Entering the expansive Co-op Live arena this Friday night, I can hear pounding Middle Eastern rhythms every time someone opens the double doors that lead to the seats. Omar Souleyman may have a minimal stage setup for his support slot, but he’s making impressively full use of the bombastic soundsystem in here. He’s commanding the stage in his robes and sunglasses, cajoling the crowd in front of him to move. It’s a Friday night party atmosphere in Manchester tonight.
It’s probably because the world-spanning, beat-driven oeuvre of Gorillaz has such a broad appeal for people – not only in terms of genre, but age too. In town this afternoon I’ve noticed several t-shirts emblazoned with their iconic logo – many worn by teenagers (“Gen Z – get your own bands,” my friend Andy, a fellow millennial, jokes on the canal walk to the venue). Gorillaz have, incredibly, been around for a quarter century now. I was 10 years old and obsessed with ‘Clint Eastwood’ when my parents wouldn’t let me buy the first album because it had a Parental Advisory sticker on it (still bitter). It was a novel idea at the time: trip hop played by an animated band – and on reflection, I can’t really think of anyone who’s done it since. I can see how they appeal to a new generation.
I’m wondering: will this be a ‘best of’ showcase, or a focus on well-received latest record The Mountain? A lot of musicians enter the stage. One of them is Damon Albarn, who seems to be wearing a chore jacket with the national rail logo embroidered on it. Our train conductor for tonight clasps his hands to the sky as duelling sitars accompany the beginning of The Mountain’s animated film, a riff on The Jungle Book. This is followed by ‘The Happy Dictator’, the Sparks-featuring single. The visuals are terrific; a kaleidoscopic combination of the song’s animated performers, a spinning globe, and live footage of the musicians with the lyrics as Sanskrit subtitles. It’s an explosion of colour that sets us up for the evening.
Then audible screams as the breakbeats of ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’ kick in. We are indeed going back through the years. Albarn plays those distinctive melodica notes. This is a particularly heavy rendition, with pounding drums giving the song a propulsive energy. Further screams are triggered as the video for ‘19-2000’ starts playing. This is taking me right back to 2001. Several elements are being simultaneously balanced here – the visuals on the screens, the musicians playing in front of it, and Albarn interacting with the crowd. The multi-layered experience is effectively choreographed. When the band goes into ‘Rhinestone Eyes’, a Sesame Street-like character wheels on a machine with a big red button that says ‘algorithmic atrophy’ on its side. This show is full of surprises.
Mountain symbolism reappears as we go into ‘The God of Lying’ from the new record and our first special guest: Joe Talbot of Idles. There’s an intense energy between him and Albarn which reflects the lyrics. Moving on through ‘The Moon Cave’ and ‘The Empty Dream Machine’, the bearded figure of Black Thought joins us, but only via the mega screens. Then we’re back to the classics. ‘El Manana’ from 2005’s Demon Days, and ‘On Melancholy Hill’ from 2010’s Plastic Beach – one of their greatest songs. There’s a bleakness to the visuals of these songs – burning forests, collapsing worlds, and windmills on fire. Sadly, the footage doesn’t look a million miles away from our news screens at the moment, and I think these are pointed inclusions. Albarn has the peace sign embroidered on his conductor jacket after all. The video ends with a dropped bomb and a blackout.
We get some Damon interludes this evening. The man seems in high spirits, grateful that we’re here because “when you write new songs it’s really not a given that anyone will give a fuck”. He’s wished everyone a happy Eid. He salutes us “great Mancunians” at the beginning of Mark E. Smith-featuring ‘Delirium’ from the new record. He frequently gets up close with the front row. It’s quite the creation that he’s made here, and he should feel proud. ‘Saturnz Barz’ from 2017’s Humanz comes on, and it is impressive that a 50-something year old white man who fronted one of the UK’s biggest indie bands can sound so effortless riffing with Popcaan.
The latter stages of the show sees the guest appearances ramp up. I’d forgotten that Bruce Willis stars in the video for ‘Stylo’, but that surprise is quickly usurped by the fact that Yasiin Bey is here!! I feel that this moment isn’t making people go as mad as they should. Maybe it’s Gen Z again. The man formerly known as Mos Def does his hook, and sticks around for ‘Damascus’ from the new record, as Omar Souleyman returns to the stage. People go mad for ‘Dirty Harry’, and former Pharcyde member Bootie Brown brings huge enthusiasm, shouting his verse even more than on record. This track is going OFF and everyone is on their feet. Kara Jackson also turns up for ‘Orange County’, which is a pleasant surprise.
In the closing stages of the show, in the company of thousands of others enjoying this music, I reflect that honestly, I haven’t really thought about Gorillaz for a while. But maybe that’s because they’ve pretty much always been there, since I started properly forming my own music tastes. And I do actually think about them, there’s a lot of joy in this music. The unshackled musical adventures that Jamie Hewlett’s animated band has created for Damon Albarn has produced loads of great songs. It’s unpretentious, world-embracing music. And it has been, honestly, a joy to travel back through these songs tonight.
A man in a grey hoodie who Albarn describes as a living legend appears alongside Albarn. I’m not sure if Gen Z know who Pos from De La Soul is, but the room erupts as he tears into ‘Feel Good Inc’. And then, of course, it ends with ‘Clint Eastwood’. That surreal video fills the big screen as the whole band cranks the volume up. I’m 10 years old again and I’ve got shivers. What a lovely feeling.
Words by Tom Burrows
Picky Bastards 