GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE
Who
Office chit chat about I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here reminded me that Shaun Ryder was still in the jungle and therefore would not be appearing, which was a big blow. However I got changed and left my bag at work then caught a train to Birmingham, hearing a bit more Gorillaz on the way. My brother somehow misunderstood the simple instruction to wait in the foyer of New Street and found somewhere else to stand, making me more insistent on having a quick and cheap meal. It was a rather cold night, albeit not quite as chilly as the weather would get a couple of weeks later, and we walked along the canal to Brindley Place and I insisted we go to the cheap but nice pub towards Broad Street. My selection was vindicated as it was steak night meaning I got to enjoy a very generous 8oz rump steak with chicken, chips and a drink for just £6.99. Also the service was much quicker than it would have been from a fancy restaurant which helped us make up for the short delay on the trains. We then found a bridge over the canal to the NIA (no thanks to the quality of the signposts) and managed to get inside quite easily. I had no trouble resisting the £10 programmes and we headed downstairs, receiving the customary NIA wristband which was rather tight. I swear that the room had grown since last time and there were a few boring people seated at the back. It is annoying how they open the doors at 6pm then not have any music on until 7:30pm but, judging by the quietness of the venue, not many people had been caught out by this and we'd arrived in decent time for the first support. It always makes me wonder how everyone else magically knows when to turn up, as I'm sure at some NIA gigs the main show actually starts at 7:30pm, yet in those cases everyone else somehow knows! After we had a few minutes sitting down waiting, Little Dragon took to the stage a couple of minutes after 7:30pm and I had reasonably high hopes as she was the beautiful voice behind To Binge. I'd probably had been disappointed if she'd just sung a load of soppy ballads but I was equally disappointed by the overly loud and "bangy" set which followed and drifted past me with little impact.
Once Little Dragon finished De La Soul took to the stage with a show that was memorable for unexpected reasons. The sound had been absolutely fine up to this point but for some reason became horrendously muffled when the band took to the stage, making them sound a bit like the elephant man! There were three guys and they took this all very well, continuing with their act as we happily laughed at the awful sound coming out of the speakers but grimaced when it made banging noises. At a few points they turned the sound on before cutting it off again mid-song and the band eventually took a few minutes out while they fixed it once and for all. They won many of us over with their positive and humorous attitude in the face of the ineptitude of the NIA and I was impressed when they coolly referred to the sound issues as a bit of snap, crackle and pop and apologised for it despite being completely blameless! Once they got into the swing of things it all became a bit duller, apart from indulging in a rap stereotype from Scary Movie 3 of asking us to throw our hands in the air, which I think many of us felt was such a stereotype that it was comical! De La Soul kept things interesting by splitting the crowd down the middle, with the guy on the decks remaining neutral and the other two adopting half of the NIA each and encouraging us to go crazy in turn. I think there was little doubt that our side was the loudest! Sadly the tunes completely passed me by but the sound problems had showed that they were pretty cool guys plus there was a really impressive Soulwaxy bit where they froze and stopped playing for a minute in the middle of a tune! By the time De La Soul had finished the venue had filled up a bit but it clearly wasn't a sell out, making me wonder just what is wrong with people. Plastic Beach is brilliant and what could be better than seeing Gorillaz, especially with half The Clash onstage as part of their regular band? Yes, the tickets were very expensive but there can't be many bands as good/big as Gorillaz. I mean, fucking Paramore had played the NEC the night before, and as far as I know they've never had a hit! It's terrifying to think people have so little taste that they can pass up a show like this when it should have sold out immediately.
The soundchecking was finished reasonably quickly and the video screen was briefly tested but the band still made us all wait until after 9pm when the strings section took their places to applause. The video screen then kicked into life for an amusing clip of Murdoc and 2D in their dressing room getting ready to come onstage, but Murdoc found he couldn't open the door. It was a rather "gritty" video featuring extreme close-ups of Murdoc's stubble to demonstrate that great care had been taken in rendering these characters on the computer. The band then continued coming onstage and despite the low lighting everyone knew when Damon took his position as he was greeted with a roar of approval. While the Orchestral Intro of Plastic Beach was played the Gorillaz logo was unveiled and one letter was lit up at a time to substantial applause and it looked as amazing as it had done at the festivals, even if the stage was noticeably narrower at the NIA. The logo was beautifully lit up and would change colours throughout the show to match the music, wonderfully complementing the video screen above it. Damon was in Gorillaz uniform with his Dennis The Menace top and it's interesting how he seems to have a costume for each tour he does nowadays. In fact the guy next to us was wearing the dark blue Fred Perry top that had been Damon's uniform on the Blur reunion tour! The Gorillaz set-up was much more interesting than it had been before. Having Mick Jones and Paul Simonon in black and white stripes to complement Damon's outfit, wearing sailor hats and prowling around the stage was simply amazing. Also the band had quite a few people backing them plus who could well have been Alex Turner on guitar, in addition to the hefty selection of guest stars who'd be cropping up throughout. The show came to life with Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach as Hypnotic Brass Ensemble took their positions and Snoop Dog made a larger than life appearance on the video screen. He'd seemed completely underwhelming at Glasto so it was probably better for everyone that he appeared all dressed up on the screen to welcome us to the show. It was also nice to see Hypnotic Brass Ensemble who I'd missed the chance to see supporting Blur, as they injected much life into the tune and had some impressively sized brass! The show then stepped up a notch as Damon came to the front to sing like a madman with a look of incredible intensity on his face as we enjoyed the Last Living Souls. The zombies on the video screen were the only reminder that this song was about the undead but Damon reminded us that he was the real star of the evening with more talent in his little finger than perhaps everyone else who'd be appearing with him!
The highlight of the whole show then followed with a completely unexpected and delightful romp through 19-2000, a tune I never thought they'd play in a million years. I guess I figured that if Gorillaz hadn't learned from the shocking error of omitting Clint Eastwood from the Manchester show in 2005 in time for their headline slot at Glastonbury 2010 then they never would learn to play ALL the hits. Perhaps I should have had more faith though, because if the Blur show proved anything it was that Damon will play all the best songs eventually! It was also a wonderfully energetic mix combining the very best of the slow and fast versions of the tune and it looked like Damon was having a ball performing it. I trust it will never be dropped from the Gorillaz set again as this simple inclusion transformed the entire balance of the set and made the whole evening. The main improvement over the 2005 show was that the band were playing a proper set with a carefully chosen setlist rather than just running through the latest album. Stylo went down rather well but was slightly soured by some cunts who pushed past us, who we promptly pushed in a "go on, get the fuck through then get the hell out of our space" kind of way. They then had the nerve to act as if we were the rude ones, but if you try to push then you've got to be prepared to take a taste of your own medicine and, if you do want to make amends, then fuck off to the back where you came from. Fuckwits. Despite leaving less space between us than perhaps anywhere else in the venue a few others tried it, and people should learn that you've got to earn your place in a crowd by arriving in good time and you can't expect to barge in at the last minute. Even dumber are the people who decide to leave during the biggest hits, and you do wonder if watching the show is the priority of their evening sometimes. The music then tailed off a bit with On Melancholy Hill, which is a pretty song but is far too well regarded. Rhinestone Eyes on the other hand was absolutely incredible, as Damon put on another madcap performance and turned what is an underwhelming moment on the record into an astonishingly powerful track because it went very loud and the lights went crazy during the instrumental bit.
On the other hand I hadn't held out much hope of Gruff Rhys showing up for Superfast Jellyfish, but I understand he's a busy guy who can still make brilliant music outside the Gorillaz so he wasn't likely to end up following them around the country. De La Soul did make another appearance but without Gruff being there it sounded flat. 19-2000 had been a shock but hearing debut single Tomorrow Comes Today was even more astonishing as Damon got out his melodica to "rock out" for its finale. I wasn't expecting the debut album to be so reasonably represented but this song simply isn't that good and wins kudos simply for being unexpected and there's always something pleasant about having a debut single in the set. Perhaps the most amazing thing was to compare Tomorrow Comes Today with Plastic Beach and to realise just how far Gorillaz had come and wondering just how Damon found the time to push the envelope when I'd presumed he'd had spent most of 2009 tied up with Blur. The show then tailed off a bit with Empire Ants and Broken, the latter of which featured another appearance by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. Perhaps this may be a good time to mention that there was a random bell onstage which seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever? Proceedings then stepped up a notch with Dirty Harry which desperately lacked a live children's choir which had proved so effective in Manchester. However the video screen was populated with an animated choir having fun with paper airplanes and suchlike which occupied our attention, and a shot of that appears above. Damon then introduced the new single and the only song I didn't know by welcoming Daley onstage as a talented Manchester musician. Sadly he was completely overshadowed by a stupid haircut but upon repeated listens of Doncamatic I find it to be another decent tune which somehow has failed to set the charts alight. This was followed by El Mañana which was just as much a complete fucking waste of time as it had been in Manchester. The video of Noodle dying is impressive but this song has no merit in itself and is an unforgivable waste of space when Gorillaz have so many better tunes.
Damon then took a moment out to talk about playing in Damascus and taking to the stage as the minarets were calling people to pray. He then welcomed a few members of the Syrian National Orchestra onstage who played a brief snippet before joining the band on White Flag. The tune itself is of little interest but it was fascinating to watch Damon, who I'd presumed would be waving a white flag throughout. It looked like he tried to find it and couldn't so sat down at his keyboards in a huff not quite knowing what to do. He eventually picked up a flag from the floor but didn't unfurl it, and it was obvious to my keen eye that something had gone wrong but I'm not quite sure what. Maybe he simply didn't have the space needed to unfurl the flag? However, it was all rather amusing and Damon quickly recovered, not putting a foot wrong on the beautiful To Binge, which sounded more fragile than I expected and featured the return of Yukimi Nagano from Little Dragon. They finished up on their knees and holding hands and it was a lovely moment. The show then burst back into life with Dare but it just wasn't the same without Shaun Ryder onstage, which is weird to think considering how out of tune he sings! Sadly the pre-recorded vocals sounded very flat and, despite the efforts of the band, it just wasn't the same. It would have been nice if Gorillaz had persuaded Shaun to pre-record a special live rendition to help it sound different to the record? Glitter Freeze on the other hand benefited greatly from the presence Of Mark E Smith who looked rather smart in a leather jacket and helped generate some feedback during the rock-out at the end. The main set then came to a close with Plastic Beach which sounded amazing and it was just like being in the wild west for a few minutes. I believe it was at this point that Murdoc and 2D made another appearance where unfortunately they couldn't open the stage door to come onstage, and Murdoc was getting angry that a "Gorillaz tribute act" were hogging the limelight! The video ended when Murdoc ran towards the door and managed to knock himself out, while 2D had just been sitting there seemingly nonplussed by the whole thing.
It was a nice concession to the original idea of Gorillaz as being a cartoon band but the goodwill was reduced somewhat when the band came back onstage to sing... Cloud Of Unknowing? We were acutely aware of the impending last train and this pretty but dull song was not what we wanted to hear, and was a bit of the throwback to the fuck-awful encore they'd fobbed us off with back in Manchester. Thankfully Feel Good Inc. followed and this was what we wanted to hear as Damon sung at a tannoy mic and De La Soul reappeared, and this was followed by Clint Eastwood which is the tune that everyone had been waiting for and the venue exploded accordingly! It was a great relief to exorcise the disappointment of the 2005 show but the song was over before we knew it. I'd expected this to be the end but Gorillaz then launched into Don't Get Lost In Heaven which morphed into Demon Days. Once the main bit of the song was over and it lurched towards the "rock out" though we decided to make our way towards the exit. I was slightly worried they'd come back onstage as the Pet Shop Boys had done but they clearly weren't going to play M1 A1 and after we'd gone the long way out of the arena the venue doors opened to indicate that it was all over. We then walked briskly towards the train barely giving a glance to the cheap t-shirts outside before realising just how damned far away the train station is from the NIA and eventually we had to jog/sprint there to arrive on time, leaving us dehydrated and out of breath for the journey home. However, we had stayed for the best of the finale, even if Clint Eastwood would have been a stronger way to finish. Also I was shell-shocked by the glaring omission of Pirate Ship, a tune I would never have left during as it had sounded so incredible at Glasto. I just couldn't believe they didn't play it! I'd also never expected Demon Days to be neglected, as Kids With Guns and O Green World were sorely missed. I'd held out no hope of hearing M1 A1 but that would have been amazing and I guess Some Kind Of Nature wasn't worth playing if Lou Reed wasn't around to sing on it? I'm disappointed to read that Punk (!) and Kids With Guns had both been played on the previous night in London, but generally speaking this was a very rare show where the disappointing omissions were fairly few and spread evenly over all three albums. Nevertheless, I'm very pleased to have now seen Gorillaz twice, Blur thrice plus The Good, The Bad & The Queen and the Monkey musical once, giving me a great track record following Damon's amazing career. I was a little tired going to work the next day but it was worth it and overall this was certainly a vast improvement on the last show!
Mark: 8.5/10
Gorillaz
Support
De La Soul
Little Dragon
Where
Birmingham NIA
When
17th November 2010
Price
£45.00
Who with
Alex
Position
In the middle
Comments
Despite the disappointment of the last time we saw Gorillaz we eagerly snapped up tickets for this show months in advance, not even blinking at the £45 cost. The band then performed a critically panned headline show at Glastonbury but that didn't bother me as, apart from the glaring omission of 19-2000, they'd played a brilliant set crammed with more invention and excitement than fellow headliners Muse and Stevie Wonder combined. Dismissing the whole show because Damon didn't talk to the crowd that much seems a bit lame, but that's what some people said! Indeed, if they'd also thrown in M1 A1 and perhaps dropped a couple of new tunes it would have been a perfect show and it was most gratifying to see Damon Albarn headlining Glasto for two years in a row. Not that I wished I was there or anything, seeing Macca was a much better choice and, if anyone wants to talk about criminal omissions, I think Stevie Wonder missing out that chance to do an Ebony And Ivory live link-up with Sir Paul was the ultimate missed opportunity! As far as the Plastic Beach album is concerned, Gorillaz have done what nobody expected and created a masterwork with more variety and genius than Demon Days, which was good but perhaps a bit too arty. Plastic Beach may have lacked a killer single of the quality of Dare but Stylo is an incredible tune, in particular for having amazing soul vocals from Bobby Womack rather than awful generic rap of the kind that blighted Feel Good Inc. And Clint Eastwood which, as good as they were, achieved it in spite of the rapping! Also To Binge is a bona fide masterpiece, with "my heart is in economy due to this autonomy" being possibly Damon's best lyric of all time. I liked the whole looseness of the album, and also Pirate Jet which had sounded amazing at Glasto despite the crowds complete failure to join in. The show had been conveniently scheduled for the night of Friday 10th September but frustratingly was moved to make way for an American tour. Strangely enough, as far as I can see Gorillaz didn't actually tour American until October? Nevertheless, this left me little time to prepare as I was trying to finalise a couple more holidays to take advantage of the end of my job that very week. Fingers crossed it will all work out for the best, indeed at the time of writing I'm wondering how I could fit in a job with all the planning and travelling I've got to do!
Setlist
Orchestral Intro
Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach
Last Living Souls
19-2000
Stylo
On Melancholy Hill
Rhinestone Eyes
Superfast Jellyfish
Tomorrow Comes Today
Empire Ants
Broken
Dirty Harry
Doncamatic
El Mañana
White Flag
To Binge
Dare
Glitter Freeze
Plastic Beach
Cloud Of Unknowing
Feel Good Inc.
Clint Eastwood
Don't Get Lost In Heaven
Demon Days
