Review by Dhenry – 5th November – Gorillaz Unofficial

Back in June 2005 when the first rumours for a Gorillaz performance started floating, it was good and bad news for me. Firstly I was thrilled because such and even is a cool thing and I was happy for it happening. But then again, I was really frustrated by the thought that this would be it – 5 nights (originally 7) in a city in England, which is literally a 1000 miles away. Getting from that point to the moment when I was infront of the Opera House in Manchester on Saturday, 5th November at 7.30PM was unbeliavable. Meeting up with great people before (and after) the show was incredible as well, believe me. Briish people are just great! We chatted for a while really enjoying ourselves and then…

At around 9PM, the lights went down. On the right balcony, appeared the puppets – 2-D and Murdoc. They argued for 2 and half minutes, everyone in the Opera House was clearly enjoying it. After this, the screen showed a classic Walt Disney cartoon with Daffy the Duck. After this the curtains rose.

Intro was the first to be played, being pre-recorded, it gave nothing new musically but the visuals appearing on the screen above the band were awesome and very thoughtful.

Last Living Souls was the first real song to come. The strings band really being fired up from the beginning, the song got everyone going along right away. Quite before the end of the show, some 2:30 into the song, Damon really got fired up and virtually screamed the lyrics. And well, so did I. The first applause was a decent one but clearly leaving something more for later.

Next off was Kids With Guns, this song was the first one with a special guest-star, Neneh Cherry appeared on stage and clearly got everyones attention right away, since she was the only one to be in the spotlight. Damon playing with the lyrics abit, as he always does it was really enjoyable, this was clearly one of the best songs of Demon Days for me before the show. Up-tempo and cheerful, this got the crowd going (even though everyone was sitting, there cleary was some boogie going on everywhere. The most enjoyable thing about this song was the ending solo to which Neneh Cherry added a bit of her own singing. It worked really well. The cheers were louder this time as Neneh stepped of stage.

O Green World was always the song I figured the album could have managed without. I never got what it was about..until it was played live. The best thing about this one was seeing how Damon Albarn danced and rocked to this one himself, he really enjoyed playing it. It’s probably the darkest song Gorillaz have ever done and being quite heavy in many ways too, it has now found a definite place as a song I listen to every day in the cold, windy and wet autumn evenings. The screen action was a good one too, on of the standouts, I specially enjoyed the crow and the two reapers in the end. The ending of the song was stretched out a bit giving it a feeling even more special. A powerful performance.

After that, the stage went dark for a moment and the kids choir ran on stage, every kid being a bit nerveous – don’t tell me you wouldn’t be, infront of a 2000 head audience. Then began Dirty Harry, one of the two most powerful songs of the evening for me. This song got people up from their seats and dancing for the first (but not last) time. I was pleased to see that the security didn’t mind. The kids really got the song going, they danced on stage, all together and separately. I specially remember a girl who stepped up when Bootie Brown from The Pharcyde was doing his rap part and getting her shoulders working really well. My dad who came along with me gave me a weird look when he noticed me singing the entire rap part along, but hey!

The crowd obviously had looked forward for the next one, Feel Good Inc. came and well. As they say, “veni, vidi, vici”. Everyone I looked at sang the chorus along. On Saturdays show, De La Soul was represented by Dave alone but it didn’t really hurt the performance. All in all, it was a beautiful song but it never got to be one of the highlights of the show. As with Dirty Harry, the visual was really boring, just a still picture of the single cover. But I guess that with that much going on on stage, you don’t need anything else. 2-D and Murdoc re-appeared on the balcony for this one and dance to the song.

El Mañana however was different. The visuals were really interesting to see, it was like a sketch drawing, which appeared line by line as drawn right in front of you. There was a little joke to the drawing too, which made everyone laugh when the song ended but I don’t think telling it would make it as funny as it was to see. Simon Tong (known from The Verve) played the acoustic on this one, I really enjoy the guitar on this song. Once again, Damon Albarn seemed to love singing this one. As we found out later in the evening (by ourselves, directly from mr. Jamie Hewlett), this is the 4th single from Demon Days and what a great one it is.

Every Planet We Reach Is Dead was always a favourite from the album for me and the live performance didn’t disappoint me. The song was a mammoth one, they played it over 6 minutes long, letting the fantastic Ike Turner do his solo even better than on the album. The live performance faded away the fantastic vocals on the album but the song didn’t suffer much, it was still a good one. When Ike Turner walked/danced on stage, the crowd gave him quite a decent welcome, as he was worth.

November Has Come was an odd one. It was really a shame MF Doom couldn’t be there himself, instead the crowd got to see him doing his rap on the screen. I’m not saying it was a disappointment since it was said out from the beginning – MF Doom could not come. All in all, this sounded better on the album.

Next off was the definite #1 of the evening, All Alone was performed in such a powerful and glorious way I keep a picture of Roots Manuva and Martina Topley-Bird performing it as my desktop wallpaper. The beats, the rap, the synth, the calmed down voice of Martina. I couldn’t ask for anything more.Roots Manuva was very charming on stage and needless to say, so was Martina Topley-Bird with her outfit making her look like a geisha. I really loved it and All Alone has grown to be my favourite track since.

White Light sounded a lot better than on the album, I guess it’s just a matter of power and amplifiying. The visual for this one was a good one too, really nice camera work. After the silent interlude in the song, Damon no longer whispered the lyrics, he screamed them. And that felt good. The Gospel Choir was there for the song, singing the “aaaaaah” part of the interlude.

After this one ended, the cround cheered louder than to any other guest artist, DARE was beginning and Shaun Ryder of The Happy Mondays, a Manchester local, and Rosie Wilson came on stage and sang it. Shaun was quite random but then again, his role in the song is to be that so he managed well. Rosie had to keep an eye on him though, which she did. The best thing about this song was the crowd reaction. Not only was Shaun a local guy, the song is a UK hit and that’s how it was welcomed – everyone in the Opera House (or Stalls anyway, I couldn’t see people on higher levels) were up and dancing. What a great feeling it was. The crowd cheered inormously when Shaun walked off stage, clearly this was the highlight for many.

Fire Coming Out Of The Monkeys Head was great in terms of visuals, lots of drawings from mr. Jamie Hewlett made it feel almost as a video for the song. Dennis Hopper was not there which I think was a loss, I would have loved seeing him sitting on a chair on stage and telling the tale of Happy Folk.

Don’t Get Lost In Heaven and Demon Days were played together as on the album, The Gospel Choir sounding not so good on Don’t Get Lost In Heaven but sounding fantastic on Demon Days. Damon did his high-pitched voice at the beginning of Demon Days which is always a great enjoyment for anyone loving his works half as much as I do.

At the end of Demon Days, the curtains came down. 2-D and Murdoc once again appeared on the balcony, asking for some cheers frm the audience. They got what they asked. After a while, the curtains went up again. Now came the encore. First off, they did Hong Kong, the song Gorillaz contributed to the Help album. Damon Albarn walked to the spotlight, getting the biggest cheer and applause of the night, we all stood up in gratitute for everything he had done. He smiled, sang the song fabulously as always, thanked the band, thanked the audience and then returned to his place, where he took his melodica.

Now he played Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo?). Ibrahim Ferrer from the Buena Vista Social Club, who had passed off earlier this year, appeared on screen. They used footage from the studio “13” (Damon Albarns studio in London) where Ibrahim had sung the vocals for this track. With this farewell to the great man, the show ended.

It cost me a lot of money to see (tickets + travelling + accomodation) but it was worth it. It would have been worth it even if we hadn’t seen Damon Albarn, Shaun Ryder, Bootie Brown, Roots Manuva, Dave from De La Soul and Jamie Hewlett. Even if I hadn’t gotten the chance to chat with them and get my programme signed by them. Every one not one of those ~10 000 lucky people who got to see it..I’m sorry for you. You lost an experience of a lifetime.

9,5/10