Gorillaz, it seems, are not an act that can stand still. Since their creation in 1998 as a virtual, fictionalised and digitised band, the name Gorillaz cannot help but be associated with experimentation and modernity. The band allowed Damon Albarn to depart from Britpop and Blur, offering an outlet for him to embrace a new style that defies genre itself.
No two Gorillaz albums sound the same, and this is continued in their newest album, The Mountain. The album is strongly influenced by eastern sounds, but also features collaborations with legends of western music such as Johnny Marr. It may come as a surprise, then, that Albarn and co were able to translate this into a cohesive live show, but it was clear at Co-Op Live that The Mountain sits perfectly within the Gorillaz discography.
To start the show, the band chose The Mountain’s titular opening track which was accompanied with Jungle Book-esque visuals. The song features sampled vocals from Dennis Hopper, the late actor and filmmaker known for his work in cult classics such as Blue Velvet and Speed. This marked the first of many musical reincarnations throughout both the album and performance, apt considering the album's central theme of processing grief.
As Albarn took to the stage and launched into ‘The Happy Dictator’, he was backed by character visuals. As 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel were displayed in turn, each was greeted by rapturous cheers. ‘Tranz’, a highlight from 2018’s The Now Now, was opened with Albarn on melodica, an instrument he has used on various projects since Gorillaz's debut. The self-titled debut album saw some love during ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’ and ’19-2000’, as visuals matching its cover art lit up the arena.
Early on, it became evident that all Damon Albarn had to do to get the crowd in the palm of his hand was stand on stage. However, the singer chose to join the front rows of the crowd, creating a tangible connection with the audience despite the digitised aesthetics.
Credit: Luke Dyson / Sonic PR
Another aspect of the show that was evident from the beginning was just how much effort it demanded. With up to fifteen musicians on stage at any one time, including a four-woman choir, it was impressive that everyone was given a chance to shine. The number of musicians on stage was next to nothing compared to the number of audience members in attendance. It was almost certain that Co-Op Live hadn’t been that full since Harry Styles took to the stage for a one-night-only show to promote his recent album. Or, perhaps Co-Op Live hadn’t been that full since Gorillaz sell-out performance the night before, which opened their arena tour after two warm-up shows at Bradford Live.
Gorillaz has always been a collaborative project, their debut album boasted a feature list including Miho Hatori, Del the Funky Homosapien, Tina Weymouth, and Sweetie Irie. This collaborative tendency was on full display at Co-Op Live, as Gorillaz invited eight guests to join them on stage over the course of the night. The first of these being Joe Talbot, frontman of IDLES, who sauntered around the stage with Albarn for ‘The God of Lying’ as if they were brothers, sharing embraces and, although not immediately noticeable, a likeness in both appearance and stage presence.
Albarn swapped the mouth-keys of melodica for the piano during ‘The Moon Cave’, but couldn’t stay away from his beloved instrument for long, reverting back to it as the song came to an end. It was during ‘El Mañana’ that the band had their first (and last) falter, as it drifted off and became off-kilter in the live setting. Gorillaz were soon back on track, however, performing one of the highlights from their career, ‘On Melancholy Hill’, which proved hypnotic and saw many audience members revelling in teary nostalgia.
Once ‘On Melancholy Hill’ had concluded, Albarn took a moment to address the Manchester audience. “I had a period in my life where I spent a lot of my time here, the first time we ever performed Demon Days was in Manchester”, he informed the crowd, before noting “it’s nice to be back, and see some new faces”. When rap verses such as Black Thought’s in ‘The Empty Dream Machine’ were played out through the speakers, Albarn could be seen facing the wrap-around screen in tribute to his collaborators. In combination with affectionate addresses to the audience, this established love as a motif of the night: love for fans, love for peers, and a general love for music shared by all in the room.
Damon Albarn has never really been renowned for his vocal prowess, but the vocals on display during ‘The Empty Dream Machine’ indicated he deserves to be. Despite the intimacy and intricacy of The Mountain, and its mixed reception from both fans and critics, it worked well in an arena setting. This was also true for ‘Delirium’, which Albarn introduced by saying “in the sense of The Mountain, I’d like to invite Mark E Smith back to Manchester”, paying respect to the man who fronted The Fall, becoming a Mancunian legend in the process.
Smith’s face was displayed on screen amidst bright, trippy visuals. Both this and the implementation of his vocals in an electro-influenced song may be enough to make him turn in his grave, but the crowd lapped it up nevertheless. ‘Glitter Freeze’ followed, making its debut within The Mountain world tour, before Yasiin Bey took to the stage for ‘Stylo’. The artist formerly known as Mos Def was then joined by support act Omar Souleyman for ‘Damascus’ whilst Albarn took a backseat, allowing the two to deliver the best use of vocal effects the show had seen thus far. The colours of the Palestinian flag lit up the wrap-around screen, a nod to Souleyman’s Arab heritage, as well as Albarn’s long history of support for anti-war causes.
Credit: Luke Dyson / Sonic PR
Once Yasiin Bey and Souleyman had departed, ‘Andromeda’ had the crowd bouncing with its pulsing bassline courtesy of Seye Adelekan. As the song slowed, Albarn didn’t conceal anything from his audience, stating “this is obviously a musical pause before you start dancing”. Ever obliging, the crowd could be seen dancing from the front to the back once the song had kicked back in. ‘Kids With Guns’ then received its own debut on The Mountain tour, and was met accordingly with rapturous cheers. Michelle Ndegwa, who has frequently performed the song in place of Neneh Cherry’s feature on the studio version, displayed vocals both powerful and impeccable in a faultless solo that was met with disbelief by many in attendance.
The beginning of ‘Dirty Harry’ saw seated attendees up on their feet for the first time in the night, but even this wasn’t enough for Bootie Brown, who insisted “Manchester, I need to see everybody up” before delivering a high-energy performance of his iconic verses on the track. Returning to The Mountain to close the main portion of the show, Albarn informed the crowd that “this next song features literally a living deity”, lauding Hindi cinema singer Asha Bhosle, who is featured on ‘The Shadowy Light', and whose face appeared on screen for the duration of the song.
While the switch away from hip-hop influences and danceability was initially jolting, the audience soon overcame their whiplash as a sea of flashlights could be observed lighting up the arena. “Thank you very much, I appreciate that”, Albarn stated as the song drew to a close, referencing its title by noting “that’s very appropriate”. Chosen to close the main portion of the set, ‘The Sad God’ from the new album proved perfectly atmospheric, displaying similar instrumentation to the show’s intro and thus allowing for a full-circle moment.
After a short pause, Albarn began the encore by stepping to the front of the stage to salute his crowd. ‘The Hardest Thing’ and ‘Orange County’ were bound to bring a tear to the eyes of those in attendance, exhibiting the grieving themes of The Mountain with their repeated shared lyric “the hardest thing is saying goodbye to someone you love”. For the latter, Gorillaz were joined by Kara Jackson, who Albarn frequently looked over to in gleeful admiration before bowing to her as the song came to a close. As Albarn took a moment to address the crowd sincerley, stating “I genuinely feel really happy, I’ve been doing this a long time and sometimes I feel like I’m living a dream”, Posdnuos of De La Soul appeared behind him, teasing the next part of the show.
In quite the contrast to Albarn’s heartfelt speech, Posdnuos asked the ladies in the crowd to miaow, following up by joking that “one of those miaows just scratched me in the ass, and it feels good”. With this, the audience was launched into a rendition of ‘Feel Good Inc.’ which was guaranteed to provide the most fun four minutes of the entire show. “Manchester, you are beautiful”, Posdnuous declared as he departed the stage, before Albarn affirmed “I don’t think the world would still be here if it wasn’t for De La Soul”.
To close out the night, ‘Clint Eastwood’ and its unique blend of alternative rock and hip-hop reverberated across the arena, perfectly encapsulating the experimentalism Gorillaz have consistently represented, as well as the mass appeal they have achieved as a result of this.
Credit: Luke Dyson / Sonic PR
Taking one more moment to address the crowd, the last thing Albarn urged was that they “keep prejudice and racism out and keep love in your hearts”. This love was reinforced as the show’s central motif: love was shown for collaborators and peers, for the audience and music more generally, but also presented through the lens of grief. The Mountain was inspired by Damon Albarn’s travels in India with Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett shortly after the death of both of their fathers, and has now been made even more beautiful through the love that live performance affords.
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