At a more socially-distanced Manchester Central, Damon Albarn, singer, songwriter, producer and founding member of Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen for Manchester International Festival, was accompanied by a band and string quartet to perform a comprehensive set of classics, including new music from his new album 'The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows'.
The performance began with Albarn, in his usual shirt, trousers and Converse, instructing the tech to dim the lights, to create the illusion or the sensation of dawn, and from there the performance continued in a mellow dawn-like state with stillness and depth, with some intricate shadow work emerging from the wings, which reminded me of delicate leaves tenderly dancing around in the wind of the Manchester autumn to come.
‘The Nearer The Fountain’, the title track, began the show with the softly-entering Big Band, the subtle nature theme was maintained, with strings, rhythm section, bass, lead guitar, drums, organ, and Albarn on piano. New, slow, atmospheric. Lending its ear from Bowie’s final album, Black Star, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the effortless ease Albarn has to reach those higher notes and challenge us with rhythm and cadence.
The next track, ‘The Cormorant’, was more synthy, like rain, and it was just absolutely beautiful. Thereafter a slower, yet jazzy ‘Lonely Press Play’ from Everyday Robots.
I was very pleased to hear ‘Good Song’ from his 2003 album Think Tank: soothing, gentle, elegant, but I wasn’t sure of it straight away, but I remember watching the music video when I was 11 and I wept then and I wept again now.
‘Ghost Ship’ off The Magic Whip album was sung like a lullaby. He was really relishing singing this. All cool and laidback. He got very chatty about the football, and was the happiest being on stage I've ever seen him, considering this was his first gig in two years; he was really effusive about playing in Manchester. It was a special moment for all of us.
After this, a melange of a few new tracks: ‘Go Back’, ‘1917’, ‘Saturday Come Slow’, ‘The Great Fire’, ‘The Tower Of Montevideo’, ‘The Poison Tree’, all great, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then, of course, there was the classic Wurlitzer Blur sound coming in from the organ, references to "North Pier" and other Blur cliches, it made me feel like drinking and dancing!
He considered this set was a "jazz club kinda thing", with such a Big Band, and he went on to describe an anecdote about there being an abandoned cruise ship off the coast of Devon during the first lockdown, and he fantasised there was a band still marooned on it, playing for themselves every night, and that's what he was channelling. I loved that idea, and now I can’t get the fantasy out of my head! Another example of the exquisite conceptual genius Albarn imagines when creating new work.
‘Darkness To Light’, ‘El Manana’, ‘Hong Kong’, ‘3 Changes’ encompassed lots of rousing violins, melodic and stirring. Then a Clash-esque number, ‘On Melancholy Hill’, with heavy guitar, and classic Blur wooo-hoooing! Followed by ‘Out Of Time’, from Think Tank with more extended violins and the vocals of a trained Middle Eastern singer. He had an interesting whistling section on ‘Nature Spring’ like singing but whistling.
The penultimate track, ‘Polaris’ a gorgeous wurring, into synth-pop with an upbeat dancy saxophone solo which has a sense of home, sentimentality, excitement, growth, yet sounds zip to his previous works.
The whole performance finished on ‘This Is A Low’, which was amazing. Beginning solely with Albarn on piano; slow, stripped back, bringing in more instruments as it went along, building to a beautiful crescendo of violins and guitar, it was absolutely stunning. Emotional, nostalgic, profound!
The themes were not as strong for me at the beginning of the set, the idea of nature, but I felt elated afterwards. It was a privilege to watch him after all these years; it was a rip-roaring Albarn set!
Reviewer - Susanna Amato
on - 12.7.21
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