Alex James hints BRIT Awards gig may be Blur’s last

1. Alex James has hinted Blur’s performance at the BRIT Awards could be their last ever show.
   The bass player for the group – who will be honoured with an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the spectacle tomorrow night (21.02.12) – confirmed the ‘Parklife’ hitmakers will perform five tracks at the event, and he’s more interested in playing with the band again than winning an accolade.
   Writing in The Sun newspaper, Alex explained: “There is always a feeling that this may be Blur’s last bow, which I suppose makes it all the more exciting.
   “We’ve been asked to perform five songs. I met up with the band last week and we discussed what we will play.
   “I’m more excited about playing a few of the old hits again than winning. Winning prizes is nothing compared to the feeling of playing music.
   “But as I learned before it’s not what I think about winning a BRIT that really counts. It’s the effect that picking up one of those gongs has around the rest of the world that matters.
   “I’m so excited. I thought I was a footballer who’d played his last big game but suddenly I’m in the FA Cup final.”
   Alex – who is in the group alongside guitarist Graham Coxon, singer Damon Albarn and drummer Dave Rowntree – is “so proud” of his bandmates’ achievements in their time away from Blur, and he still feels their performances mirror their “early days” in the 1990s.
   He added: “Pulling the band back together is like reassembling the A-Team for one last job. I’m a cheesemaker now.
   “As much as we loved Blur, if you do anything day in, day out for 15 years, it becomes a job. We all needed to go our separate ways and do other things with our lives.
   “Now when we play together, it’s for the joy of it, like in our early days. I’m so proud of what my bandmates have achieved.”
   Last night (19.02.12), the group – who have been largely defunct since 2003, apart from a series of one-off shows in 2009 – unveiled a new song, entitled ‘Under The Westway’, during a fundraising gig at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
   The piano-led track is their first piece of new material since 2010 hit ‘Fool’s Day’.