Blur to play Hong Kong concert in July
Britpop foursome who recorded most of their latest album in city after playing here in 2013 return to Convention and Exhibition Centre
Just two months after they announced a comeback album that was recorded mainly in Hong Kong, Britpop icons Blur have revealed they will be performing at the Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 22.
The revitalised band made their first performance in Hong Kong in May 2013, and decided to stick around and record what eventually became their eighth studio album, The Magic Whip, the band's guitarist Graham Coxon told the South China Morning Post in February.
"It just came up. The management said: 'Look, the shows in Japan have fallen through', and [singer] Damon [Albarn] said, 'It might be rather nice, rather than just going home and coming back, to give the crew a few days off and find a local studio.'”
The Magic Whip, to be released on April 27, was heavily influenced by the Hong Kong environment in which it was recorded and its connections to Chinese culture run deep.
It sports cover art in the style of a Hong Kong signboard, written in Chinese and the video for its first single, Go Out, features a Chinese woman making an ice cream like the one depicted on the album cover, with subtitled cooking instructions in Chinese.
Even the name of the album has a Chinese inspiration: it comes from the wrapper of a Chinese-made firework bought by singer and frontman Damon Albarn.
Tickets to the show, ranging from HK$480 to HK$1,080, will go on sale via HK Ticketing on April 20.
