Front Room Songs presents: An evening with Dave Rowntree from Blur

Good food and music combine in these unique and intimate gigs in a Redhill front room (details available on booking).

In partnership with Front Room Songs, we are excited to invite Dave Rowntree to Redhill Arts Takeover for a one man show that delivers a unique insight into how one of Britain's biggest bands started out.

Musician, composer and Blur founding member, Dave Rowntree will be talking about his recently released book, No One You Know. The show will be an intimate evening of stories, photographs and memories from the formative years of Blur - one of the biggest and defining bands of the Britpop era.

Drawing from his photography book of the same name, No One You Know sees Dave share candid photographs and behind-the-scenes memories from Blur’s early years, alongside the funny, indiscreet inside stories that never made it into the public eye. With plenty of laughs and honest reflections, the event offers fans a rare glimpse into what really happened during the band’s rise - and what it genuinely felt like to be there at the very beginning.
As drummer and founding member of Blur, Dave brought his camera along to the band’s earliest adventures, capturing insider moments as Blur evolved from a group of friends making music into global Britpop icons. Through hundreds of previously unseen photographs and personal reflections, No One You Know documents the exhilarating early years of the band - from debut tours of America and Japan, to studio sessions, backstage chaos, hotel room antics and life on the road alongside Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Alex James.
The live show promises an evening packed with storytelling, humour, rare imagery and behind-the-scenes revelations, charting Blur’s rise during one of the most culturally significant moments in British music history. With landmark albums including Parklife, The Great Escape and Blur, the band helped define an era, producing some of the most recognisable songs in British music history and becoming cultural figureheads of Cool Britannia. Blur went on to win five BRIT Awards, release nine studio albums, sell more than 70 million records worldwide and, in 2023, return triumphantly to sell out Wembley Stadium twice over.

Beyond music, Dave has built an extraordinary career across technology, law, politics and film scoring. His computer animation company Nanomation created influential work for MTV and Channel 4, while his later career saw him train and work as a solicitor at Kingsley Napley. A long-standing Labour Party activist and former county councillor, Dave has also contributed to the Beagle 2 Mars mission, driven by his lifelong fascination with space exploration. More recently, he has composed acclaimed soundtracks for television series including the BBC’s The Capture and Netflix’s The One, alongside releasing his solo album Radio Songs on Cooking Vinyl in 2023.

Blending humour, nostalgia and remarkable first-hand insight into one of Britain’s most iconic bands, No One You Know promises a unique evening with one of modern music’s most quietly influential figures.