Blur drummer Dave Rowntree on the ‘bucketlist’ Wembley Stadium comeback gig that was ‘hard to turn down’
Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has told Sky News that playing Wembley Stadium is a “bucketlist” dream that was “hard to turn down”.
Speaking shortly after the Britpop band made the announcement that they will play a one-off UK show at the venue in 2023, the musician revealed that organising the gig had gone “right up to the wire”.
Taking place in July, the show will bring Rowntree back together with his Blur bandmates Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Alex James for their first headline performance since 2015 – and their first ever gig at the England football team’s home.
Albarn and Rowntree pictured on Top Of The Pops in 2003. Pic: AP/Mark Allan
Rowntree said the show has been a long time in the making.
“Turns out it’s incredibly difficult to arrange something like this, you know, the technical resources, the staff, the places to play. All of these things are in very, very short supply.
“So it went right up to the wire, but it’s very hard to turn something like that down.
“We’re a band that’s done almost everything it’s possible to do… what an iconic place, what an iconic venue. It’s just incredibly exciting.”
Rowntree, who is also a former Labour councillor, said that while Blur played Wembley Arena back in the day, Wembley Stadium – which has a capacity of around 90,000 – would be a first.
“It’s one of these iconic places that are secretly up on your bucketlist, even though you pretend they’re not,” he said, adding: “I sincerely hope we are a band that can fill a stadium like that. I don’t want there to be four people and a dog.”
The Battle of Britpop
Blur rose to fame in the 1990s, releasing debut album Leisure in 1991 followed by Modern Life Is Rubbish in 1993, before really breaking through with third album Parklife in 1994.
Featuring singles including Girls & Boys, End Of A Century and the titular Parklife, it was the first in a series of five successive number one albums and a string of hit singles – including Country House, Charmless Man, Beetlebum, Song 2, Tender and Coffee & TV – which helped shape British music in that decade.
In 1995, the release of Country House on the same day as Roll With It, by rivals Oasis, spawned the “Battle of Britpop” – with Blur winning that first round as they claimed the number one spot in the UK charts.
More than 30 years since they formed, Rowntree joked that Blur are now “kind of embarrassing granddads” in music but said he was looking forward to playing the hits once again.
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“You only get to play for an hour and a half at these big shows so almost all of [that] is going to be full of songs that people won’t let us out of the stadium if we don’t play,” he said. “But I think we’ll try to squeeze a few surprises in there.
“I think once we didn’t play Song 2 and the audience refused to go home. They felt short-changed.”
Rowntree said that even after so many years, the nerves can still be there.
“The nerves these days come about half an hour before a show,” he said. “I go from sort of relaxed, kind of sitting around reading a book, to suddenly sitting bolt upright a half an hour before [the] show, pacing the room and kind of suddenly going, ‘Oh my God! What if I can’t remember the songs?'”
And while he says the bandmates “don’t go and hang around each other’s houses every night like we used to”, they are still good friends and support each other.
“Damon’s always doing loads of interesting stuff. Alex has got a great festival we all troop out to every year, and Graham’s got all kinds of stuff on the go as well.
“We all live in different areas of the country now, so it’s really nice to see each other when we do hang out.”
Fans can catch them hanging out at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 8 July, with artists including British rapper Slowthai, Mercury Prize nominee Self Esteem and London-based electro-pop duo Jockstrap also on the bill.
Tickets go on sale on Friday 18 November at 10am.
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John David Washington says he felt like he had to conceal his desire to act because of the external expectations of him being the child of Denzel and Pauletta Washington.
He tells Sky News it took some time for him to pursue an acting career, choosing football instead to assert his “independence” and create his own “identity” separate from his famous family.
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life… but I was hiding it,” he said.
“I had to conceal that passion based on my relationship to the world and more specifically, my folks being in the industry, so I chose ball.
“I loved ball, but I was sort of hiding my love for the arts under a helmet – literally an American football helmet – and so when I wanted to become an actor, when I decided to pursue it, that was a big shock to some people.”
The 40-year-old actor says when he decided to pursue an acting career, he kept the decision quiet.
“Some people didn’t know I was even pursuing it professionally until I got a job,” he said.
John David with fellow actor Danielle Deadwyler. Pic: David Lee/ Netflix
Since switching to acting, John David has starred in a number of notable roles including the protagonist in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Ron Stallworth in BlacKkKlansman and Joshua in The Creator.
He also led the stage revival of the 2022 Tony-nominated play The Piano Lesson on Broadway alongside Samuel L Jackson.
“He [Jackson] originated the role [I play] in 1987 at Yale with Lloyd Richards and August Wilson,” John David said.
“So it was of great importance for us to learn from both he and Michael Potts about August Wilson. It was a great blessing for me, I think, for all of us to have him present on set.”
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The Piano Lesson is the third August Wilson play to be adapted for the screen by Denzel Washington’s production company Mundy Lane Entertainment.
It is part of a pledge made by the Gladiator II actor to make all 10 of the playwright’s works into films.
The Netflix project is directed by another Washington family member, Malcolm, and stars most of the cast from the Broadway revival.
The Piano Lesson is Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut. Pic: Katia Washington/ Netflix
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the film centres on a family heirloom, a piano, that is etched with the carvings of their family history made by their enslaved ancestor.
Malcolm says he started reading the play for the first time during the pandemic and immediately wanted to be involved in the film adaptation.
“I think with this movie, reclamation of story and identity is so central to the theme and it’s something that’s central to my life where I both acknowledge the fertile ground that I was raised on and who I am today.
“That’s what Wining Boy [played by Michael Potts] really is trying to do, he’s trying to build on that legacy, so that’s a story that really resonated with me.”
The filmmaker added: “I take all the gifts that my ancestors laid in front of me, and I’m trying to build something for the next generation to pass down – all of their gifts, plus mine to the next generation and let them build on it.”
Malcolm has dedicated his directorial debut to his mother, Pauletta Washington. Pic: David Lee/Netflix
Malcolm says his goal was to put family at the forefront of the production. By dedicating his feature debut to “Mama”, he is acknowledging the dedication and sacrifices that mothers make for the growth of their families.
“There’s so much pointing to my mother in particular, who inspired this adaptation so much. I see so much of her life in Berniece’s character [played by Danielle Deadwyler] – and that became a guiding light for me in this adaptation,” he said.
“As we made this thing and started reconnecting with our ancestors, my mum became like a kind of representative of them.
“She’s the matriarch of our family. She tells me about my grandparents and great-grandparents and the line that I come from, and I see them in her.
“And when the movie ends, I want people to kind of have that moment of reflection for their own lives. So in dedicating it to her, I was trying to dedicate it to all mums everywhere.”
The Piano Lesson is now available on Netflix.
Blockbuster Wicked has landed the largest opening weekend of 2024 at Vue International.
The film, starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, surpassed both Gladiator II and Paddington In Peru.
It has also had the largest opening weekend for a stage musical adaptation in the cinema chain’s history.
A boss for Vue International said it had seen a “sea of pink and green” over the weekend.
Ariana Grande (left) as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in the film. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Released on Friday, Wicked is up 60% on Les Miserables’ opening weekend in 2012 and three times larger than the 2022 film adaptation of Matilda.
Founder and chief executive of Vue International Tim Richards said: “Vue has seen a sea of pink and green over the opening weekend of Wicked, which has shown continued high demand for the big screen experience.
“We saw record-breaking pre-sales for Wicked, followed by a chart-topping opening weekend – the biggest for 2024.”
The film is the first of two parts, with the second expected in November next year.
Wicked and Gladiator II – known together as Glicked – have reportedly failed to beat out Barbenheimer, Barbie and Oppenheimer, in its own opening weekend last summer.
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Glicked brought in £215m in worldwide ticket sales – with Wicked making the majority of that.
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