Damon Albarn tells Blur’s lackluster Coachella crowd: “You’re never seeing us again so you might as well fucking sing it”

Blur‘s Damon Albarn aired his frustration live on stage while performing to an unenthusiastic Coachella crowd this weekend.

The Britpop legend performed with his band at the California music festival on Saturday (April 13), in between sets from Sublime and No Doubt, before Tyler, The Creator headlined that evening.

Blur delivered a career-spanning set on the Coachella main stage, including fan favourites like ‘Song 2’ and ‘Popscene’.

However, Albarn was visibly irritated by the crowd when attempting to perform a call and response with the US crowd during ‘Girls & Boys’.

“You can do it better than that,” he told attendees at one point, which was met by a quiet crowd response. When he still didn’t get the desired response, the frontman said: “You’re never seeing us again, so you might as well fucking sing. Know what I’m saying?”

this coachella crowd doesn’t deserve blur pic.twitter.com/xBpys9qnkP

— music struggles & wins (@musicstruggles1) April 15, 2024

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING
im convinced coachella has the worst vibes and people possible. it’s fucking Blur, show some respect!!! pic.twitter.com/VO7K4mrobw

— Bohdi (@from_kaos) April 15, 2024

Blur fans were quick to share their frustration on social media at seeing the British music legends receive a lukewarm response across the pond.

“Damon Albarn I’m so sorry they’re being so disrespectful to you,” one fan wrote on X/Twitter. “One of the greatest concert artists in history and they do this to him,” another added. “The crowd for blur at coachella was so embarassing im so sorry i wasn’t there,” a third shared.

Despite the lacklustre crowd response, Blur are scheduled to perform at Coachella weekend 2 this Saturday (April 20).

Albarn received a more enthusiastic welcome to the Coachella stage back in 2022 when he joined Billie Eilish on stage during her set. They performed Eilish’s song ‘Getting Older’ and Gorillaz‘s hit ‘Feel Good Inc’.

This weekend, Blur also performed tracks from their 2023 album ‘The Ballad of Darren’ including ‘The Narcissist’ and ‘St. Charles Square’.

They were also joined by the Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers, a group of tribal singers from the area local to the festival’s Mojave Desert, California setting.

You can find highlights from their full set here, and for more live updates as it happens, check out NME’s liveblog for Coachella 2024 here.

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