts
are inclined to sound like a bathing machine falling down the steps.
Their albums sound so good because Albarn writes great songs (the most effective moment last night came after ITV had stopped broadcasting when Blur played a slightly good version of Tender) and their producer Stephen Street is just a little a whiz tidying things up within the studio.
Also, and this tends to be forgotten, we’re not used to hearing bands play live. We’ve become aware of acts miming, so when Damon starts yelling like a drunken hobo on the street our eardrums find it rather shocking.
It might have been worse it is able to have
been The Stone Roses. Ian Brown’s voice was rarely in the same postcode
as the tune being played by the rest of his band. When you’re there,
you don’t notice too much but on TV it sounds awful.
Out-dated: Maybe the problem is that audiences are no longer used to hearing a band perform live
However, you can’t argue too much with
the choice of The Specials, New Order and Blur to close the Olympics.
They do represent the best of British pop music over the last 30 years.
And they will make a change from the omnipresent Brian May and Paul
McCartney, who always seem to feature at these events.
But perhaps Damon should think about miming, for the sake of the world’s eardrums. After all, when Kevin from EastEnders outsings you during Parklife, as happened last night when actor Phil Daniels joined Blur onstage, then you know you have a problem.
It could has been worse: Ian Brown of the Stone Roses’ voice was rarely within the same postcode because the tune played by the remainder of his band
British classics: Despite their shortcomings, you can¿t argue an excessive amount of with the alternative of The Specials, New Order and Blur to shut the Olympics
