Dates: June-July
Location: Europe
See All Dates

Britpop giants Blur never officially split. But after a lengthy hiatus and seven years since the departure of guitarist Graham Coxon, to band's return to the live space with its original lineup is effectively the biggest British reunion of 2009. The centerpiece will be two 50,000-capacity shows at London's Hyde Park (July 2-3). "The anticipation of seeing them will be incredibly high," says Steve Homer, VP of music at Live Nation U.K., which co-promotes the Hyde Park shows with Metropolis. The July 3 date was the first announced and sold out online within a few minutes, and the July 3 concert was headed toward a sellout at press time, he says. Because of Blur's lack of recent activity, Live Nation combined limited fan data from EMI with its own customer database and those from the Wireless festival and Academy venues to target people who had seen similar bands or associated acts such as Gorillaz, a band created by Blur frontman Damon Albarn. "We realized very early on that the response had been huge, so we agreed with management to set up a further show," Homer says. Blur will also headline U.K. festivals Glastonbury, T in the Park and Oxegen festivals in Ireland. The band is also scheduled to play Manchester MEN Arena (June 26) and perform five intimate warm-up shows, beginning with the 150-capacity East Anglian Railway Museum. No further performances were scheduled at press time, but U.S. and European shows are under discussion, according to Homer.
--Andre Paine