Album Review: Blur - Parklive

Too often the only differentiating factor between live recordings and a studio version is the obligatory audience roar in the background. Parklive is not unlike 2009's All The People – both recorded in Hyde Park in London in summertime. Yet this time the atmosphere is different; the energy emanating from Parklive is euphoric and mostly patriotic. Which makes perfect sense considering the performance is taken from Blur's headlining spot at the London Olympics Closing Ceremony concert.

The band sound animated and excellently recorded from the moment that infamous Girls & Boys refrain sounds, Damon Albarn's Essex drawl still audible over thousands of screaming voices. The setlist indulges Anglophilia, with London Loves getting a resounding cheer as Albarn calls for the crowd to shout the city's name passionately. The other stunning factor is that audience: the crowd was so vast that the echoes can be heard in waves, as the sound would've travelled to one end of the park and back to the stage.

The softer moments are intangibly sweet; Out Of Time introduced with a brief political aside, Tender being led by the audience rather than the band, and a rare live performance of Sing, on which the piano is heart-wrenchingly powerful. Fans will be pleased with what will be the first official live recordings of old B-side Young And Lovely and the newbie, Under The Westway, the latter getting an unexpected singalong given how soon after its release this was.

Parklive is, of course, a snapshot in time: the summer when London blossomed under the Olympics banner, when every word Blur had ever sung of their fine country perfectly fitted the moment.