Damon Alban is stressful to make over the world. First there was Blur, one of the most successful bands of the '90s, and now Gorillaz, one of the most exciting popular groups of the '00s. He's also a founding member of the supergroup who produced the album The Good, The Bad and The Queen, and now he's planning to pass a figure in the Congo with Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett.
hat is stunning is how different all his projects are. If you told a Blur fan 15 days ago that Damon Alban would be fronting a cartoon hip-hop /electronic/rock band they would get laughed in your present and walked off, leaving alone the feeling of denim hanging in the air. To put it simply, he's massively talented, and despite his reported arrogance he's still a bit of a champion of mine. So you can guess my excitement as I access the imposingly large dome with those Gorillaz cartoons flashing on the massive screens outside.When Gorillaz was originally conceived it was built round the estimation of a 'virtual band' and between 2005 and 2008 they attempted to use hologram technology to perform, creating life-like versions of the cartoon band who could strut around stage. This ended up being prohibitively expensive and so they reverted to a traditional band set-up with half of The Clash (Mick Jones and Paul Simonon) playing guitar.Tonight they seek to keep the virtual band feel and the full ensemble except the special guests and Albarn are unlit, just silhouetted against the giant, constantly colour-shifting 'Gorillaz' sign. A massive screen showing an mixture of Jamie Hewlett's brilliant illustrations looms above the stage, pulling your eyes aside from the actual performers. However this is broken by all the special guests traipsing on and of the leg and the regular use of the original music videos not only disrupts the on-screen narration but feels lazy. If this is a virtual band then there necessarily to be more cohesive visuals, and if not so the musicians should be more prominent.However, all this becomes irrelevant when you see the character of the music blasting out of the speakers. Kano and Bashy bounce about the point for a chaotic but engaging version of 'White Flag' while Bobby Womack performs brilliantly over the pulsing beat of 'Stylo'. Daly brings his beautiful voice to the present for new single 'Doncamatic', a course as poppy as any that Gorillaz have yet produced. Albarn is brilliant: he holds the unit performance together with his strutting arrogance and lazy, sliding vocals. There was ever a risk that with so many big guests the evidence would lose momentum but Albarn manages to be the impulsive force over and above even the most distinguished of stars, making his presence felt even when he's at the game on the keys.The point is well balanced between high energy and moments of introspection, and one of my favourite performances is the beautiful 'Melancholy Hill'. They end with a satisfying half-hour encore including 'Demon Days', 'Feel Good' and Clint Eastwood', leaving me with a wondrous opinion of excitement and contentment. Ah yes, so that's why I love music.
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