Gorillaz played TD Garden – 10/11
Damon Albarn brought his current live iteration of Gorillaz to the Garden last week with support from Atlanta hip-hop duo EarthGang.
It’s been almost two decades since the artwork for the landmark Gorillaz LP Demon Days graced the packaging – and soon the LED screen – of my first iPod. That’s one in an increasingly large collection of I’m-getting-old notions that’ve occurred to me recently, but also a reminder of the project’s staying power. Visual artist Jamie Hewlett and Blur co-leader, occasional solo artist and IRL Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn have covered a lot of ground with the virtual Gorillaz crew, spanning a multimedia universe and a genre-hopping discography that’s involved everyone from Mark E. Smith and Lou Reed to Grace Jones and half of The Clash. The project has taken numerous forms over the years, but ever since its early days (which, yes, do precede my eye-opening introduction to “Feel Good Inc.” circa the aforementioned iPod), there’s always been an enthusiastic audience along for the ride.
That much was still evident last week at TD Garden, where a packed house awaited Albarn and the current 14-piece Gorillaz live ensemble. Once upon a time the band’s virtual members (that’d be Murdoc Niccals, 2-D, Noodle and Russel Hobbs) might’ve taken center stage in favor of the flesh-and-blood musicians, but in its current iteration, the living and the digital shared the stage real estate by way of a gigantic screen of the latter flanking the former. The players were present, but you’d be forgiven for looking past them towards the eye-popping, ever-changing backdrop. Well, excepting for Albarn perhaps, who was pretty difficult to miss. Traversing the stage, the photo pit (which we were many yards away from, unfortunately) and the GA crowd, he played the indefatigable ringleader to the small army of band members bringing the kaleidoscopic Gorillaz sound to life on stage.
True to the spirit of the project, the cast expanded even further as the night went on. Us photographers were welcomed back for openers EarthGang joining in for “Opium” and Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara on “Désolé” (both from 2020’s Song Machine), and The Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown, English singer Sweetie Irie and hip-hop legends De La Soul popped up later on in the set. In proper Gorillaz fashion, it was all something of a joyous whirlwind.
Scroll down for a gallery of the happenings, including EarthGang’s opening set, below.
