Gorillaz review: Noel Gallagher joins Damon Albarn’s almighty troop

The former Britpop rivals unite for a triumphant show at the O2 Arena
Going Gorillaz: Damon Albarn performs live with his group
Livepix/Angela Lubrano
Mark Beaumont11 December 2017

As Liam Gallagher tours the country playing on old Oasis glories, his erstwhile Britpop adversary Damon Albarn hit the O2 to celebrate Humanz, the electro-led fifth album from his most globally successful project Gorillaz, sounding decades ahead of the game.

Gorillaz’s mash-up of dub, hip-hop, disco, Latin dream-pop, gospel rap, indie rock and zombie skipping tunes reflects modern methods of music consumption — the Spotify smoothie, if you like — and the resultant live show was a cultural free-for-all that felt more like an Albarn And Friends Xmas revue than a conventional gig.

While, on-screen, the cartoon members took explosive quad bike rides around America’s freeways and submarine journeys with esteemed Gorillaz alumni — Snoop Dogg, The Clash, Lou Reed — the on-stage spectacle was provided by a parade of guests so relentless that the limo queue must have stretched to Stratford.

Shaun Ryder sauntered on for a surprisingly coherent DARE. Little Simz whipped the crowd into an arm-flailing frenzy with rave-reggae riot Garage Palace. Mos Def arrived dressed as a Dickensian hawker for the cranky carnival whirl of Sweepstakes and Peven Everett performed Strobelite in a golden hoodie, presumably getting paid in Bitcoin.

Anyone confused by all this deviant disco sung largely through microphones made of gravel, and already nostalgic for the relatively straightforward, catchy, nice-with-lager melodies of the 2015 Blur reunion, would have been appeased by the CBeebies rap of Superfast Jellyfish and the gloriously Blur-like On Melancholy Hill.

And for the ultimate Britpop moment, as Damon’s duet with Jehnny Beth of Savages on the motorik We Got The Power reached its final chorus, the spotlight fell on a craggy Manc guitarist singing a distorted melody beside Blur’s Graham Coxon. Noel Gallagher, as we live and breathe. Seems Liam’s got even more catching up to do.

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