Live: Blur

Goldsmiths College, London

"WOO-HOO!" yells Blur singer Damon Albarn in their hit Song 2.

And it's a sentiment shared by the 500 fans lucky enough to get a ticket for one of seven tiny gigs the reformed Britpop legends played before their proper comeback headlining Glastonbury tonight.

Touring with guitarist Graham Coxon for the first time since 1999, their songs are performed even louder and faster than in their heyday - showing the fans, half of whom are too young to have seen Blur first time round, that their comeback isn't a quick cash-in.

Fierce

Albarn is especially fierce, snarling Girls And Boys with a look implying he'll offer the front rows out for a fight if they don't sing along.

He orders everyone to pogo during Sunday Sunday, before leaping into the crowd in the rapid-fire Advert.

Like his bandmates, Albarn seems to have discovered eternal youth since they last played. Looking all of 25, bassist Alex James poses magnificently throughout. Dave Rowntree - last heard of finishing fourth in his bid to be elected as a Labour town councillor - batters any frustration he has at the voters into his drums.

Most touching of all are the goofy grins Coxon shares with his once- estranged mates, his smile as big as Glastonbury itself. David Walliams watches from the side of the stage with a look of happiness he usually reserves for his harem of admirers, but he loses out in the celeb fan stakes to Jude Law - pogoing down the front, as he sweats like Kerry Katona in a spelling test.

The punky pace means there's time for virtually all the hits in the show. Even Country House, the No 1 the band quickly disowned as being too cheesy, is played to affectionate cheers. There's no let up with the album tracks, as Trimm Trabb and the ferocious Jubilee cause pandemonium.

The Universal is the ideal song to end on, its tranquillity letting fans catch their breath.

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