Damon Albarn, the charismatic frontman of Blur, left the crowd at Wembley Stadium dumbfounded as he took the stage clad in an impeccably replicated Fila tracksuit jacket. This iconic red and black coat had achieved immortality after its memorable appearance in the music video for Blur’s 1994 smash hit, “Girls and Boys.”
In the 1990s Britpop scene, the Italian sportswear giant Fila became synonymous with the band, and the vintage 1980s Fila Velour tracktop emerged as the holy grail for ardent fans. Lately, Albarn has witnessed a resurgence of Fila fashion, regularly performing in tracksuit tops and sporting vintage poloshirts from the brand.
The anticipation among Blur fans at Wembley reached fever pitch when the 55-year-old frontman vanished from the stage at the beginning of “Girls and Boys,” only to reappear wearing the iconic Fila top. Addressing the crowd, Albarn declared, “So, I mean, for those who care, this is the original Fila – well, it’s not the original, we couldn’t find it – thank you to Fila for recreating it. What a wonderful thing to lose something and have a whole business recreate it.”
Returning to the spotlight with a resounding bang, Blur enthralled an audience of 140,000 over two nights at Wembley, headlining a show in the United Kingdom for the first time since 2015. The band, composed of Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James, and drummer Dave Rowntree, is now gearing up for the release of their highly anticipated ninth studio album.
Albarn expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to perform before the Wembley crowd, stating in an interview with ITV News, “It’s amazing for Graham and me to sit here, having started off in our little humble Portakabin in Colchester at the age of 12 and to be here, thank you very much everybody.”