Alex James has said he “burst into tears” when he saw his teenage daughter in the crowd at a recent Blur show.
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The bassist of the Britpop group, who released the memoir Over The Rainbow: Tales Of An Unexpected Year earlier this month, has reflected on the band’s new generation of fans, and on his children attending Blur concert.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, James recalled an early reunion warm-up show in Eastbourne, where he joked that his older children “all got drunk immediately and fell over and started going absolutely mental”. However, he noted that his youngest daughter, who is 14 years old, was surprisingly moved by the gig.
“I knew where she was standing, they put her on the viewing platform and when they switch the lights on, you literally can’t see anything but the first time the house lights came up I knew where she was standing and I stole a glance over there,” James said.
“And she was like head back, arms aloft and I literally, I just burst into tears. You could see the music was just totally, totally, totally connecting with her.”
James then went on to discuss the band’s new teenage audience, saying: “Teenage kids are notoriously even tricker than singers and guitar players to connect with.”
“It’s insane,” he continued. “The ticket sales were mainly going out to 18 to 31-year-olds so there’s this incredible sense that Blur have found this whole new audience, alongside all the people who grew up with it.”
It’s been a big year for Blur, following the release of To The End – a documentary directed by Transgressive Records founder Toby L – in July.
The film traced the reunion of James with Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree on their return to record 2023 comeback album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ ahead of a tour culminating in pair of shows at London’s Wembley Stadium last summer.
Reviewing To The End, NME concluded: “They bicker, they hug, they call each other c**ts, they get the job done. While Blur’s last doc and accompanying live movie No Distance Left To Run was a portrait of a band celebrating their legacy and giving a nostalgia-hungry world exactly what they craved, this spiritual sequel shows a band simply supporting each other.”
“Whether they return again or not remains to be seen. But even if they don’t, this was one hell of a final fling.”
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