Will Blur tour the UK?

Blur, the legendary Britpop band formed in London in the late 1980s, has not toured the UK since their 2015 Hyde Park reunion shows. With lead singer Damon Albarn currently focused on his solo career and cartoon band Gorillaz, and guitarist Graham Coxon releasing new solo material, fans are wondering if Blur will ever tour their home country again.

When did Blur last tour the UK?

Blur’s most recent UK tour was in 2015, when they reunited to headline British Summer Time Hyde Park in London on June 20th. The massive show saw the band play a hit-filled set to 60,000 adoring fans, with support acts like The Libertines, The Specials and Echo & the Bunnymen. This remains Blur’s last full tour of the United Kingdom to date.

What are the band members up to now?

In the years since Blur’s Hyde Park reunion, the four members of Blur have been busy with their own projects:

• Damon Albarn has continued fronting Gorillaz, releasing the albums Humanz (2017), The Now Now (2018) and Cracker Island (2022). He also released two solo albums, Everyday Robots (2014) and The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows (2021).
• Graham Coxon has released four solo albums since 2015, including The End of the F***ing World (2017) and Superstate (2021). He also composed the score for Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World TV series.
• Alex James has focused on producing cheese and running his farm and music festival, Harvest at Jimmy’s Farm.
• Dave Rowntree has continued as a Labour party activist and stood unsuccessfully as a Labour candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster in the 2022 local elections.

While all four members have toured solo in recent years, Blur have not played any shows together since Hyde Park 2015.

Have Blur officially announced any plans to tour the UK?

No, there has been no official announcement from Blur or their management about a UK tour in the future. The Hyde Park shows were originally intended to be a one-off celebration of the band’s legacy.

However, the members themselves have made comments alluding to future activity. Speaking to The Guardian in April 2021, Albarn said “Rest assured, Blur will perform together again at some point” when asked about a reunion.

What are the chances Blur will tour the UK soon?

Based on the band members’ continued solo activity and lack of public plans, a full UK Blur tour in the immediate future seems unlikely. However, there are a few positive signs that suggest it could still happen:

• Damon Albarn has suggested they will reunite again, and Graham Coxon seems up for it, saying in May 2022 “I’d love to play with my mates again.”
• 2022 was the 25th anniversary of Blur’s seminal album Blur, so some fans were hoping for anniversary shows.
• 2023 will mark 30 years since Blur’s first album Leisure, so the milestone could prompt a reunion.
• Other Britpop peers like Pulp and Suede have recently reunited for UK tours, suggesting an appetite for 1990s bands to return.

Realistically, without any concrete word from the band, the soonest fans could expect to see Blur back in the UK would likely be 2024 or later. But given their stature as legends of the British music scene, the demand for their long-awaited homecoming will remain strong.

What would a Blur UK tour setlist look like?

If Blur were to tour the UK again, fans would expect to hear a career-spanning setlist packed with hits and fan favourites. While their exact setlist is just speculation, it would likely draw from albums like Parklife, Blur, 13 and Think Tank, and include songs such as:

• “Song 2”
• “Girls & Boys”
• “Tracy Jacks”
• “Beetlebum”
• “Coffee & TV”
• “Tender”
• “Out of Time”
• “The Universal”
• “Parklife”
• “For Tomorrow”
• “Country House”
• “Badhead”
• “There’s No Other Way”
• “To the End”
• “This is a Low”

For the encore, anthems like “Blur” and “Chemical World” would be a thrilling climax. Their Hyde Park set contained 25 songs, so a similar length could be expected on a full UK tour.

How quickly would Blur UK tour tickets sell out?

If Blur announced a UK arena or stadium tour for 2023 or later, it would undoubtedly be one of the hottest tickets in the country. Looking at recent reunions from their Britpop peers, demand would be through the roof:

• Pulp’s 2011 reunion tour sold out immediately, crashing servers as fans rushed for tickets.
• Tickets for Suede’s 2018 UK tour sold out in minutes.
• Oasis’s 2009 reunion tour saw tickets selling at a rate of 2,000 per minute.

Given Blur’s iconic status and enduring popularity, a reunion tour would create a similar frenzy. Venues would sell out instantly, with resale tickets fetching huge sums. Fans would need to be online and ready to buy tickets the moment they went on sale to avoid missing out.

What size venues could Blur sell out?

As their Hyde Park shows demonstrated, Blur are one of the few British bands with the stature to headline stadiums in the biggest cities across the UK. Venues like London’s Wembley Stadium (90,000 capacity), Manchester’s Etihad Stadium (55,000), Birmingham’s Villa Park (42,000) and Glasgow’s Hampden Park (51,000) would likely sell out for a Blur reunion.

They could also easily fill major arenas like The O2 in London (20,000), Leeds First Direct Arena (13,500) and The SSE Hydro in Glasgow (13,000) with multiple nights in each city.

How much could Blur charge for UK tour tickets?

As a major reunion tour at stadium-size venues, Blur could justify pricing tickets at a premium level. Looking at recent comparable tours:

• The Rolling Stones charged £95-£249 for their 2018 UK stadium shows.
• Guns N’ Roses charged £65-£115 for their 2017 Not In This Lifetime UK tour.
• Take That charged £35-£95 for their 2019 UK greatest hits tour.

With these benchmarks, Blur could likely charge at minimum £75-100 for general standing or seating, rising to £150-250 for the best seats and VIP packages. Given the instant sell-outs, high resale prices would also be expected.

Top-priced tickets would be expensive, but many fans would probably consider it a bargain to finally see their Britpop heroes back together again on a UK tour.

How much money could a Blur UK tour generate?

Between massive ticket sales, merchandise and food/drink sales, a huge Blur UK tour would generate tens of millions in revenue. To estimate their potential gross takings:

• If they sold out five dates each at stadiums like Wembley, Etihad and Hampden Park, they could play to around 750,000 fans in total.
• An average ticket price of £100 would generate £75 million in ticket sales alone.
• With typical additional revenue like merchandising and concessions, total gross revenues could exceed £100 million.

In reality, a UK-wide tour hitting multiple cities could easily swell to 15-20 dates or more. If so, total gross revenues from a Blur reunion tour could plausibly top £200 million, demonstrating the enormous commercial potential.

Could a Blur UK tour promote a new album?

Like many reunion tours, a return to the UK could provide the impetus for Blur to create new music together for the first time since 2003’s Think Tank. Their contemporaries Suede and Pulp have proven that Britpop comebacks can be creatively successful:

• Suede released the well-received comeback album Bloodsports in 2013, reaching No. 1 in the UK.
• Pulp’s 2014 single “After You” was their first new song in 10 years.

Albarn and Coxon have remained prolific, so Blur potentially have strong new material to draw from. The financial windfall of a reunion tour could fund studio time to record another album. Pad out the setlist with a few new songs, and Blur could return not just as a nostalgia act, but a credible contemporary band once more.

Should Blur keep touring nostalgia or aim for new music?

For a UK tour, the nostalgia element would be key – playing the songs and albums that made them legendary would satisfy most fans. But if they were to continue touring beyond a one-off, new music could make sense:

Keep touring nostalgia

• Fans would happily pay to hear classics without needing new songs.
• Focusing on legacy songs would avoid missteps of new material.
• It’s financially safer to rely on nostalgia.

Aim for new music

• Making a new album could ignite creative energy and purpose.
• New songs would renew media interest beyond nostalgia.
• Their legacy is secure – time to take risks again.

Maybe the ideal balance is continuing to honour their classics on tour, while using that success as a springboard to make the kind of adventurous new albums that originally made their name.

Conclusion

While nothing is confirmed yet, hopes remain high that Britpop heroes Blur could embark on a full UK reunion tour in the coming years. Their enduring appeal means venues would instantly sell out and ticket demand would be frenzied from devoted fans.

Damon Albarn’s comments suggest the band are open to playing together again. All it might take is the right moment and an offer too lucrative to refuse. With their lyrics still resonating with British life after all these years, a return by Blur would undoubtedly be one of the most culturally significant tours of the 2020s.