Gorillaz With Mos Def Live In London, UK + Concert Review, Video, Photos and Set List

via NME

Gorillaz made their live return to the UK (Thursday, April 29), joined onstage in London by a host of guests from across their three albums.

Despite the global nature of their collaborations, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were able to recruit the likes of Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Shaun Ryder and Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys to Camden's Roundhouse.

Taking to the stage to the intro to this year's 'Plastic Beach', accompanied by a series of Jamie Hewlett's visuals, which paced the whole show, the Gorillaz band - including The Clash's Mick Jones & Paul Simonon, both sporting sailors hats, on guitar and bass - were joined by strings (also in nautical attire) and backing singers as they kicked off with 'Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach', with Snoop Dogg's rap delivered via a specially commissioned video.

Albarn, who began the gig on keyboards, then took centre stage, leading vocals on the 'Demon Days' track 'Last Living Souls', before returning to the back of the stage for 'O Green World' and then taking up a guitar for 'On Melancholy Hill'.



The collective then introduced their first guests of the night, as Mos Def and Womack took to the stage to loud applause for 'Stylo'.

Afterwards, Albarn was back throwing himself about for 'Rhinestone Eyes', then after chilling out on 'Broken', he was then joined by Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano for 'Empire Ants'.

Bootie Brown then made an appearance rapping on 'Dirty Harry', before the Syrian National Orchestra were brought out for 'White Flag' with Kano and Bashy supplying vocals after an extended intro.

De La Soul then made their first appearance of the night, sharing the stage with Gruff Rhys for 'Superfast Jellyfish', they were followed by Shaun Ryder and the 'real life' Noodle, singer Rosie Wilson for a crowd pleasing version of 'Dare'.

'Glitter Freeze' was performed next without The Fall's Mark E Smith - though he is expected for the gig at the same venue tomorrow - while after 'El Mañana', soul legend Womack returned for a moving rendition of 'Cloud Of Unknowning', which he ended by thanking the crowd, the first person to speak during the gig.

Briefly leaving the stage, Gorillaz returned with Mos Def kicking of the encore on a pounding version of 'Sweepstakes'.



Little Dragon's Nagano was then back to duet with Albarn on 'To Binge', while De La Soul were out in force for a riotous version of 'Feel Good Inc'.

The group then rounded the show off with a bass heavy version of first album track and former single 'Clint Eastwood', waving to the crowd as they left the stage after the song's climax.

Gorillaz played:

'Orchestra Intro'
'Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach'
'Last Living Souls'
'O Green World'
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Kids With Guns'
'Stylo'
'Rhinestone Eyes'
'Broken'
'Empire Ants'
'Dirty Harry'
'White Flag'
'Superfast Jellyfish'
'Dare'
'Glitter Freeze'
'El Mañana'
'Cloud Of Unknowing'
'Sweepstakes'
'To Binge'
'Feel Good Inc'
'Clint Eastwood'

Photo links:
Wire Image
Rex Features

(video courtesy of alistairburns)

Gorillaz - 'Stylo' ft. Mos Def & Bobby Womack (video) + L.A. Times Story About

One of the first sounds heard on the new Gorillaz album, due March 9, is the relaxed drawl of Snoop Dogg. "Welcome to the world of the plastic beach," the rapper sings, referencing the album's title ("Plastic Beach") and greeting the listener with Blaxploitation-era brass notes and jazzed-up hip-hop beats.

It's at once familiar but far from routine, as notes are stretched and digitzed while the animated band, led be Blur's Damon Albarn, harmonizes behind Snoop Doog's fairy-tale-referencing lyrics. "It's like Wonderland," he sings, as the band relaxes into a trance-inducing groove of hip-hop and vintage soul.

The video for the first single, "Stylo," is a bit more violent, albeit featuring a similar psychedelic mix of old-school sounds. Actor Bruce Willis makes a cameo, chasing the cartoon desperadoes around a "Smokey and the Bandit"-like setting. Sadly, it is not embeddable (sigh), as EMI-released content is still shamefully sparse on Vevo, but we can show you a teaser below (video above).

At the very least, here's hoping that this is inducive of the kind of video content the act is kicking up for its Coachella appearance. The mix of noirish live action and animation not only cures this writer's need for a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" fix, but it also will look great when screened over the desert landscape. (source)

Gorillaz 'Plastic Beach' Album Preview

courtesy of NPR



01. Orchestral Intro
02. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach ft. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
03. White Flag ft. Kano & Bashy
04. Rhinestone Eyes
05. Stylo ft. Bobby Womack and Mos Def
06. Superfast Jellyfish ft. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul
07. Empire Ants ft. Little Dragon
08. Glitter Freeze ft. Mark E Smith
09. Some Kind Of Nature ft. Lou Reed
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes ft. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
13. Plastic Beach ft. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon
14. To Binge ft. Little Dragon
15. Cloud Of Unknowing ft. Bobby Womack
16. Pirate Jet

Gorillaz - 'Plastic Beach' on Virgin Records in-stores and online March 9.