Travis teamed up with Alex James recently for a live cover of Blur‘s classic single ‘The Universal’. Watch below.
- READ MORE: Travis share single ‘Gaslight’ and talk new album ‘L.A. Times’: “America is so wrapped in their own history”
Fran Healy and co. played a set at this year’s edition of James’ annual music and food event, The Big Feastival, which is held on his Cotswolds farm near Kingham, Oxfordshire.
Later, the bassist’s Britpop Classical collective – who perform orchestral covers of ’90s bangers – delivered their debut show to close out the weekend. During the set, they invited Travis frontman Healy and bassist Dougie Payne to the stage for a collaborative take on a fan-favourite Blur track.
‘The Universal’ – from Blur’s fourth album, ‘The Great Escape’ – reached Number Five on the UK singles chart.
Sharing official pro-footage of the performance yesterday (September 4), James wrote: “We loved performing this rendition of ‘The Universal’ with the ones and only Fran and Dougie from @travistheband! 🔥 #britpop.”
Travis also posted a clip on their social media channels, captioning it: “The collab you didn’t know you needed ✨.Thanks for having us @alexjameshq @thebigfeastival ❤️.” Check out the videos below.
The collab you didn’t know you needed ✨ Thanks for having us @alexjameshq @thebigfeastival ❤️ pic.twitter.com/IJANSPMSKu
— Travis (@TravisBand) September 2, 2025
Other acts on the line-up for The Big Feastival 2025 included Nelly Furtado, Faithless, The Wombats, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Graham Coxon‘s band The WAEVE.
Additionally, James and Britpop Classical joined forces with Republica for a rendition of their ’90s smash ‘Ready To Go’.
The Blur bassist had revealed that he had some “special guests involved” for the Big Feastival performance earlier this year. “I really cannot think of a better way of bringing Feastival to a crescendo finale on a Sunday night this summer,” he explained. “I am really, really fucking genuinely excited.”
In other news, Blur announced a 30th anniversary vinyl reissue of ‘The Great Escape’ earlier this week, containing rare B-sides and bonus tracks from that era.
Travis, meanwhile, released their 10th and latest album ‘L.A. Times’ last summer. In February, Healy was rushed to hospital after sustaining a “gnarly” on-stage injury while the band were on tour in the US.
