Blur
(The Palace; 1,200 capacity; $ 16.50 top)
Band: Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, Dave Rowntree.
Lifting much from its SBK Records debut, "Leisure," the band alternated between urgent, catchy songs of love won and lost and less enthralling, semi-faceless numbers that came across as filler.
Blur's style fits somewhere between the pop-sensible Ride and the boundary-less ravings of Happy Mondays. Like similar outfits, Blur's best moments come when the band plays more frantic, energetic material.
"Come Together" was much more raw than its recorded version, almost Midnight Oil-ish, while alternative-radio hit "There's No Other Way," with its lengthy, feedback-heavy ending, actually woke the drowsy crowd.
The mellow-paced "She's So High" and the aptly titled "Repetition" were lowlights. The band appears to need a great deal more road experience before it's regarded as any sort of live attraction.
Singer Damon Albarn's stage moves were limited to random, Morrisey-like flailings, while his bandmates appeared more concerned with not bumping into each other than in delivering an even semi-interesting concert.
Variety is striving to present the most thorough review database. To report inaccuracies in review credits, please click here. We do not currently list below-the-line credits, although we hope to include them in the future. Please note we may not respond to every suggestion. Your assistance is appreciated.
