Photo Credit: Matt Eachus
Three years on from the release of their spectacular second #1 album ‘Cracker Island‘, Gorillaz returned and achieved the same feat with their ninth studio record ‘The Mountain‘. Embarking on their biggest UK arena tour on their home turf to date, the genius minds of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett alongside an emphatic live band and virtual characters continues to blow minds twenty five years on.
One by one, each member stepped on to the stage as the animation for ‘The Mountain‘ played on the screens. The crowd roared as Albarn made his way from the curtain, up the steps and strolled across the stage to the centre. Grinning from ear to ear, his appreciation for the positive reception couldn’t be hidden. Continuing with the new material, ‘The Happy Dictator’ followed alongside ‘Tranz‘ before stepping back in time for fan favourites ‘Tomorrow Comes Today‘ and ‘19-2000‘. Both tracks from their self-titled debut were met with huge cheers from the capacity arena crowd. This was exceeded though by Joe Talbot from IDLES‘ appearance during ‘The God of Lying‘. Talbot and Albarn starred each other down as they exchanged lyrics, showcasing not only artist chemistry but their experience on the big stages to deliver it with sheer power.
Plastic Beach’s ‘On Melancholy Hill‘ was met with another huge cheer that filled the room, as the calming track was out sung by the Leeds crowd. Albarn’s smiles continued in the latter stages of the set before treating Leeds to an exclusive of ‘Cloud of Unknowing’. The whole standing section were bouncing along to ‘Andromeda‘, as the impressive artwork continued throughout the show on the screens. Yasiin Bey made his way on to the stage for ‘Stylo‘ and Michelle Ndegwa stepped up front for ‘Damascus‘, displaying vocals that blew the whole crowd away. Further fan favourites featured into the latter stages of the show, as ‘Dirty Harry‘ came around just before the encore with Bootie Brown running on to the podium to deliver his part of the song. The Leeds crowd were still getting involved though, with arms swaying from side to side and leaping up into the air, this was a great way to burn off some energy before a brief breather ahead of the encore.
‘The Hardest Thing‘ and ‘Orange County‘ eased both Gorillaz and the audience into the finale before the big hitters ‘Feel Good Inc.‘ and ‘Clint Eastwood‘ had the whole place exploding with cheers. Both as expected, were met with the biggest joint efforts from the band and crowd, proving these track are timeless classics and a perfect ending to the bands’ debut in the city.
Taped Magazine 