Blur are set to re-release ‘Live At The Budokan’ on Record Store Day 2026 to mark the classic album’s 30th anniversary. Find all the details below.
The 19th annual RSD is due to take place on Saturday April 18, celebrating independent record shops across the UK. More than 280 stores are participating nationwide, with hundreds of artists expected to offer exclusive releases.
Today (Wendesday February 4), it’s been revealed that Damon Albarn and co. will release their two-disc 1996 live album ‘Live At The Budokan’ on 2LP red vinyl exclusively for Record Store Day 2026.
It’ll mark the first-ever time the collection has been made available on vinyl.
The double record is housed in a gatefold sleeve with printed inners, and features a gloss UV finish on the outer sleeve and a gloss dispersion varnish on the inner sleeves.
Completing the “very special” anniversary version is a centrefold selection of exclusive live photos, captured by photographer Paul Postle on Blur’s 1995 Japanese tour.
‘Live At The Budokan’ comprises 25 tracks, including hits and fan favourites like ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘Parklife’, ‘The Universal’, ‘This Is A Low’, ‘Country House’, ‘End Of A Century’ and many more.
The album finds the group performing at the iconic Tokyo venue The Budokan on November 8 1995, in support of their fourth studio album ‘The Great Escape’.
‘Live At The Budokan’ was originally released only on CD in Japan, peaking at Number 36 on the Oricon Albums Chart. A global digital release followed in 2014 via iTunes.
The tracklist for Blur’s ‘Live At The Budokan’ is:
A.
1. ‘The Great Escape’
2. ‘Jubilee’
3. ‘Popscene’
4. ‘End Of A Century’
5. ‘Tracy Jacks’
6. ‘Mr. Robinson’s Quango’
7. ‘To The End’
B.
1. ‘Fade Away’
2. ‘It Could Be You’
3. ‘Stereotypes’
4. ‘She’s So High’*
5. ‘Girls & Boys’
6. ‘Advert’
7. ‘Intermission’
C.
1. ‘Bank Holiday’
2. ‘For Tomorrow’
3. ‘Country House’
4. ‘This Is A Low’
5. ‘Supa Shoppa’
D.
1. ‘Yuko And Hiro ‘
2. ‘He Thought Of Cars’
3. ‘Coping’
4. ‘Globe Alone’
5. ‘Parklife’
6. ‘The Universal’
*Recorded at the NK Hall, Tokyo on 9 November 1995.
RSD recently confirmed special physical editions from the likes of The Cure, Fleetwood Mac, Primal Scream, Bring Me The Horizon and Sigrid, Divorce, and Kaiser Chiefs for a run of vinyl in support of War Child.
Last month, projects from David Bowie, The Snuts and Nilüfer Yanya were among another wave of announcements for 2026. The full list of releases for this year’s Record Store Day is expected to drop in the coming days.
RSD ’25 saw exclusive releases from Oasis, Charli XCX, Fred Again.., The Cure, Gorillaz, Taylor Swift and many more. Fans queued from the early hours to get hold of special edition vinyl from their local indie record shops. Check out the full list here.
The official UK ambassador for last year’s RSD was Sam Fender, who also released a six-track 12-inch vinyl record to mark the occasion, ‘Me And The Dog’. Post Malone took on an ambassador role in 2025, too. The likes of Taylor Swift, Kate Bush, The 1975, Noel Gallagher and Elton John have all previously taken on the job.
In other news, Blur frontman Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon have contributed to the star-studded ‘Help(2)’ charity album for War Child. The forthcoming compilation was produced by James Ford, who also helmed Blur’s latest record ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ (2023).
Meanwhile, the band’s bassist Alex James is set to embark on his 2026 ‘Britpop Classical’ UK tour next month.
