'It’s amazing': Blur on finally headlining Wembley Stadium

Blur talk to ITV News Entertainment reporter Rishi Davda ahead of headlining Wembley Stadium for the first time

"Hello Wembley" - two words most aspiring musicians would love to yell in front of a fan-filled stadium. 

With six number one albums in the UK, two number one singles and multiple world tours, it may be surprising to learn that Blur has never headlined Wembley Stadium…until now.

The rock band was among the leaders of the nineties Brit-pop movement with hits like Girls & Boys, Song 2 and Beetlebum. 

This weekend Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave will play to 140,000 people - across two nights - in the city where they were founded back in 1988.

Frontman Damon Albarn is grateful for the opportunity.

He said: "It’s amazing for Graham and me to sit here, having started off in our little humble Portakabin in Colchester at the age of 12 and to be here, thank you very much everybody."

Every note is remembered and renditioned perfectly, but playing in a new venue always brings with it new challenges.

Guitarist Graham Coxon believes that "you’ve always got to try and shrink a place, to make it feel like a club".

He adds: "That can be a hard if the gap between the stage and front row is big, it’s like a huge moat sometimes. It’s not too bad here at Wembley Stadium."

The boys have been playing music for as long as they can remember, taking it seriously from an early age. 

Damon, who is also a driving force behind the virtual band Gorillaz, recognises the importance of making sure children are encouraged to pick up instruments.

"[You need to] have more faith in it, its power in primary education and community centres. It seems to be terribly undervalued at that level, a grassroots level.

"It’s still an extremely potent part of our expression of our Britishness globally. It’s a sacred thing in that sense," he says.

Blur - The Narcissist

Blur are releasing their 9th album ‘The Ballad of Darren.’

While in the 90s and 00s it was all about disrupting the music scene, these songs are coming out with a less destructive mindset.

Graham notes that "with this record, sonically and with the sounds I want it to land rather nicely. Whereas 20 years ago, I didn’t really…I wanted it to be a bit of a rough landing."

Instead of a rough landing, Blur hope it’ll be plain sailing when they take on Wembley Stadium. 

Drummer Dave Rowntree had hurt his leg, but all signs are pointing towards him being ready for two of the biggest nights in Blur's musical journey.

The Ballad of Darren is out on 21st July.

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