Blur will play their new album, ‘The Ballad Of Darren’, live in its entirety during a one-off London gig later this month.
Damon Albarn and co. will hit the stage at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith on Tuesday, July 25 for the performance, which will be livestreamed globally from the venue.
The one hour show – titled ‘Blur present The Ballad Of Darren’ – is the first and only time the band will play the complete album live from start to finish and, according to a press release, will “allow fans around the world to experience the new record – together, live”.
It will take place at 9pm BST, with rebroadcasts across the next 24 hours for different time zones, and will also be available to watch on demand from 1pm BST on July 26 for the next 48 hours.
Tickets for the livestream are on sale now.
The Parklife band – starring Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree – is set to perform a run of shows across Europe throughout the summer in support of their new album, which the frontman describes as “an aftershock record” and a “reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now”.
“The older and madder we get, it becomes more essential that what we play is loaded with the right emotion and intention. Sometimes just a riff doesn’t do the job,” adds Graham.
Bassist Alex notes that “for any long term relationship to last with any meaning you have to be able to surprise each other somehow and somehow we all continue to do that,” while Dave admits their reunion only feels “natural”.
“With every record we do, the process reveals something new and we develop as a band. We don’t take that for granted,” he explains.
The artwork for the album features an image of Gourock lido in Renfrewshire by British photographer Martin Parr.
‘The Ballad of Darren’ is available to pre-order now.
Tracklist: Blur – The Ballad Of Darren
1. The Ballad
2. St Charles Square
3. Barbaric
4. Russian Strings
5. The Everglades (For Leonard)
6. The Narcissist
7. Goodbye Albert
8. Far Away Island
9. Avalon
10. The Heights
Buy ‘The Ballad of Darren’ on CD and Vinyl.
