Watch: Blur storm back - in an engine shed

NINETIES supergroup Blur have returned to their roots with an astonishing concert in a converted railway goods shed on the Suffolk/Essex border.

The recently-reformed band combined their first warm-up gig with an emotional homecoming in Chappel, where they played to an intimate audience made up of their friends, their parents, their children, their nephews and nieces and a lucky handful of fans.

The reunited group, who performed their first ever gig as Seymour at the same venue 21 years ago, had the small crowd at the East Anglian Railway Museum po-going and flailing from the opening number.

Only 150 tickets had been made available for the concert, the profit from which will be split between local causes - the railway museum itself and the nearby Aldham Village Hall Restoration Project.

But with some being distributed through a raffle - for which tickets cost �5 - it is hoped many thousands of pounds have been raised.

It was shortly after 8pm on Saturday when the assembled fans were ushered into the shed by Damon Albarn, the band's enigmatic frontman.

“If you could make your way into the hall,” Damon said to the audience after the band left their changing room - a former railway carriage - and made their way to the stage, above which hung a railway sign for Harold Wood.

Within seconds, Blur launched into a rousing opener, the band's first ever single, She's So High.

They went on to rip through a 28-song setlist, including seminal 1990's hits Girls and Boys, Park Life and - with guitarist Graham Coxon on lead vocals - Coffee and TV.

The band gave in to adoring pressure from the audience to play the rarely-performed Essex Dogs, in honour of the county.

Mick Terry, 40, an old friend of guitarist Graham Coxon, said; “It was like going back in time.

“The nearest thing I can compare it to was when they played the Hacienda in Manchester in 1990 - they were tight, they had a really electric presence and they were clearly enjoying it. It was also very hot.

“The only difference was that here they had a vastly improved set list, with all the stuff they went on to do later as well.”

Blur are now set to play warm-ups in Southend, Newcastle, Wolverhampton and London before their summer comeback concerts at Hyde Park, the MEN Arena and Glastonbury.

BLUR SETLIST, EAST ANGLIAN RAILWAY MUSEUM, JUNE 13 2009:

She's So High,

Girls And Boys,

Tracy Jacks,

There's No Other Way,

Jubilee,

Badhead,

Beetlebum,

Trimm Trabb,

Coffee & TV,

Tender,

Country House,

Charmless Man,

Colin Zeal,

Oily Water,

Chemical World,

Sunday Sunday,

Parklife,

End Of A Century,

To The End,

This Is A Low,

Popscene,

Advert,

Song 2,

Out Of Time,

Battery In Your Leg,

Essex Dogs,

For Tomorrow,

The Universal

Click here to watch Blur perform Coffee and TV at their comeback gig