Blur, Self Esteem – Wembley Stadium, Wembley

My 11th Blur gig, and my biggest one ever.
There had been rumours this was coming – but there have been before. The gig was announced in November, so I’ve been looking forward to this for over 6 months.
I expected this to sell out quickly – and it did. Being 39,633th in queue at one point meant I wasn’t going to get a great view, but we got there in the end.
I was a little bit peeved about being 2/3 of the way back until the Newcastle warm up gig was announced – and I got tickets for that. So much more relaxed about being here, with supports I wasn’t so keen on.
What I didn’t expect was a second Wembley gig which didn’t sell out so quickly and had better support acts – oh well!
Sleaford Mods replaced Slowthai on the bill. I missed them as we were a bit short of time (we weren’t, but I was having a rare evening of beer and pizza). The ‘Mods didn’t go down too well with the crowd according to The Idiots On Social Media, but I’ve seen them before and really enjoyed them.
We caught just a bit of Self Esteem’s act. Everyone raves about her but I just don’t get it. Nothing that everyone hasn’t heard before. Sorry!
Obviously this was my second Blur gig and a much different affair to Newcastle. It was a shame I was so far away from the stage that even my 100x zoom on my camera couldn’t fix it. It was nice to have your own space though, to see everything and not have someone take your half a square yard every time you shifted from one foot to another.
And for a stadium gig, it seemed incredibly intimate. The sound was good and it genuinely felt like it was a smaller venue at times. Two hours and ten minutes which just flew by. Worth every penny.
Setlist not quite as good as Newcastle’s but still excellent – they have never been anything less than that. And every single Blur gig is a bonus!
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Setlist:
- The Debt Collector (played from tape)
- St Charles Square
- There’s No Other Way
- Popscene
- Tracy Jacks
- Beetlebum
- Trimm Trabb
- Villa Rosie
- Stereotypes
- Out Of Time
- Coffee & TV
- Under The Westway (First time live since 2014)
- End Of A Century (Preceded by applause for Freddie Mercury)
- Country House (Preceded by Damon going into a tent on stage to find out who was in it)
- Parklife (with Phil Daniels)
- To The End
- Oily Water
- Advert
- Song 2 (With false start)
- This Is A Low
Encore:
- Lot 105 (First time live since 1994; with “Wembley” intro and chant throughout)
- Girls & Boys
- For Tomorrow
- Tender (with London Community Gospel Choir)
- The Narcissist
- The Universal

My crappy Ticketmaster mobile ticket
And here are some pics that were clearly not taken by me, using my phone, in the next postcode down:
Saturday 8 July 2023, 7853 views
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Gigs
- Gigantic Indie All Dayer – Marble Factory, Bristol
- HMS Morris, Pictish Trail – Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham
- The Others – The 100 Club, Soho
- Stray Tracks: White Gates Band, Mystery Team, Basharan, SNM, Monumental – Pink Toothbrush, Rayleigh
- Franz Ferdinand, Master Peace, Great Leslie – Empire, Shepherd’s Bush
- Melys, Yr Anghysur – Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda
- Ynys, Sybs, Lafant – Y Cwps, Aberystwyth
- Sultans of Ping FC – Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox, Glasgow
- Franz Ferdinand, Permanent (Joy) – Grand Central Hall, Liverpool
- Half Happy, em koko – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
- My Life Story – The Quarry, Liverpool
- Melys, Osgled – Y Cwps, Aberystwyth
- They Might Be Giants – The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm
- Darling Buds, Simon Love and the Loves – 229, Great Portland Street, London
- Fightmilk, Tugboat Captain – Paper Dress Vintage, Hackney
- Bugeye, Lucky Number You – The Victoria, Birmingham
- Art Brut – The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham
- Sultans of Ping FC, Meryl Streek – The Ritz, Manchester
- Chroma, Baby Brave, Lila Zing – Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham
- Melin Melyn, Ynys, Pys Melyn – Town Hall, Llangollen
- Antarctic Monkeys – The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury
- Bloc Party – The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham
- Urdd Gobaith Cymru: Achlysurol, HMS Morris, Llareggub Brass Band – Mathrafal Field, Meifod
- Echobelly, Camens – Live 45, Kidderminster
- Futureheads, Adult Play – Shrewsbury Castle, Shrewsbury
- Adwaith – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
- Melys, Pys Melyn, Sophie Kilburn – Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda
- Sea Power, Callum Easter – Town Hall, Birmingham
- Dydd Miwsig Cymru: Morgan Elwy, Tew Tew Tennau, Mynadd – Y Institwt, Llanfair Caereinion
- Bikini Beach Band – The White Hart, Stoke Newington
- Pacifica, House of Women – Academy 2, Islington
- Fonda 500, Bugeye, Hurtling, Colossus – Amersham Arms, New Cross
- Snow Coats, Toodles and the Hectic Pity – Signature Brew, Haggerston
- Snow Coats – Tunbridge Wells Forum
- Darling Buds, Keeley – The Thunderbolt, Bristol
- Fightmilk, Feeble Strength – Signature Brew, Haggerston
- Thousand Yard Stare – The Lexington, Islington
- Thousand Yard Stare – Prince Albert, Brighton
- Be Your Own Pet – Rough Trade East, Whitechapel
- Brian Butterfield – Bush Hall, Shepherd’s Bush
- Pulp – Apollo, Hammersmith
- Blur, Self Esteem – Wembley Stadium, Wembley
- Blur, Wu Lu – City Hall, Newcastle
- Salad, Repetitive John – Arts Club, West Hampstead, London
- Salad – The Hope and Ruin, Brighton
- The Others – The Garage, Highbury
- Fightmilk – Signature Brew, Haggerston
- Ynys, Gillie – The Victoria, Dalston
- Republica, Freya Beer – Powerhaus, Camden
- Pop Will Eat Itself, Sigue Sigue Sputnik – 229, Great Portland Street, London
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