Blur comeback at Parklife venue

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Watch a clip of Blur playing Girls & Boys in Hyde Park

Britpop stars Blur have revealed that Hyde Park was the inspiration for their signature song Parklife, during their first reunion gig in the 350-acre park.

"I had the idea for this song in this park," frontman Damon Albarn told fans.

"I used to live near Kensington Church Street, and I used to watch pigeons and people and all that stuff."

The reunited band played a two-hour set, opening with their debut single, She's So High. Phil Daniels joined them on stage to recreate his Parklife role.

Fans were treated to 25 songs, in a show that was almost a track-by-track recreation of their headlining slot at Glastonbury last weekend.

Highlights included This Is A Low, Girls and Boys, Song 2 and End Of A Century.

The only addition to the Glastonbury setlist was 1997 fan favourite Death Of A Party, which came during a six-song encore.

The band scored 12 top 10 hits between 1991 and 2003

Before the final number of the night, sci-fi ballad The Universal, Albarn expressed doubts about Friday night's follow-up gig.

"I honestly don't know how we're going to repeat this tomorrow, thank you for coming," he said.

The four-piece announced in December that they would reform, five years after guitarist Graham Coxon departed during recording sessions for the Think Tank album.

Frontman Albarn, who has spent the intervening years working on projects such as hip-hop collective Gorillaz, fairytale opera Monkey and supergroup The Good, The Bad and The Queen, clearly enjoyed being back with his childhood friends.

He took to the stage grinning from ear to ear, and spent the rest of the evening jogging, po-going and spinning around the stage - only stopping at one point to tie his shoelaces.

"We feel really privileged to be able to do nothing for years, then come back to this," he told the crowd, visibly moved.

"It's incredible, really incredible."