Who: Gorillaz
Where:Vector Arena
When: Last night
It's no wonder Gorillaz have never been on a world tour.
Getting the cartoon band - masterminded by Blur frontman Damon Albarn (who was at his dreamy, serenading, and highly-strung best last night) and comic creator Jamie Hewlett in 1998 - together with the many guest artists who feature on
their albums poses one of live music's great logistical challenges.
In the past it's been too expensive, but it's all come together for the Escape To Plastic Beach Tour, with a cast of more than 35 singers and players.
And this is how the monster multi-media live music freak show plays out. The virtual band - singer 2D, the Gollum-like band leader Murdoc, guitarist Noodle, and hulking drummer Russel - are beamed on to the giant screen and act out Hewlett's intriguing and twisted stories.
Meanwhile, the live band, including Albarn as ringmaster, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones of the Clash, and a girl septet of strings conjure up the trippy, bouncy, and often eerie Gorillaz sound.
Then it's up to the cast of guests to do their thing, headed by mighty six-piece hip-hop brass band the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, American hip-hop act De La Soul, and veteran soul man Bobby Womack.
Even Snoop Dogg shows up. Albeit larger than life up there on the giant video screen letting lose with his laid-back salvo on Welcome To the World of the Plastic Beach.
The two hour sets takes in almost all the new album Plastic Beach, as well as Gorillaz' brilliantly oddball pop hits, from the spooky and thrumming Tomorrow Comes Today and the cheeky melancholic lope of Clint Eastwood to the bass bop and clap along of Dirty Harry and the druggy haze holler of DARE.
There's a fitting Clash-inspired end to the main set with the sonic squelch and weirdness of Glitter Freeze giving way to the steely crash and bash of Punk (which is like the start of Career Opportunities or Clash City Rockers), which is followed by Plastic Beach, with Simonon and Jones to the fore.
This is the last show of Gorillaz' world tour, and with music as fun, dark, and irresistibly cheeky as this - and with visuals and performances to match - it's one of the concerts of 2010. It's also, declares Albarn a little sadly, the last Gorillaz show.
They will be missed because they are one of modern music's best, most innovative, and fun bands.
Who: Gorillaz
Where:Vector Arena
When: Last night
