End of T in The Parklife

Jul 14 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

End of T in The Parklife

ON a weekend when a series of call-offs had thrown spanners in T in the Park’s well-oiled works, doom merchants had written Blur off by 8pm on Sunday.

With expectant fans gathered in huge numbers in front of the Main Stage, the loss of the Britpop luminaries would have resulted in disappointment – and potential disaffection – on a seismic scale.

Gaps created elsewhere by The Horrors, The Game and Ladyhawke were easily absorbed by last-gasp rejigging, but even battle-hardened festival organiser Geoff Ellis must have been quaking in his boots at the threat posed to Blur’s set by guitarist Graham Coxon’s mystery health scare.

No wonder that a sense of relief coupled with expectation greeted their eventual appearance at 10.16pm, almost an hour-and-a-half late.

With Coxon showing no ill effects, the four-piece launched into She’s So High, the first single from 1990, disco pastiche Girls And Boys and a fast and frantic There’s No Other Way.

After frontman Damon Albarn picked up his acoustic guitar for an epic Tender, the singer went into hyperactive mode for his ‘Mock-ney’ creations Country House and Parklife, with the bumper crowd following suit.

Despite the delays, no one was in a hurry to leave. A ferocious blast of Song 2 and stunning reworkings of Coffee And TV and This Is A Low only served to vindicate the good time-seeking T in the Parkers’ loyalty.

An encore comprising Advert and brass-enhanced versions of For Tomorrow and The Universal took this abbreviated version of the ‘best of’ reunion set that dazzled fans at Glastonbury and London’s Hyde Park past 11.30pm and into uncharted territory for final night ‘T’ proceedings.

With Albarn declaring, “This is our last gig”, speculation is rife that Blur will now decide to call it a day.

If that is indeed the case, then it was a privilege to have been present at this dramatic farewell.