In a world where you can be plastered on the front of the nation’s magazine covers for singing bad Elton John covers to Simon Cowell, it seems that ego and celebrity are the two keys to success in life. It is quite refreshing, then, to see a hugely popular band where ego has been put to the side and the celebrities within it aren’t even real.

You will undoubtedly be aware that the Gorrilaz are the brainchild of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. What once could be described as a virtual band, comprised of four animated cartoon characters by Hewlett with music conceived and largely played/sung by Albarn, the band has evolved into a musical art collective, with a huge variety of collaborators creating a visual and aural extravaganza. And the icing on the cake had to be the duo accompanying the front man on bass and guitar, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones from The Clash.

The show was built around the band’s third studio album, ‘Plastic Beach’, a pop and heavily hip hop influenced album covering issues around consumerism and the environment. From the opening song, we were welcomed to the world of the ‘Plastic Beach’ with a bang from a huge rapping Snoop Dogg projected onto a screen to the blasting brass of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble from Chicago.

Albarn bounced around the stage throughout, in a red and black striped top that made him look like a cheeky Dennis The Menace who had just discovered a treasure trove of musical instruments. He provided his melancholy vocals to most songs, including some classics such as ‘Dare’ and ‘Clint Eastwood’ from earlier albums. The highlights of the show were the collaborations with other live artists including Bobby Womac on the mesmerising ‘Stylo’ and an interlude featuring the Syrian Orchestra playing traditional middle eastern music. The whole show was backed by the surreal and sometimes disturbing animations of Jamie Hewlett on a huge screen which were at times darker than the soul of Satan himself.

At times it felt as if Albarn uses the band to showcase his friend’s talents and to introduce the crowd to his favourite artists, like an old friend taking you through his record collection. Along with a personal culmination of many years work for Albarn, it’s nice that he puts his ego aside and chooses to share the limelight with a host of other talents.

WORDS BY LEWIS MERDLER
PHOTOS BY MATTHEW HODSON