blur: To the End

I was always more of a "Blur" fan than an "Oasis" one, but to be honest I'd forgotten completely why they had split up. This fly-on-the-wall documentary tries to fill in some of the gaps as it reunites the four members of the band who are going to record their first new album in decades and do a little mini-tour of some "intimate" venues before a couple of gigs in front of eighty-odd thousand people at London's Wembley stadium. The film is centred around Damon Albarn's home in the South West of England and as Graham Coxon (anyone else think he's turning into Dudley Moore?), renowned cheesemaker Alex James and Dave Rowntree turn up it seems that there's a lot of forgiving and forgetting going on. There's a conversational candour from all four about their demise as a band. They couldn't stand the sight of one another - hardly surprising after living in each other's pockets for years, but it's clear that there is still something compelling, addictive even, about their relationships that will either float or sink this ambitions project that is proving nerve-wracking even now, after years of performing. I could have been doing with more of their music, if only to remind me there was more to them than "Boys and Girls" and "Parklife", and I could have done with less of their political hypocrisy as they live in safe conservative parliamentary seats whilst espousing urbanite socialism - but when it comes down to it, they are just four formerly quite handsome guys (yes, I know that's reductive!) who knew how to put lyrics and music into a format that mischievously and vibrantly entertained on a stage and on a television at a time when music in Britain was undoubtedly suffering from a creative malaise that was crying out for something different, energetic and powerful. I liked the style of this documentary and I liked the very fact that it's an episode in the lives of these four, now quite different, men. What happens next is anyone's guess.

For a few years during the 1990s, British band Blur was defining the new cool for Britons and Anglophiles, as the middle-class, middle-brow alternative to Oasis' in-your-face working-class ethos, in what became known as 'The Battle of Britpop', arguably to the ultimate detriment of both bands. This new documentary about the band is unruly, repetitive, and often unappealing, but it's also contemplative, beautiful, and ultimately triumphant. The sort of music documentary made for all the right reasons and willing to get stuck in without resorting to pure adulation. The band members and the music scene they once were a part of (and to a certain degree still are), come across as something of a curiosity in today's world, making those of us who were there to witness and experience it realise that pop music, such as it once was, arguably isn't at all pop anymore. Like Blur themselves, the scene they belonged to and largely defined, just appears to be holding on to the end.

You'd think there's not too much to write about To The End. It's a documentary about Blur, with Blur. The band, Blur. If you're not a Blur fan, you're probably not watching this. It follows the band recording and releasing their 2023 album The Ballad of Darren, rehearsing and the celebratory gigs that culminate at Wembley. Shot over the course of a year it's intimate and honest. Well paced and in depth, with plenty of time with Damon, Alex, Graham and Dave. Filmed in part in a very big house in the remote coastal countryside, it has a bohemian air. This is latter-day Blur, gone are the young cheeky lads. There's a weight of expectation now. Especially now in that they're leading up to the biggest gigs of their career, all whilst being less active than ever before. As Dave says "The less we do, the bigger we get". They are genuinely interesting people to watch. There's a clear bond, but they are all very different and have had different lives outside the band. It's a lot of people sitting around, smoking in scruffy clothes that probably cost a fortune in barn-like rooms which certainly do cost a fortune. "I live alone in the countryside and this record feels very much like that" states Damon and Graham echos "A boulder had fallen out and there's 40 years worth of stuff in this boulder that's been dislodged". It's raw and emotional, particularly from Damon who's clearly the driving force. He famously doesn't switch off and this does seem to add some friction to the band dynamic. It works though doesn't it, the songs are wonderful. Speaking of wonderful, Graham is wonderfully dour, moaning about the environment of practice spaces and being "blinded by stupid lights". Alex is dramatic and Dave, well Dave is the sensible one as ever. He's the one you can understand, relate to. It's oddly shambolic, but there's tons of depth. They're not afraid to show the process and delve into the past. There's no Britpop focus, what's the point that's story has been told. There is plenty of the origin story told around the rehearsals and the warm up gigs. In Colchester we get 'Popscene' and Eastbourne is treated 'Parklife', it effortlessly makes me want to see them live again. This is much more than the music though. Blur are a band that despite their success have always been oddly undersold as genuine artists. This documentary shows them in their best light, warts and all. Still pushing creatively, emotionally, to the end.

Sadly, on a big screen tv the gimmicky aggressive handheld camera footage made this hard to watch without feeling very ill (think carsickness). Why do some so-called camera-operators think that the more they throw a camera around the more it feels like a home video?? As we know, all modern-day phones etc, have amazing stabilization, that continue to improve, so that we can get away from all this un-stabilized footage. Such a shame as I couldn't watch without feeling ill. Wonder how many other viewers felt the same. BTW being an Aussie we don't know much about the band, but LOVE a couple of songs so were really looking forward to this .. sadly !!!

I am not a massive Blur fan. I don't own any of their CDs, however as someone who was around in the 90's, like Oasis, Blur were part of everyone in the UK's psyche. It was impossible to not hear their music on Top Of The Pops, radio or even nightclubs and pubs if you were socialising at this time. They were not as popular as the more working class Oasis. However Blur did have their fans, which seemed to be mainly female and/or students. They were hyped as being more cerebral than Oasis. But were mocked by their rivals as playing "Cockney Chimney Sweep Music" by one Liam Gallagher.

This is an odd documentary as it finds the band prepping for their Wembley gig. While they apparently haven't been in touch, that is almost irrelevant as they are still pretty much well known to the UK press. One for cheese and the others for playing music. However this is more intimate camera work and that is the rub of this doc. Because Blur have almost a bad reputation for not being that pleasant. There have been numerous stories about their behaviour and theres the infamous Naurduar interview. This documentary doesn't exactly negate that image. They come across as a but whiny and irritable, unlikable almost. They don't even seem to like each other. The Wembley gig seems like a cash grab and they are simply enduring each other for the payday. So not a million miles from Oasis. However it is still good to see they are still functioning as a band. And some of the convert footage is good. But the much covered incident of Damon breaking down crying on stage isn't in this doc. An obvious omission. I've no idea whats next for Blur but what I do know is a UK tour wasnt on the cards. Like I said, they weren't as popular as Oasis.