Blur have pulled out of a headline slot at France’s Festival Beauregard this week due to an injury to Dave Rowntree – leaving their comeback Wembley Stadium shows in doubt this weekend.
The Charmless Man hitmakers were scheduled to perform at the music festival in Château de Beauregard on Thursday, but the drummer suffered a knee injury last weekend.
In a translation from French, a post on the Festival Beauregard Twitter account read: ‘The bad news has just fallen: Blur will not be able to perform their concert in Beauregard.
‘Dave Rowntree, the drummer, was injured this weekend and must rest for future shows’
Royal Blood will take Blur’s place at the French festival.
Oh no: Blur have pulled out of a headline slot at France’s Festival Beauregard this week due to an injury to Dave Rowntree – leaving their comeback Wembley Stadium shows in doubt this weekend
Tough: The Charmless Man hitmakers were scheduled to perform at the music festival in Château de Beauregard on Thursday, but the drummer suffered a knee injury last weekend
Blur are due to perform at Wembley this Saturday and Sunday.
The Girls and Boys group – also made up of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, and Alex James – are yet to comment on the injury or the festival date.
Their representative has been contacted by MailOnline for comment.
Alex recently told how he cried when Blur – whose last headline shows came in 2015 – sold out Wembley Stadium in two minutes.
He told Red magazine: ‘You never really know until you put a show on sale if anyone is interested. It’s really emotional.
‘I’m absolutely delighted that it’s all back on and I love them all dearly like brothers.’
When he’s not with the band, Alex is kept busy on the farm he lives on with wife Claire and their five children, but he admitted the adjustment between the two very different lifestyles can be tricky.
He laughed: ‘The last time I went away, I dropped the kids at school and flew to Mexico City, where there were thousands of people waiting for us at the airport and hotel.
‘When we got to the venue –a stadium – it was huge.
News: In a translation from French, a post on the Festival Beauregard Twitter account read: ‘The bad news has just fallen: Blur will not be able to perform their concert in Beauregard’
Silent: The Girls and Boys group – also made up of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, and Alex James – are yet to comment on the injury or the festival date (throwback pictured)
Popular: Blur formed in London in 1988 and the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree (seen in 2015)
‘But afterwards, you get home and you have to wash up and the kids are like, ‘Dad, stop being a w*****.’ ‘
Although the London-based band have never formally split, Blur announced they were taking a break again seven years ago, shortly after the release of their last album The Magic Whip.
And last November, Damon didn’t shut down the idea of a band reunion in an interview with NME.
The musician, 54, admitted that despite being very busy, nothing was ruled out – but didn’t want to ‘foist’ the reunion on anyone unnecessarily.
‘When it happens, I’ll be made up. When it’s wanted, I’ll do it,’ he said.
The singer-songwriter, who came onto the music scene in 1998 when Blur was formed, is also a member of alternative band Gorillaz.
Wishes: It comes after last November Damon didn’t shut down the idea of a band reunion in an interview with NME (Damon pictured above performing in France 2018)
Damon said he was of the belief that music is ‘ill’ – and has been left to the back of the line since the pandemic began – but he was optimistic about Gorillaz’ new music.
‘I’ve been working on carnival-themed music with Gorillaz with a lot of people from west London.
‘We’re really going back to the spirit of the first record,’ he revealed.
Their first self-titled record, released in 2001, reached number 3 on the UK charts and was so successful it earned them a Guinness Book of World Record Entry for ‘most successful virtual band’.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk