In blur: to the end we see four boys in adult bodies finding their way through a family reunion. The documentary is melancholic, emotional, and euphoric.
“It doesn’t get better than this“, is the Albarn-quote we end on, a high after a rollercoaster of a journey we feel like we’ve been on with legendary britpop band blur. After a ten year period of no communication, the band get back together to create a new album, tour, and rekindle a bond that was surprisingly not lost over time.
Damon, Alex, Graham and David first released their music in a time when people were hungry for the sound they created, and they changed the course of music with timeless hits such as ‘Parklife’ and ‘Coffee & TV’. Rock’n’roll tore them apart and then brought them back together again, according to Albarn it was just the right time for a new album, a tour, and a Wembley Stadium headline show in the summer of 2023. Despite, in Alex James’ words; “there’s something healing about creating a beautiful noise”, in this documentary we also see the other side of the coin.
Anxiety, ailments, addictions and self doubt as well as long days and heavy workloads make releasing an album, promoting it, and touring a drain on anyone’s mental health. We see and hear the emotion the blur reunion came with in all four musicians and it made us want to give them all a big squeeze and tell them how many people’s lives they’ve touched. What connects them, also connects them with their fans, “a hunger for the sublime” and to simply be together and understood.
What made this documentary particularly special to us was seeing the band perform in our hometown of Newcastle, as well as seeing the band prepare for their performance at Primavera Sound, which we attended this year, a year too late. These four friends created something peculiar and showed that years later they were able to replicate that and do it all again. We see the hard work and the hours they put in, and that not all is fun and games, “no one enjoys rehearsals”. The traveling is tiring and the nights are short, but the shows make it all worthwhile. Being in a band full time is a job, and not one for the faint of heart, but it’s also an incredibly rewarding, and important, one. blur: to the end is a fantastic documentary showing a rough, raw, and above all else real picture of what being part of blur is like. Because there is simply no way out.
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