Blur - No Distance Left To Run [DVD] [2009]

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Artist: Damon Albarn
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Release Date: 15 February 2010

Record Label: EMI Music

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Sales Rank: 7500

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Customer Reviews:

What happens when the gang grows up? (22 March 2010)
The Blur reunion of 2009 passed me by to be honest. I was there at the time - the middle nineties - and it was OK, but not amazing. Now, it has been recast as a moment of historical significance, a cultural zeitgeist, and how does this differ from any other generation reclaiming their childhoods? This was the normality we lived in, the world we occupied, and nothing was static, the future was racing ahead, and I'm not really for nostalgia.

With the event being postscript, it's always easy to recast this as far more important than it really is : the swift glossing over of the post-Graham "Think Tank" album, and the historically inaccurate news reports that stalinised this out of history makes you wonder - what else in this Warts'N'All doc is missing? Aside from the rampant drug use which is quietly avoided, and the Blair/Blur coalition of 1997, there isn't much obviously absent.

If anything, being in a group is just a grown-up version of being in a gang, the four or five lads that would hang on street corners, ask strangers to buy cigarettes, and instead of handpainting your Warcraft figures or pulling The Best Wheelie Evah, instead you pick up a guitar as a weapon and try to escape the inevitable life in the suburbs.

In this band of personalities, what stands out miles ahead of everything is is that Damon Albarn is a complete and utter prat : brandishing a cardboard chicken head for Top Of The Pops, arrogantly dismissing the Britpop years that gave him millions with sly disdain, an air of I-was-an-avant-garde-artist-trapped-in-a-pop-group, brandishing quotes that make it absolutely clear this 19 year old boy had no idea what he was talking about, or dressed in hunting jodphurs for a television appearance, one gets the feeling that Damon is, above and beyond all other things, an egotistical pretentious cluckmonkey who is both ashamed and proud of this silly little pop band and desperate to be taken seriously as the amazing artist he just isn't quite capable of being. The live footage that sees him clamouring for recognition and at the same time trying and failing to be above it is odd and I just want to shake him and tell him to relax and enjoy it. The other thing that is obvious is that Damon is always acting : either at being an artist or a cockney, or a gambler, or whatever. An artist needs to let go of whatever perceptions other hold in order to be true : you can't be honest when you're scared of looking uncool. Damon acts as a character called "Damon Albarn" through much of the footage with glimpses of prissy and arrogant ego peeking through at frequent intervals with an exasperated air of aloofness when it comes to rehearsals and photoshoots.

The rest of the band roll through the reunion as one would expect - Graham Coxon is the fabulous straight man foil to the rest of the excess, a remarkably sharp auteur - whilst Alex and Dave look merely staggered just to be here and that Damon relented with his ego enough to let everyone else be in the band for a few weeks again.

When a band reforms - and there are few that haven't by now, being The Smiths and... um, that's it - it's a strange feeling. The men that might have been heroes once who are now office workers, commuters, lawyers, cheese makers or pretentious moneyed faux-artistes, and here they are, co-ordinating time off work and holidays to have their two weeks in the sun for a hefty paycheque. What shines through Blur's "No Distance Left To Run" is that firstly, this was and is a band made of strained friends : albeit now estranged and distant whose severed friendship, soured largely by contractual obligation, ego, and time, is brought together again by a common moment - old RAF vets meeting in a field in Kent, VW enthusiasts, or whatever - and to celebrate what once was.

The eye of the storm, the crazed, hormonal teenagers that terrified anyone with the slightest shred of sanity left, permeate the middle of the film. Whilst in the centre of this, the rest of the band bemusedly hold on and try to make it to the end. At the time, to me, the OasisBlur war seemed very childish and stupid - why can't two great bands co-exist in the same space and the same time?

Thankfully, there is a strong juxtaposition of some fabulous cinematography that captures a glimpse of a Britain that millions occupy yet is silent in the headlines and the cinema screens, merged to vigorous live footage that captures the equasion of a combined band being much more than the sum of the parts. The second DVD is chock full of live footage from the reunion tour which is ideal for jumping around the bedroom too.

In retrospect, which this documentary is, is all about one thing alone : age, and time. The way we look at who we were then, how we retrospectively make sense of what didn't at the time, how our relationships and our personalities change and evolve, and the world moves around us. And that there is sometimes no distance left to run.

can t say anything (22 March 2010)
unfortunately it's been a looooong time and I don't have my items yet so i can't review them.

Bloody Brilliant! (19 March 2010)
Long overdue. Amazing high energy reunion captured in the park where "Parklife" was penned. As the sun sets & the moon rises Blur pumps out hit after hit. The documentary answers all questions & shows the band gearing up for the big show. Special appearances by "Jimmy" from Quadrophenia. I've watched it over & over & it gets better & better every time.

No distance left to ... happiness ! (14 March 2010)
Whoah ! What a comeback ! After some years without Blur, this live DVD is a must have for anyone, fan or just listener. A strong sound and a nice picture, giving the real atmosphere ...

2nd July 2009 Hyde Park London (07 March 2010)
Just a quick line or two. A must purchase for any real blur fan, a high quality well produced set featuring some of the best blur gig footage around. This DVD features a documentary on disc 1 and the whole of the Thursday 2nd July 2009 Hyde Park gig on the second. I haven't watched the documentary fully yet but just letting you know there is no footage of the 3rd July gig to be found here. So if you went to the Friday gig you're out of luck. Those lucky enough to attend the Thursday gig will find an incredible and well produced concert DVD with a tonne of crowd footage to play where's wally looking for themself. You can see yours truly clearly at 15min39secs in a purple t-shirt rubbing my hair. Watching this brought back great memories of last summer and gave me a different perspective on what could be the last time I/we get to see blur live.