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The question hit them: If culture was already fake, why keep pretending it was real?Īt first glance, the idea of an animated “virtual band”-the sprightly 2-D, rogue Murdoc Niccals, gangsta Russel Hobbs and sweet outsider Noodle-seemed a little gimmicky, an art-school shot at mainstream pop. This was the dawn of reality TV-shows that turned so-called real life into pre-packaged stories and people into cartoons. Their eyes were glazed, their minds empty. But as the set finishes, Albarn smiles at the crowd and asks them to remember the following: “Unity, and through unity we find love.” There’s a feeling the apocalypse has been put off for another night at least.One day in the late '90s, comic-book artist Jamie Hewlett and Blur singer Damon Albarn were sitting around in their West London flat watching TV-a brand-new Panasonic, eight channels on screen at once. A real surprise, then an inevitable bullshit outcome,” says Albarn. Inevitably, politics looms over the show. “Can I fuck off now?” A rousing Feel Good Inc and stomping Clint Eastwood (with Kano and Little Simz taking on the verses), are a wonderful climax. “Goodnight, God bless,” he says with a meek smile. There is also time for the hits: DARE takes off, even with Shaun Ryder ambling off the stage too early.
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Yet it remains Damon’s bruised croon on the beautifully melancholic Busted and Blue that gives you chills as the sun sets. Graham Coxon, Danny Brown, Kelela and Albarn are unlikely but seductive partners on the sultry Submission, while the chemistry also fizzes between Kali Uchis and Albarn on She’s My Collar. And there are also absent friends – Stylo is dedicated to the late Bobby Womack. There are people missing – there’s no Noel Gallagher or Grace Jones. As guests come and go, it is easy to think of Gorillaz as less a band and more a carnival of collaborators, with Albarn the musical polymath holding it all together. The masks are dropped to reveal a smiling Albarn in fine fettle – he hugs his guests and holds that arms-aloft pose he’s perfected. It begins theatrically – 30-odd figures cloaked in black form a procession as they climb to the stage. He has his very own jukebox, and over 27 songs they play hits, album tracks and unreleased songs.
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The sonically scattered nature of Humanz, which sounds as if you’re flicking through a playlist, works to Albarn’s advantage tonight. This all leaves the stage set for Gorillaz. Kano is also on crowd-pleasing form – and on brand for the seaside, with T-shirt Weather in the Manor’s lines about “ice cream vans, Screwballs, 99 Flake”. De La Soul, consummate professionals in warming up a crowd, spend 95% of their performance testing how loud the crowd can shout “ho” before finishing with Me, Myself and I. The band’s Demon Dayz festival features a carousel of guests playing sets.