On this day: Damon Albarn carried off stage by security after a five-hour set

On this day in 2015, Blur frontman Damon Albarn is carried off stage by security following a marathon five-hour set with his Africa Express collective.

Performing at Denmark’s Roskilde music festival on July 4th, Albarn’s Africa Express were scheduled for a regular performance that was supposed to finish at a relatively reasonable hour. Instead, the performance did not end until 4am on July 5th when security eventually carried Albarn off stage.

As The Guardian noted, Africa Express co-founder Ian Birrell explained that the group only went over the 4am curfew by just five minutes, but stage manager ‘Big Dave’ was forced to carry Albarn off stage.

“The crowd were in a very ebullient mood despite it being 4am. They were chanting for more and more, quite noisily,” said Birrell. “Damon was clearly enjoying himself and wanted to carry on, as did all the musicians.”

After the event, Albarn and other members of the audience continued to make music backstage, reportedly “drumming against the poles of the tent and chanting.”

The Africa Express performed a cover of The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ at least twice in a move that many described as tongue-in-cheek.

Check out footage of Damon Albarn being carried off stage:

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