Pop gig of the week: London Live Closing Ceremony, Hyde park, London W2
Saturday 11 August 2012
Blur's concerts at Hyde Park in 2009 felt truly special, occasions where band, song and crowd gelled, rising above romantic sentiment to tap into music's communal and – given the friends reunited onstage – redemptive potency.
Tomorrow's big gig might be more pivotal yet. No disrespect to the Olympics, to which the show is there to bid farewell – or to era-spanning supports the Specials, New Order and Bombay Bicycle Club – but it's rumours that the gig will be Blur's farewell that have drawn the most attention.
The sadness surrounding the prospect that it (really, really) could happen has been heightened not just by their past but by their potential: Graham Coxon has barely been back for five minutes, and recent songs ("Under the Westway", "The Puritan") suggest a great album isn't beyond them.
But Damon Albarn has other things to do, so in case holding out for a new album is fruitless, anyone wishing to say 'bye should be there. Oh my...
(0844 499 9990; ticketmaster.co.uk) Sun
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