Now if you don’t know Alex James’ Britpop Classical, then get to know – luckily I’m here to tell you all.
As a self-confessed Britpop-Indie Queen, I had very high expectations, mainly because Britpop is just a bloody good era of music and whilst it’s easy to get it wrong, you can’t really go wrong with the Britpop classics from the 90’s that we know and love, plus – it’s created by Alex James of Blur fame for crying out loud – he was (and still is!) a key part of the UK Britpop phenomonom.
The backdrop of the Oval Hall at Sheffield City Hall ahead of Alex James Britpop Classical – March 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
To explain the concept – I take it directly from the official website itself:
“Alex James’ Britpop Classical brings the unforgettable anthems of the 90s to life, fusing the raw energy of the era’s biggest hits, with the breathtaking power of a full orchestra.
Led by Blur’s Alex James with cameos from some very special guests, this unique concert reimagines the songs that defined a generation, delivering an electrifying blend of melodies and stunning classical arrangements.
Featuring a live band alongside the orchestra, Britpop’s definitive songs take on a new dimension. From the infectious energy of Blur and Oasis to the rebellious spirit of Pulp and Supergrass, every track is elevated to soaring new heights.”
Well if you’re still not intrigued (what’s wrong with you?) then read on…
The night started off with a DJ – not just your bog standard DJ of course, purely Britpop and Indie to get people warmed up of course – which it did just that!
He was taking requests but he had most definitely researched his audience, playing the likes of “Do You Remember The First Time?” by Pulp, as well as “Heavyweight Champion Of The World” by Reverend and the Makers and “I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor” by Arctic Monkeys, which of course is perfect for a Sheffield crowd!
He also injected the likes of “Sit Down” by James, Underworld’s “Born Slippy” and of course you had to have a bit of Stone Roses in there with “I Am The Resurrection”, making it one big Indie-Britpop disco, which was perfect to warm the crowd up!
And you know what? there were people of all ages and it was a sea of parkas, adidas, pretty green, band t-shirts and even the odd bucket hat, but the one thing we all had in common is that we clearly loved a defining era of music.
On came the man himself and the crowd were stood ready and waiting!
Alex and the band wasted no time in getting started, as him and his band and orchestra went straight into a montage with some complete and utter classics, including Help” by The Beatles, David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” and “Get It On” by T.Rex to name a few.
Whilst all of this is going off – there is a huge screen on stage which show accompanying videos of the different bands and stand out moments, as this dies down, Alex James addresses the crowd, simply saying – “Good Evening Sheffield it’s good to be back”.
Probably worth noting that this is the last night of the tour itself ahead of a string of shows over festival season later this year and what a performance to end it on.
With many possibilities, I was intrigued as to what would be on the setlist for the night, but then the first proper song of the night started with Ocean Colour Scene’s “Riverboat” and then Alex James saying “Ladies and Gentleman, Mr Simon Fowler” – he only had the bloody lead singer of Ocean Colour Scene join him for the tune – my jaw was on the floor!
Ocean Colour Scene frontman Simon Fowler with Blur’s Alex James on stage as part of the Britpop Classical in Sheffield – March 2026 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
What a bloody opening it was – and if that was anything to go by, it was only going to get better right?
Right – they soon went into Republica’s track “Baby I’m ready to go and then next thing you know, THE singer of said track, Saffron, also appeared – WHAT?!
By time I had registered what was happening, they’d already burst into their third track with “Alright” by Supergrass, a true fan favourite from the crowd as they sang along.
“Unbelievable” by EMF and of course a bit of Blur with “Song 2” soon followed before Alex James said they were paying homage to a city where many Britpop tracks came from – it was of course the “Manchester Section” – appropriately adorned on the screen with plenty of nostalgia.
The obvious one from Manchester is of course Oasis, but given Oasis and Blur’s rivalry in the 90’s, I did wonder how heavily they would feature and spoiler alert, a fair bit it seems.
In this started with Oasis tracks “F*ckin’ In The Bushes” and “Rock’n’Roll Star”, which gave perfect sing-a-long ability, unsurprisingly though, no cameo from either Liam or Noel Gallagher (I genuinely may have mentally passed away if that had happened mind…).
The Madchester part of the show continued with “Step On” from Happy Monday’s, a bit of Stone Roses and of course Joy Division.
Then Alex addressed the crowd once more, saying he wasn’t sure about putting this one in, as it was originally written about something he did work with in Blur, but ultimately it was a fan favourite, and that proved right as the crowd belter the lyrics alongside the orchestra and band to Blur’s “Country House” – naturally of course.
We weren’t quite done yet though, oh no – as Gary Stringer of Reef fame burst onto the stage going into their hit single “Place Your Hands” – I was bewildered, but in the best way possible.
All I was thinking throughout is how much the orchestra really brings something to these songs and not only that, how many Britpop numbers actually had some classical undertones to them, what Alex James has really done has given them a whole new lease of life in a way I never knew was possible.
The man himself, Alex James performing with his Britpop Classical at Feastival in 2025 – Photo Credit: Oliver Dixon
More classics from the era came from The Wannadies, Chumbawumba and of course some more Blur, including the infamous (for all the right reasons) – “Parklife”! – Sadly no Phil Daniels, but that would have really topped it off – his band made a fantastic job of it regardless though, so fair bloody play.
Now this next section is where I saw some people getting genuinely emotional, you can tell this music really means something to some people, whether it’s the memories connected, the nostalgia or just being positively overwhelmed, there was a bit of everything in that crowd, The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” panged in and the crowd sang-a-long to it beautifully, there were quite a few around me welling up and then they went into an absolutely STUNNING rendition of “Creep” by Radiohead – the orchestra really brought it to a whole new level.
Alex had teased there was something to come just for us Sheffield crowd and just to wait for the big finale, there was clearly a build-up in progress – with a bit of “There She Goes” by The Las getting us back up to that energetic state of mind and then he dropped it – back-to-back Pulp with Disco 2000 and Common People (sublime choices in fairness) – no Jarvis Cocker mind, but you never know – in future, it may just happen if this grows (which if it doesn’t I’ll be shocked!).
It was phenomenal, perfect for a Sheffield crowd, then came “Wonderwall” by Oasis – there we saw a video montage on the screen, which saw many a front page of the Oasis/Blur rivalry displayed, as well as many videos of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Liam Gallagher mucking about in the 90’s alongside some other Britpop legends of that time – that slowly went into “Don’t Look Back in Anger” and in all honesty, I thought if this is the finale, I’d be happy with that.
I was wrong – Alex, the band, the Orchestra all left the stage, but then Alex swaggered back onto the stage with a smirk on his face, asking “do you want another one?” (of course we bloody did!) and well, he took the space of the conductor this time!!
Ocean Colour Scene’s Simon Fowler, Saffron and Gary Stringer of Reef joining Alex James and his Orchestra and Band for the Britpop Classical finale with Blur’s “The Universal” – Sheffield City Hall – March 2026
Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Blur’s “The Universal” instrumental filled the Oval Hall and then one by one, as the big screen lit up and showed a video with lots of people talking about the Britpop era, from Jo Whiley to Phil Daniels, Simon Fowler to Alex James himself, then one by one, all of the guest singers joined Alex alongside the Orchestral band, with them singing along together and with us the crowd, and next thing you know, there were red, white and blue streamers everywhere as they all took their final bows, what a bloody brilliant finish!
There’s something about being in a room full of people who appreciate the same music as you, arms in the air, singing their hearts out – Alex James has done that across a whole genre and captured it perfectly, it was absolutely sublime.
There was a lot of talent and admiration in the room that night and it’s certainly a night I will remember for a very very long time – if you ever get opportunity to do so, go and see it – you will not regret it!
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