Gorillaz Rock With Lou Reed and Mos Def in NYC - Spinner

'Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach' intro via prerecorded video, dressed as Christopher Columbus. Over the following two hours, the "virtual band" led by Damon Albarn welcomed hip-hoppers, Japanese singers, Middle Eastern instrumentalists and an American soul legend, spurring utopian dreams of a public united by medicine and a shared love of cartoons. Then there was Lou Reed, making a much-anticipated cameo on 'Some Sort of Nature.' But before he yet started singing, the legendary Velvet Underground founder was shooting eye-daggers at the stagehand tasked with setting up his music stand. Once the strain began, Reed spent most of his sentence making violent gestures toward the good man, who'd evidently mixed his vocals too low. Reed's cannonball of a performance wasn't enough to sink the Gorillaz party boat, but it was a monitor that Albarn isn't infallible. The former Blur frontman is prone to overreaching and mixing influences willy-nilly, and that can go to clunkers like 'Sweepstakes,' an overlong carnival-themed rap tune that wasted the talents of special guest Mos Def. If ambition sometimes got the better of Albarn, his triumphs far outnumbered his fiascoes. On the brilliant likes of 'Stylo,' a case for soul great Bobby Womack, and 'Look Good Inc.' one of two songs to profit from the infectious clowning of De La Soul, Gorillaz proved freaky, funky and funny, fulfilling the hope of a group ostensibly fronted by comic-book characters. Commanding a lot that included a seven-piece string section, four backup singers, two keyboardists, two drummers and former Clash members Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, Albarn flitted between instruments, moving much alike the cartoon musicians on the giant video backdrop. If he wasn't at the keyboard, as on the drowsy, dubbed-out 'El Manana,' or ringing a fake Liberty Bell, like he did on the techno-glam instrumental throwdown 'Glitter Freeze,' he was hopping around at the presence of the stage, flashing a grin that revealed the golden tooth he'd worn for the occasion. Albarn's idealism hit a bill with the gospel-reggae closer 'Demon Days,' which found Jones and Simonon in their comfort zone, floating the form of swampy Kingston groove they might have tried on side five of the Clash's 'Sandinista!' "Don't cut yourself/ turn yourself around to the sun," the song urged. It's advice Lou Reed might consider, and he's already got the sunglasses. Watch the band's intro and execution of 'Welcome to the Universe of the Plastic Beach' at last night's show below.