Some friends and I went to see Gorillaz at Sydney's Entertainment Centre last Thursday evening. I've been a Gorillaz devotee for some time. This year's offering from Damon Albarn and co. - Plastic Beach - is probably my album of the year.
The gig was a stunning affair; punters of all ages (ten year olds to those in their forties) weren't given any respite from an onslaught of mesmerising percussive bombast, guitar glamour and electric eclectic performers from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble to De La Soul (who opened for Gorillaz and almost knocked over AMP/Centrepoint Tower with their hilarity and temerity).
The pinnacle of the event for me was seeing my guitar heroes Mick Jones and Paul Simonon together. As mentioned in an old post, Jones' BAD is THE band that has meant the most to me in my thirty-eight years on Earth. The Clash is a close second. Witnessing MJ cut loose on his electric, show off his peculiar 'winged' dancing style and race after other performers with a huge grin, elevated me. And PS has still got it - his bass line for the Snoop-led Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach was spine-marrow jarring.
Much of the cartoons for the tour featured characters under seige, warfare, bullets splashed everywhere, and virtual band members losing their temper and being electrified ... I didn't really get the point... still, it was engrossing.
Damon Albarn is a visionary - his Gorillaz are unpredictable and dazzling- they're saving music from turning into wet cardboard.
LJ, December 19 2010
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