My brother Conor is 15, and he is an absoultely huge Gorillaz fan. Really, I can't emphasize the 'huge' enough. So for his last birthday, which was last April, my parents decided to buy him two tickets to the Gorillaz Plastic Beach tour in the o2, which took place last Thursday night. Seeing as I live in Dublin now, I was the chosen one who got to accompany him to the concert. Though it was a wet, blustery November evening, we trekked out to the o2 to see what the band, previously anonymous and represented solely by animations, had to offer.
Arriving at the o2 about twenty minutes before the doors were due to open, we stood in the queue, which was much shorter than anticipated, until at last the doors opened and we, along with other dedicated fans, many kitted out in Damon Albarn-inspired sailor costumes, flooded the stadium for what promised to be a mesmerising performance.
The first support band were 'Little Dragon', an electronic group based in Gothenburg. To be quite honest, I had never listened to Little Dragon before, and I will possibly never listen to them again. Perhaps it was just because the o2 was practically empty when they started playing, but I really felt that they failed to get the crowd going at all, with the soft vocals of Yukimi Nagano lulling me into an almost dream-like state. I imagine that Little Dragon are the type of band that I would enjoy listening to on my iPod at night time, but as a live act, they were quite boring and failed to grasp my attention.
The next support act, the legendary hip hop trio De La Soul, were in complete contrast to this. Not usually a fan of hip hop, I can safely say that I reveled in every last second of De La Soul's set. Their old school hip hop really rose the crowd and though I had never listened to the group before, I found myself singing along to their catchy choruses and waving my hands to the beat. I would definitely listen to De La Soul after watching them perform and I was truly amazed at their ability to own the stage and occupy the crowd, many of whom may not have listened to them before this date.
After what by now seemed like an eternity of waiting, the Gorillaz string section came to the stage and opened with the track 'Orchestral Intro'. Following this, the rest of the impressive 11-piece band, including Mick Jones and Paul Simonon (formerly of The Clash) joined the festivities, and the show soon got into full swing. A video of the rather suave Snoop Dogg, dressed as a navy admiral, played on the giant screen behind the stage as he rapped to 'Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach' accompanied by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, who were there in person.
As the concert progressed, on came hits such as Stylo and Rhinestone Eyes, and though perhaps previously not the biggest Gorillaz fan on the planet, I was completely entranced by, and savoured every second of the concert, despite the fact that I had now been standing for over three hours. To be perfectly honest, there were so many highlights to the night that it is simply impossible for me to pick just one. Legends such as Bobby Womack, Mark E. Smith and De La Soul featured as guests, along with Bashy and Kano. Each track had it’s own quirky animations which would have kept anyone entertained, and made the night more like a show than merely a concert. By the time of the encore, which featured older Gorillaz hits such as Feel Good Inc. and Clint Eastwood, the pace had picked up again, and near word-perfect vocals from the crowd really topped off the night for me, introducing a more nostalgic vibe into the arena, and wrapping up the evening perfectly
Kudos to Damon Albarn and all of Gorillaz for an absolutely incredible performance.
SET LIST:
Orchestral Intro
Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach
Last Living Souls
19/2000
Stylo
On Melancholy Hill
Rhinestone Eyes
Superfast Jellyfish (with De La Soul)
Tomorrow Comes Today
Empire Ants (with Yukimi Nagano)
Broken (with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
Dirty Harry (with Bootie Brown)
Doncamatic (with Daley)
El Mañana
White Flag (with Bashy and Kano)
To Binge (with Yukimi Nagano)
Dare (with Rosie Wilson)
Glitter Freeze (with Mark E. Smith)
Punk
Plastic Beach
Cloud of Unknowing (with Bobby Womack)
Encore:
Feel Good Inc. (with De La Soul)
Clint Eastwood (with Bashy and Kano)
Don’t Get Lost in Heaven
Demon Days
(I’m not positive that all these are in the right order. But all of these were definitely played in an order very close to this!)
