BRITPOP'S big day out in Dublin on Saturday was shadowed by cloudy skies, but nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the teenage hordes who came to see Damon and his muckers playing outdoors in the RDS. Blur - seem to have been lumbered with a predominantly female, adolescent audience, but as Damon leads the crowd in another sing along a Blur song, he doesn't seem to mind one bit. In fact, as he lies supine on the stage for the final notes of The Universal, the lad from Colchester is positively beaming.
Blur opened their account with the suburban satire of Stereotypes, getting things off to a suitably sleazy start by reminding us that "wifeswopping is your future, you know that it would suit yer." Charmless Man didn't have such dubious delights to look forward to, but the crowd joined in happily on this louche lament.
No Blur gig is complete without a guest appearance by one of Damon's chums, and Terry Hall did the honours for a version of The Specials Nightclub, which gave the band and the brass section a chance to skank out on stage. The set ended with the gentle, undulating This Is A Low, during which clouds of green, white and orange smoke paid homage to Blur's loyal Irish audience.
Parklife provided one last burst of exuberance before the lush, evocative finale of The Universal. Yes, it really, really, really did happen, and although Blur's music may be somewhat trapped within its own stylistic walls, it certainly comes into its own in the great outdoors.
