Blur’s Graham Coxon sat down with GQ for a new interview and opened up about his bandmate Damon Albarn’s reaction to the Coachella audience.
In the interview, the rocker shared his thoughts on being on the road and on the stage and supported his bandmate’s comments against the Coachella audience. He said:
“I like making albums. I’m perfectly happy on stage, but sometimes, like at Coachella or something, it’s taken you 14 hours to get there, and then you’re playing to people who don’t give a shit. They’re looking at you like ‘who’s this old git?’”
Coxon also shared the simplest way to make a musician happy in the audience:
“I love an audience that are smiling their heads off and having a great time, because you’re doing it for them. And if I see audiences of people that are bored, like maybe Coachella, I just do it for myself.”
How Did Albarn React?
It all started when Albarn didn’t get the reaction he expected from the Coachella audience.
Blur began with ‘St. Charles Square’ and played their hits throughout their set but the crowd’s energy wasn’t what he hoped for. Albarn got frustrated trying to get them to sing along during ‘Girls & Boys.’
He wanted them to shout ‘ow ow ow’ during the chorus, but hardly anyone did. He threatened to leave the stage but tried again on the next chorus. When the crowd didn’t change, he yelled:
“You’ll never see us again, so you might as well f*cking sing it.”
Fans on social media were upset about the situation. However, they were upset with the Coachella crowd and not with Albarn’s reaction.
You can see the fan-recorded video of the moment below.