Wed, 08 Dec 2010 1:29p.m.
By David Farrier
:: Gorillaz
:: Burswood Dome, Perth
:: December 6, 2010
Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz project is credited on Wikipedia as being bigger than his other little band, Blur.
It’s a surreal thing to read, considering Blur are back again and selling out Hyde Park in two minutes before headlining Glastonbury.
But perhaps, as far as the kids are concerned, Gorillaz are bigger. They’ve got three solid albums under their belts (not to mention two b-side records and a remix album), which include collaborations with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Lou Reed and Dennis Hopper.
Then there are the videos – a visual feast that have made them a stalwart of music TV and YouYube. Heck, Bruce Willis is such a big fan of the band he starred in ‘Stylo’ for free.
So it makes sense to see that Gorillaz are finally on a giant, world tour. And I don’t mean giant in that they’re touring a large planet, I mean that the actual band on this tour is Giant. Damon appears to hate backing-tracks, because where he can, he brings guests along for the ride. Just when you think there are already plenty of people on stage, a brass band appears. Next, Bobby Womack is there doing his thing on tracks like ‘Stylo’. Oh, did I mention co-founder of The Clash, Mick Jones, is in the touring line-up as well? Well, he is.
While the music’s always been solid (right from ‘Clint Eastwood’ listeners knew they were in for a good thing), it’s taken awhile for them to get it right live. Albarn and Hewlett originally started the band as a kind of ironic comment on MTV culture. Sitting watching videos one night they said to themselves “We can do it better than this – and the band won’t even be real!”. So they invented the world’s first virtual band.
It worked in the videos extraordinarily well.
But having a tour where the “actual” band hides behind a massive projector screen, leaving the virtual band to do their thing, left many audiences uneasy. They’d paid to see a band, and somehow seeing cartoons for 1.5 hours didn’t cut it. Somewhere along the way, Gorillaz took it the other extreme – they had holographic projections of their cartoon alter-egos on stage. This was too expensive, and they dropped it.
Right now, on the Plastic Beach tour, they’ve got it right: The band is on stage in all their glory. If Damon is there, I want to see him – and now I can. At times the band utilises the glowing backdrop, melding into silhouette. Sometimes they step out of it, clearly illuminated. Above this, giant letters spell GORILLAZ, slowly changing colour and reminding us why we’re all here.
And towering above all of this, a giant hi-def video screen which pumps out visuals so lush you really do feel (and I know it’s cheesy to say) transported into the world of the plastic beach. Snoop Dogg may be one guest not physically present… but thanks to some fun visuals, it’s almost like he’s in the house – and happy to be there.
And holding this all together is a Damon Albarn. 42, short, and charming – New Zealand really is in for a treat when they're here later this month. We haven’t seen him in these parts before, and on stage he’s busy - when he’s not playing a piano he’s strumming a guitar, or wildly leaping around the stage, egging various parts of the audience on.
He knows he has massive fans, and he plays it up – but never at the expense of other guest musos having their time in the limelight. He’s a charming on-stage talker, too, and lovingly introduces various performers he’s clearly buzzed out about.
As for the sound – it’s lush, full, and doesn’t hit a wrong note all night. At times, Albarn’s passion for recreating what you hear on the album is crazy. He’s bought the Lebanese Nationalal Orchestra with him, primarily to make sure singles like ‘White Flag’ sound just right. There are yells for ‘Clint Eastwood’ all night, and while tracks like ‘On Meloncholy Hill’ are much better songs, the crowd eventually gets ‘Eastwood’ in the encore: And they love it.
3 News cameraman Simon Ashworth, Damon Albarn, David Farrier
As you can see I was lucky enough to have a chat with Albarn, keep an eye on the 6pm news, Nightline and 3news.co.nz for that and footage of the gig soon.
Gorillaz play at Auckland’s Vector Arena on Tuesday 21st December