Blur at Hyde Park July 2nd 2009

When Blur announced their plans of a reunion, the Hyde Park shows were the first gigs announced, bassist Alex James wondered whether they could sell them out in their nineties pomp never mind now. He need not have worried as 55,000 crammed into the 350 acre park as Blur took on the mantle of the people's band they always shied away from at the end of the 1990's.

Arriving on stage at 8.20pm they kicked off with their debut single She's So High, which was something of a stunted opener, but was to prove a false dawn to a set which was one big jamboree. The show really opened with indie disco classic Girls and Boys, which despite the heat had rows of people bouncing a common occurence throughout as Blur played a lot of the back catologue with a ferocity that many had forgotten.

Parklife album favourites Tracy Jacks and Jubilee were dusted off with Albarn spitting venom at anyone who thought he couldn't handle being a frontman on a grand stage once again. After an early blast the pace was slowed for mass singalongs Beetlebum, Tender and Out of Time. It was when Blur charged into Country House a song that they spent years being embarrased by, but now seemed to embrace it realising that it is a quintessential Blur anthem, which sparked a joyous moshpit that Blur realised how much they had seeped into the nation's psyche.

Despite the baking conditions neither band or crowd were waning physically, especially not when Phil Daniels came onstage to sing a riotous Parklife. Daniels was captivating in his brief cameo, clearly a recent stint on Eastenders has helped his acting skills.

Finishing the main set with This is A Low seemed appropiate, before they returned for two very different encores. The first was a turbo charged triple blast of Popscene, Advert and then Song 2 which was song that moshpits were meant for with dust off the grass flying everywhere bringing the first encore to a frenzied close.

Encore two saw Blur chilling with Death of a Party followed by the epic For Tomorrow and then The Universal which brought things to a spine tingling climax. There was sense that we had witnessed one of Britain's greatest bands reclaiming their position as such, we were all part of a piece of Rock n Roll History. Even if Blur never record a new album their legacy is intact and 55,000 will testify to that.