“It’s a joy to be back home, thousands of people communing together.”
After a long and treacherous 18 months away from the arts, we’ve at last returned. Tonight conveniently brought about Gorillaz’s 20th anniversary as they set to perform to an adoring sold-out crowd at London’s prominent O2 Arena.
As Damon Albarn sits at the helm of an illustrious career boasting wild collaborations and exploratory sounds with his trademark twist, it’s hard to dispute his influence on the current music scene. Soon enough, Albarn arrives on-stage, overjoyed and wildly shaking his fists at the crowd, trailed by his entourage in response to ‘M1 A1’s repetitive post-Britpop calls of “Hello? Is anyone there?”. Jumping, pulling, pushing, sweating: these were the once-familiar sights which we’d lost for so long yet consumed my vision as I watched on from afar within the stands, ensuing a nauseating rush of adrenaline and chaos to commence tonight’s proceedings.
From old to new, the band twisted and turned throughout tonight’s setlist, imminently inviting their first feature of the night, Robert Smith of The Cure, to perform ‘Strange Timez’ amidst the twinkling intricacies of the track’s synth lines. Whilst Smith may not have struck all the notes perfectly within this vignette of the set, it would prove not to be the worst of the night - saved later for another daring track.
Other impressive features proved to be worthwhile, as neo-soul’s Leee John soared through ‘The Lost Chord’, Popcaan proudly devoured ‘Saturnz Barz’, and Fatoumata Diawara shone through in ‘Désolé’. The litany of features chosen at random tonight reiterated this group’s knack for picking the right feature for the right sort of sound, as we traversed through the soulful aura of the 70’s, Jamaican-infested ska and African-inspired singing from the latter. Maintaining attention throughout their set proved imperative as Gorillaz’s sound and stage design evolved with each passing track.
"I feel like you've come back so much stronger."
And while the hits of 2005’s Demon Days proved a glorious throwback to my childhood years, namely ‘Kids with Guns’ and ‘Dirty Harry’, ‘Dare’ proved itself a nightmare. Featuring none other than Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays' fame, the meme-ified singer lived up to his own disturbing reputation of decimating the recital. Masking barely an effort to keep in time with the track or collaborate with those on stage, the rest of the musicians seemed to diffuse around him, never sure if or when he’d pipe up and exclaim the infamous words “never did no harm...it’s dare.”
'Feel Good Inc.' ironically calmed the nerves as we surged into the final stretch of tonight’s set, brimming with a nostalgic confidence as the iconic bassline rang throughout the cavernous arena, multiplied a thousand times more by the crowd’s elicited response of “feel good!”. And yet the last couple of tracks, ‘Don’t Get Lost in Heaven’ and ‘Demon Days’, beautifully ushered us out of the venue - a sumptuous merging of the two as Albarn & Co brought out their entire entourage of featured singers, rappers, dancers, steel drummers, and any others, for their final flourish.
The soulful, uplifting outro of the latter left us truly on an ethereal high as mass crowds decanted from their seats and poured into the adjacent alleyways exiting the venue. Simultaneously, the vaccine’s side effects began to pour through my veins and disrupt my body, yet the endearing cries from Albarn, “we love you”, undoubtedly carried me through and left me thankful for the past 20 eclectic years of Gorillaz.
7.5/10
Gorillaz's latest LP, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, is out now and can be found here.
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