The Bluetones bring the curtain down on their career with homecoming London show

The Bluetones wrapped up their 18 year career with a homecoming gig in London last night (September 27).


The four piece, who consisted of Mark Morriss, Adam Devlin, Scott Morriss and Eds Chesters, were formed in nearby Hounslow in 1993 and brought the curtain down with a career spanning set at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. The band decided to call it a day earlier this year with a farewell tour after six studio albums.


Kicking off the show with ‘Unpainted Arizona’, it wasn’t long before Morriss drew attention to the fact that tonight was their last ever UK show. “The penny has only dropped in the last 10 minutes that this is actually it,” he told the crowd before he joked. “But we’ve had enough. There will be tears but that will come after the show. Now it’s time to celebrate.”



The band were greeted with football chants of ‘Bluetones’, ‘Bluetones’ throughout the set as they rolled off hits from their back catalogue including ‘Cut Some Rug’, ‘Bluetonic’ and their biggest UK single ‘Slight Return’, which peaked at Number Two in 1996.


Introducing the track, Morriss said: ‘Ladies and gentleman, this was our most popular song in Poland which is a shame because we never got a chance to go out there which is one of the most disappointing moments in our career.” You can watch footage of ‘Slight Return’ by scrolling down and clicking below.

The band wrapped up the show with two encores the first of which saw Morriss sing and clap a few bars from Queen’s ‘Radio Ga Ga’ during ‘If…’ before the band returned to throw flowers into the crowd.


Signing off with ‘A Parting Gesture’, Morriss added: There’s really nothing left to say. You take care of yourselves because we’re not going to be able to anymore. Thank you very much, we were The Bluetones.
The Bluetones played:




‘Unpainted Arizona’
‘Zorrro’
‘Surrendered’
‘Fast Boy’
‘Autophilia Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Car’
‘Tiger Lily’
‘Cut Some Rug’
‘Bluetonic’
‘A New Athens’
‘Sleazy Bed Track’
‘After Hours’
‘Keep The Home Fires Burning’
‘Solomon Bites The Worm’
‘Marblehead Johnson’
‘One Speed Gearbox’
‘Slight Return’
‘Never Going Nowhere’
‘Slack Jaw’
‘I Was A Teenage Jesus’
‘If….’
‘Emily’s Pine’
‘A Parting Gesture’