Blur performing live in concert on 6 Music (from left) Graham Coxon, Damon Albarn and Alex James. Picture: (C) BBC Mark Allan

Legendary Britpop band Blur played their first proper gig for three years at Maida Vale Studios on Tuesday (July 31).

The band, who will perform at the end of the Olympics, performed two intimate sets in front of a studio audience of only 200 people at the studio in Delaware Road.

Frontman Damon Albarn said: “When you’ve been away for a while, it’s quite nerve-racking.”

Broadcast live on BBC Radio 6 Music, the first set featured rare tracks, including Caramel from 1999 album 13, which they had never previously performed live. They also played new tracks Under The Westway and The Puritan.

A later gig, broadcast live on Radio 2, featured hits such as Beetlebum, Out Of Time, End Of A Century and The Universal.

The band will headline a huge concert in Hyde Park to mark the closing of the Games on August 12.