Gorillaz, co-founded by Damon Albarn, performed at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Saturday in support of the band’s ninth studio album, The Mountain.
The Blur frontman and artist Jamie Hewlett co-created the cartoon group in 1998.
The characters in the band include vocalist 2-D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, guitarist Noodle, and drummer Russel Hobbs, and The Mountain sees them having made their way to Mumbai.
With The Mountain being the band’s most personal album campaign in recent years as it was made following Albarn and Hewlett’s trip to India after they both lost their dads, the gig felt like a significant moment.
Before commencing with the instrumental opener, ‘The Mountain’, Albarn said: “Good evening.
“Thank you so much for attending this mass gathering of multicultural, multigenerational, connective music. We appreciate you.”
From there, the band launched into the lead single off the album, ‘The Happy Dictator’ with Sparks, marking the first of 22 special guest appearances across the evening’s 30-song set.
The setlist proved ambitious, drawing from nearly every era of the band’s catalogue, from the self-titled and Demon Days to Plastic Beach, Humanz, The Now Now, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, and The Mountain.
It was a thrill to see Albarn get up close to the crowd at the barrier and hear fans echo every word of anthems like ‘19-2000’ and ‘Stylo’, while deep cuts such as ‘Empire Ants’ and ‘White Flag’ were greeted with equal enthusiasm.
As many know, the Gorillaz is a large collective with collaboration coursing through its veins.
Credit where credit is due, Albarn is as magnetic as ever, but he can’t do what he does without an ensemble of world-class musicians.
The live band’s guitarist Jeff Wootton, bassist Seye Adelekan, keyboardist Mike Smith, drummer Jaena McKenna-Gordon, percussionist Karl Vanden Bossche, keyboardist Ruth O’Mahony-Brady, tabla player Kayam Hussain, bansuri player Ajay Prasanna, and backing vocalists Angel Silvera, Rebecca Freckleton, Michelle Ndegwa, and J. Appiah were all exceptional.
The most jaw-dropping aspect of the special show was the sheer volume of guest collaborators the band brought out on the night.
Bootie Brown rapped through an explosive version of ‘Dirty Harry’, the iconic Little Simz appeared for ‘Garage Palace’.
There was a touching tribute to renowned Indian musician and actor Asha Bhosle, who appeared on The Mountain’s ‘The Shadowy Light’.
Asha’s granddaughter was invited to sing on stage whilst phone lights illuminated the stadium. Music legends The Smiths’ Johnny Marr and The Clash’s Paul Simonon appeared for ‘Plastic Beach’.
During the encore, a rendition of ‘DARE’ brought out Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and artist Roses Gabor, while the colossal ‘Feel Good Inc’ featured Posdnuos of De La Soul.
These are just some of the artists that appeared at the concert.
The night ultimately drew to a close with one of the band’s biggest hits, ‘Clint Eastwood’.
Before Gorillaz left the stage, Albarn gave thanks to the massive team which helps bring Gorillaz together and brought out all of the musical talent for a final bow.
Albarn also said: “Goodbye, London. Thank you so much, you’ve been very generous.
“It’s not a band based on profit; it’s a band based on socialism.
“Thank you for your support. We love you.”