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" After storming Hyde Park on the comeback trail in 2009, Blur returned this summer to mark the end of the London 2012 Olympics. Great band, great support, a bit of sunshine and a fantastic vibe were all present and correct. If only you could hear the bloody thing! Nearly a month after the Paul McCartney/Bruce Springsteen controversy, a park full of buzzed up fans were left wanting by what sounded like Modern Life Is Rubbish being blared out of a couple of Walkman speakers at a &amp;#039;90s picnic. So, Parklive is better than actually being there. The volume&amp;#039;s been jammed up, but the sound is otherwise untwiddled. Despite the intricate flourishes on the band&amp;#039;s later records, it&amp;#039;s all nicely rough and ready in the playing. This stuff still has edges. With a couple of quibbles, the setlist is spot-on. If you have to do something gloomy, &amp;#039;Battery In Your Leg&amp;#039; would have been a better bet than &amp;#039;No Distance Left To Run&amp;#039; - and the inexplicably-popular &amp;#039;Tender&amp;#039; is seemingly strung out forever. An opening barrage of four tracks from the genre-defining Parklife get us primed, before a sweep of Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave&amp;#039;s best bits. Coxon doesn&amp;#039;t even look too narked to join in on &amp;#039;Country House&amp;#039;, before Phil Daniels and tea lady Harry Enfield have some fun with &amp;#039;Parklife&amp;#039;. The once-throwaway B-side &amp;#039;Young &amp;amp; Lovely&amp;#039; apparently has some weighty meaning to these guys two decades on, but along with of-a-moment tracks like &amp;#039;Colin Zeal&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;Beetlebum&amp;#039;, it sounds as fresh as ever. &amp;#039;Out of Time&amp;#039; is improved by oud player Khyam Allami and the vibe is undiminished by Damon&amp;#039;s Bono-ing (&amp;quot;I just want you to spare a thought for all those people who because of the situation in their country weren&amp;#039;t allowed to compete in the Olympics - tell &amp;#039;em you love them!&amp;quot;) Albarn&amp;#039;s vocals on &amp;#039;Caramel&amp;#039; (&amp;quot;Where is the magic?/ I&amp;#039;ve gotta get better&amp;quot;), &amp;#039;This Is A Low&amp;#039; (&amp;quot;When you are alone/ It will be there with you&amp;quot;), &amp;#039;Sing (&amp;quot;I can&amp;#039;t feel / Cos I am numb&amp;quot;) and &amp;#039;End of a Century&amp;#039; (lyrics tweaked to &amp;quot;as you get closer... to 50&amp;quot;) are dripping the sort of aching, bittersweet nostalgia and regret/hope that underlined Britpop&amp;#039;s most tear-jerking moments.  And if swirling memories of the once-in-a-lifetime Olympics mingled with a couple of hours of London-centric hits weren&amp;#039;t enough to get the tears flowing, the final double-header of &amp;#039;For Tomorrow&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;The Universal&amp;#039; header is probably enough to push anyone over the edge. To be played at maximum volume.  Watch the Blur Parklive trailer below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/album-reviews/review/a441798/blur-parklive-album-review/>