Who
Gorillaz
Support
Little Simz
Where
Arena Birmingham
When
2nd December 2017
Price
£45.00
Who with
No-one
Position
In the middle
Comments
This was my third time seeing Gorillaz and 201st gig, and falling in December it is always a busy time of year regardless. I got tickets straight away and never checked back to see if it sold out, and this was touted as the Humanz tour in support of their fourth album proper. I was surprised that Gorillaz still played the same size of arena as last time because the new album just doesn't feel remotely as good as the twin - and in my mind equal - masterpieces of Demon Days and Plastic Beach, lacking the catchiness and depth of pop mastery, and not having a cohesive theme either. The only concession to the band having not extended their reach was that the ticket price was exactly the same as the last time without the expected cost hike, but it was advertised as a big event when it went on sale, so perhaps Gorillaz remain a bigger deal than I give them credit for. I'd got a copy of the Humanz album and had heard it a few times, really struggling to form any attachment to it and having to settle for just a bit of knowledge to ease me into the show. I must say that as the show approached I was starting to regret having gone for it, because the Plastic Beach tour had been a near-definitive encapsulation of Gorillaz at their pop best, and the Demon Days "event" shows at Manchester Opera House had showcased their artier side. At the same venue as last time - albeit with another pointless rebranding to now become Arena Birmingham - I struggled to see what they could add to justify my effort in attending. I'd kept an eye on the venue website but the show times weren't announced until extremely near the date, and the night before I also ventured into Birmingham to attend Christmas At The Botanical Gardens, which was advertised as a beautiful trail of light and seemingly an impressive complement to visiting the Magic Lantern show at the same venue the year before.

Sadly my experience was so appalling that to say I was fucked over would be a gross understatement, as I rearranged my shift at work to finish early enough, then was conscious of not being allowed in the site early and having to stand around in the freezing temperatures, so I stopped for a pub meal in Wolves before catching the train onto Birmingham. The onward train to Five Ways was cancelled so I went for the bus, struggling to find the stop then having the misfortune to board one just as the driver decided to take a 30-minute break, as his disgusted passengers were screaming at him to get moving. And once he did move he promptly got caught in total gridlock circumnavigating the city centre. Now this was quite late on a Friday night so traffic shouldn't have been a worry at all, and it was a testament to the huge excess of extra time I'd allowed that I only arrived 40-45 minutes after the allotted time on my ticket, only to discover that the entrance to the Botanical Gardens site was closed! I'd received an email giving me critical information which didn't mention anything of note about timings, but upon learning that the site would be shutting at 10pm - which was earlier than I expected, but hey ho - I knew I still had a solid hour and could easily have covered the trail. But the utter cunts wouldn't let me in! And there wasn't even a manager to ask as they were already going around turning the lights off a full 90 minutes before closing time. What the actual fuck? The staff in the shop were much more helpful but as they didn't work for the same company they couldn't let me in, and the utterly fucking retarded advice of the guys on the entrance was to come back tomorrow, and to ask why I hadn't got there earlier. They are lucky that they weren't murdered where they stood for making such a moronic suggestion, and it is beyond all comprehension and the most paranoid imaginable scenario-planning that the bus had taken a full half an hour longer to get me somewhere I could have actually walked in that time!

I gave my details for someone to contact me and when I was back in Birmingham the next night - the evening of this show - I had a missed call and voice message. I was given an email address but as the person failed to spell out their name and never responded I don't know if they ever actually got my message, so was surprised when my ticket and booking fee was refunded with no further hassle on their part. Just to kick me in the balls a bit harder I had to waste the best part of an hour on the phone to the ticketing company because they said they couldn't process my refund as my card details had changed, and rather than just give me a link to somewhere to update them they gave me a number to call which wasn't properly staffed. And my card hadn't even changed, just the expiry date! Every aspect of that experience was a nightmare, and to add insult to injury I had to wait 30 minutes for the bus to take me back from the Botanical Gardens while I was literally screaming with rage, only to find the trains cancelled so foolishly going on the Metro, not realising that the replacement bus at the end of the journey coupled with the pitifully slow speed would mean it was such a hopeless option that I'd had been better off waiting a full hour for a train then going that way. I studied the small print on the Botanical Gardens website since and they'd cheekily added information about closing times after I'd meticulously planned and noted all the details, but they still encourage everyone to travel there by public transport and say that it is just 10 minutes from Birmingham by public transport, which is an absolute fucking lie. So it was this atrocity the night before that led to a sleepless night and a wasted evening that I could have spent so much better, and it was an extraordinary testament to my spirit that I woke up early the next day and went swimming as originally planned, since I couldn't sleep anyway and wanted to do something worthwhile.

On the morning of the show I also drove to Cannock to visit the Christmas Tree Festival at the local church, surmising that it was a rare opportunity to visit a church that is normally closed, and also to see it at its best. To make the fairly long journey a bit more constructive I purchased a bookcase from Argos - struggling to carry it across town back to the Asda car park - and then did a shop at Asda too, complementing a very pretty display of Christmas trees that made for a great morning after a horrific experience. I'd originally planned to get the bus and explore Wolves Art Gallery and Dudley Archives on the way in, but wanted a bit of time to myself and only crossed these sights off my list two weeks later. Despite this disaster I stuck to the same plan for getting into Birmingham, and guess what? I walked to the cinema the other side of Five Ways and got there comfortably on time! It is hard to take any positive lessons from such an awful experience, so I just paid close attention to if the trains were running on time, and figured in another nightmare scenario I'd just skip the cinema and have a meal instead. It seems like the only lessons to take are never to take the bus or tram as crawling on my hands and knees will probably be faster! Although my story of heroic triumph over incompetence is tarnished slightly by my experience after the concert, but that's something I'll cover later. I wore my thick coat due to the cold and settled for my Blur t-shirt - thinking it quite logical for a Gorillaz gig - and also had a free ride into Brum because the ticket machine at the train station was broke as it so often is. My visit to the Broad Street Cineworld was motivated by a desire to see Thor: Ragnarok after five weeks of not being able to find the time, and I must say that it was delightful, being genuinely funny and having a pace and atmosphere that made it arguably the best Marvel film to date. I had dismissed Thor as a deeply bland hero, so to sit down and watch all three of his films and realise that he is actually rather good was a real delight!

My cinema seat had oodles of legroom and I used the extra time - as I'd arrived early - to make the initial notes that make up this review, which I only wrote up from scribbled form 2 weeks after the concert. I was slightly worried about the film finishing time - not least because I had to watch the usual Marvel post credit scenes, feeling superior to the fools who literally run out when the credits appear - and didn't help matters by taking the wrong pedestrian exit from the Five Ways roundabout, but instead of going to Subway by the Odeon I took advantage of being next to Morrisons and got one of their excellent meal deals instead, also figuring that it would be much faster too. For less than £4 I even got a bonus sausage roll thrown in as well! I then walked to the NIA - sod the name change, it will always be the NIA to me - and encountered a long queue to get through security, although as I wasn't in the mood to be fucked over again I didn't try taking water in with me this time. I try to get hydrated in advance and figure that boycotting their food/drink and merchandise is a fair revenge to being fucked over in the past. I made it through the security search without hassle and was given a wristband to denote my access to the standing area, which I promptly went into after a loo break, getting inside around 7:50pm. The support act Little Simz had started at 7:30pm but the arena was still pretty quiet - and looking larger than ever with the rear seats being miles away - so I was delighted that I'd got some shopping, a visit to a rarely open church, a swim, visit to the cinema, cheap meal and even some time to myself crammed into a busy day before I even reached the main event. I think the outside doors had opened at 6pm so people could spend their money inside, but with no music at all for a full 90 minutes it seems an insane thing to do instead of enjoying a sit-down meal outside the venue! The support Little Simz was an energetic and youthful lady rapper accompanied with a rapping guy in front of decks, and unusually they were backed up by a substantial light show and even their own pre-programmed video screen.

Damon Albarn often embraces very dubious support acts but I suppose that rap is quite compatible with what Gorillaz do, even if to me it is a largely pointless embellishment of songs that would work better without it. The wonderful soulful vocals in Stylo for me represent the best integration that Gorillaz have done between "white" and "black" music, with much of their earlier material being pop songs that feel like they have rap arbitrarily bolted onto it for no benefit. I shot a video of the support and must say that her enthusiasm and energy won over much of the crowd, but I do dislike enforced crowd participation from support acts, and when they stopped their final song twice to try and force us to make more noise I wasn't having any of it, although my eye was caught by the Simpsons backdrop, with what appeared to be a real life Kwik E Mart forming the background of a rap video. Little Simz announced that the last time she'd played in Birmingham it had been to just 200 people, and I think she made a speech about believing in your dreams, and although not music I have any fondness towards I had arrived late enough that it didn't get boring, and her enthusiasm and positivity was endearing and did much to win the crowd over. But, after the utter shit I'd been through the day before, it clearly wasn't a likely day for me to embrace an unknown support act outside my sphere of interest, so I can't complain, and may even have enjoyed it if I'd arrived earlier and stood further forwards. Speaking of which I did move forwards when Little Simz finished, settling in front of the sound desk to hopefully reduce the risk of being pushed past constantly, as it had been particularly annoying at the last Gorillaz show. I guess being with my brother the last time who moans at everything hadn't helped, but as I'm a strong believer in securing my position early and not leaving the crowd except in case of the direst emergency I am not happy to have to make room for self-entitled twats who think they can swan in and out of the crowd at any time, especially when the primary purpose for their trips seems to be acquiring appalling and expensive beer that so often ends up on my back. I can't be the only person who'd be very happy for alcohol to be banned at gigs, as if your base taste in music is good enough you have no need for any stimulation to enjoy yourself!

While we were waiting, a large image of 2D with his back to us was projected onto the video screen, wearing a jacket that seemed to say "call for NIA" on the back in homage to the real name for our venue, but in reality I think it said California! More interesting though was that a camera had been placed onstage and the whole crowd were being projected back to us on the screen. It kept everyone interested, and once I figured out where I was on the image - finding it was a mirror image so I was on the opposite side to what I expected - I was impressed that in a large image of thousands of people that I could locate myself! It was an extraordinary testament to my positive attitude in the face of an avalanche of shit that by now I actually felt quite good, as I could easily have felt so exhausted and drained that I no longer had any focus on enjoying the gig. Unusually I didn't see the crowd camera being used during the show itself, but it was a good photo opportunity as I counted down to the intended Gorillaz start time of 8:45pm. The room was pumped full of smoke, and the only other incident of note was a large cheer for the guy to the right of the stage who climbed a ladder to the lighting rigs, although I never noted if he stayed up there for the duration or not. There were some frustratingly large heads in my way, but once Gorillaz started five minutes late the people were quick to move around. The side and back of the arena was a glistening array of phone lights and it really did look like a sell-out, perhaps by virtue of good gig advertising and the strong history of Gorillaz rather than adulation of their Humanz album. The start of the show was as fantastic as I could ever have imagined, as the smoke started to clear, lights went down and green lighting heralded the introduction of M1 A1! There was a globe at the top of the stage throughout, which provided an unusual additional video screen, and for this moment it formed the microphone for the guy asking if anyone was there, and as we got to answer that we were present and correct it made a lot of sense for an opener!

My first Gorillaz show had been hugely frustrating at the time due to a fuck awful encore that completely ignored the hits from the first album, and M1 A1 had been one of the largest omissions from the generally excellent Plastic Beach tour that followed. To quickly get to tick this tune off my list pretty much justified my effort in attending the show, and I shot a video of the introduction before the guitars and singing came in. Some bitch loudly whinging about people filming the start rather than enjoying it distracted me a little, as her negative attitude prevented her from enjoying the start of the show whereas us fans who were filming - especially me with my camera considerately held at eye level - were relishing the moment. It's quite funny to think that her whinging was the most annoying incident from any fellow punter tonight, as it meant that she was the largest distraction from our appreciating the show. The large size of the venue was a little frustrating though, and if people didn't feel the urge to hold their hands above their heads and block my view for large durations that would also be good! Also I love how the use of phones/cameras at gigs have made them less feral places, as people who want to protect property are less likely to mosh and push unnecessarily, and pushing has definitely become less of a problem as the use of filming has increased. But I mention these things because I like to document and remember every thought that goes through my mind. The moment I bitch out loud at those people like she did I become the twat and the person in the wrong, so it is an amusing minefield of behaviour out there, and I follow my own rules and etiquette, crucially not doing anything to impinge the enjoyment of others. But anyway, after the intro of M1 A1 and the band assembling onstage, the guitars kicked in and it was a good song, although its mystique has been built up unnecessarily by their failure to play it at previous shows. I guess being a fan of the Day Of The Dead movie it samples enhanced my enjoyment too, so it's intriguing that my fellow fans also latched onto this without that extra layer of appreciation.

The crowd weren't as sophisticated as I'd enjoyed for The Rolling Stones but I made it through the show without a pint being chucked on my head and wore my thick coat around my waist, struggling to hold it up as it kept trying to slip off. As a result my camera remained in my hand throughout, although I shot surprisingly few videos by my standards, perhaps sensing that my distance from the stage and so-so view took away my likelihood of securing top footage. After M1 A1 was Last Living Souls, keeping up the zombie theme as the classic video backdrop we'd enjoyed last time for it was downplayed, albeit still present and correct. I shot a video for Rhinestone Eyes, but the sound quality means it's hard to hear what it was, although I noted the choir onstage and chequered backdrop that the cartoon footage was presented through. It's a great song and the hands bobbed in the air in appreciation at the highly original and interesting burst of noise that forms its chorus. Next up was Tomorrow Comes Today, featuring Damon on harmonica, before a twisted take on Every Planet We Reach Is Dead featuring a completely different and much more dynamic ending. Damon Albarn was certainly front-loading the set with hits as Gorillaz then launched into 19-2000, as I shot footage of the original video and much of a verse. It was the same mid-tempo version we'd enjoyed on the last tour, siting somewhere between the slow album and fast single renditions. Although entirely alright, being in a venue I had no fondness for and watching the same songs which had been done justice already felt a slightly redundant experience, so my focus and interest was on what the band could deliver that deviated from before.

In sharp contrast to the first time I saw Gorillaz, Damon was standing front and centre for much of the show, and refrained from introducing the band, which I can hardly blame him for as how could he possibly remember all of the names! There was a string section to the right and most of the members were in shadows and serving too many musical roles for me to count. Superfast Jellyfish again didn't feature Gruff Rhys, although De La Soul showed up and I enjoyed the cool backdrop displaying images of food split into grids, making it look like a glimpse into a supermarket shelf. It struck me just how special it was that Damon and Gruff had finally collaborated, and on a lovely song too, and the crowd seemed to appreciate it as well. On Melancholy Hill was utterly lovely and seemed to be a highlight for many of those in attendance, with people really latching onto the instrumentation. Moments like this really benefited from the repeat viewing, although El Mañana was as redundant and pointless as it had been in the past, offering little except for the chance to tell a story via the elaborate and impressive backdrops from the original video. Better and more interesting tunes had to be cast aside to let it be in the set! Saturnz Barz was the first single from Humanz apparently, but I had to hear it back to remind myself how it goes, and it is so disinteresting that it's a shame to compare it to the superior opening shots from the first three albums. Clearly some fans tonight had really latched onto the hip hop/rap elements of the new material, but for me it was a step in the wrong direction, and I'm really surprised to note that the new album has received some pretty good reviews. But creative restlessness has always been a thing with Albarn, and knocking out the same thing again and again was never going to be on the cards.

Much better was Dirty Harry, featuring Bootie Brown and what looked like the exact same video footage from last time of animated kids voicing the choir on the large screen. Amusingly the screen went black partway through in what could only have been a technical fail, but that served to remind me how crucial the imagery is for the Gorillaz live experience, and indeed for any large scale live show worth its salt. It was a great tune though and I loved the little individualised design of the kids in the choir being playful and distracted, and the fans enjoyed it too. I think the side screens were in use too but this was redundant for me because I was far enough forwards. Ascension and Strobelite were two of the best that the new album had to offer, kicking off a rather long segment focusing on the new material. My favourite from the new album is definitely Sex Murder Party, which featured red lights and an extended ending, as well as the guest singer - Jamie Principle I think - randomly deciding to wear a balaclava. I shot a video of this, capturing the foggy lighting then zooming in on Damon dueting with balaclava man, although sadly this fantastic song seemed lost on the crowd, who bizarrely decided that this was one of the few newbies that wasn't to be greeted with wild abandon. Admittedly it's a low key number, but this lack of enthusiasm still came as a surprise to me. Gorillaz also played Out Of Body, which is a bonus track from the extended version of Humanz and due to my lack of familiarity it passed me by. Support act Little Simz reappeared for Garage Palace as well as one or two other tunes. Garage Palace was so obscure that it doesn't appear anywhere on the new album, and I was mightily confused as to how/why the fans went mental for it. Either I've missed something and this track has somehow become popular, or it was general appreciation of Simz that drove this impressive reaction.

I shot a video featuring such distorted sound quality that I can barely tell what song it was, and the tune featured a computer game themed backdrop on the screen. I must mention the tosser in front of me who was smoking before feeling relief as Damon got back onto the hits by moving onto guitar for a quick and energetic romp through Punk! I never expected that we'd get to enjoy not one but two never-played cuts from the debut album, so this was extremely welcome to hear, and in fact slightly longer than I recall from the record. I hoped that this heralded a run of hits so was surprised by the choice of Broken, but happier when they launched into Stylo, which as it hadn't been the mega hit it deserved to be I was a little worried that it would be omitted altogether. The classic original video featuring Bruce Willis formed the obvious backdrop, and I was pleased to note that many of the fans regarded Stylo as a sizeable and classic hit and a highlight of the show. We were now on the home run, and De La Soul reappeared for Feel Good Inc., as I shot a blurry video capturing the many phones in the air, zooming in on an equally blurry Damon before cutting it out just as he became clear and hit the chorus. It's a decent enough song, although for me it doesn't quite deserve a place amid the top drawer of Gorillaz hits, as other numbers are easily its equal. The main set then drew to a close with We Got The Power and another appearance for Little Simz, and it was hardly a surprise that Noel Gallagher had decided he wouldn't be joining the full Gorillaz tour for the benefit of a couple of minutes onstage each night! It's really surprising how little attention this tune has received, as it is a strong effort and represents an important meeting of minds and reconciliation after the Britpop wars.

I have lost much respect for Noel after reading about him insulting Brian Wilson, a man with more talent and innovation in his little finger than Noel's decades of diminishing returns could ever hope to achieve, implying that he is either deluded or will shamelessly lay into anyone if he thinks it will help to raise his profile. Although his live show was entirely alright when I saw it the year before, he was obviously blown offstage by SFA, and some of the goodwill he regained by collaborating with Damon has been lost by his foolish comments and inflated sense of self worth. Compared to the Plastic Beach tour, where Gorillaz had casually got half of The Clash to play guitar onstage, and also had got the Gorillaz logo in large letters as the focus of the video footage, this tour was less interesting and featured far fewer notable guests, so the main point of interest was hearing the couple of different older tunes for the first time, plus slightly enhancing my appreciation of the new material. For the encore Damon returned to the stage by himself armed with a guitar and a large grin on his face, but no-one else was smiling as he launched into the random b-side Hong Kong from the Demon Days era. I couldn't even recognise what it was and the crowd seemed equally lost, and this was not a suitable point in the set to foist rare and acoustic b-sides on us! Luckily the pace picked up thanks to Kids With Guns, which I'd entirely forgotten about, but it was a great choice and the gun imagery on the screen made it immediately recognisable and captivating.

And Damon resisted the urge to revert to b-sides, then launching into a very traditional take on Clint Eastwood, featuring the original video in the background. The crowd loved it and I shot a very distorted video, at which point I noticed that I'd recorded surprisingly little footage, and that unfortunately it hadn't turned out too great due to my distance from the stage and people blocking my view, as well as some dodgy recorded sound quality. The globe at the top of the stage which had featured some random visuals throughout the show descended toward the end of penultimate number Don't Get Lost In Heaven, timed to coincide with the refrain of "to the sun" as the song segued into the finale of Demon Days. Demon Days featured the same stained glass close-up shots we'd enjoyed last time, but as it was the end of the set I'd been hoping for something either more innovative or monumental. Also there was still rather a large omission yet to play that I presumed would form the centrepiece of a second encore. Even though it wasn't even yet 10:45pm, the band left the stage.. And that was it. Slightly shell shocked I made my way to the exit, a little surprised that nobody had booed. Because the blatant omission in fact was number one smash hit Dare. What the fuck? Although the new material wasn't as great as I hoped, the few different oldies, plus what felt like a hit-strewn opening had lifted my mood, so not being arsed to finish proceedings off with their biggest hit was not the ending I wanted. If I hadn't already seen Dare live both with and without Shaun Ryder I'd had been mortified, but as it was I was just disappointed.

On my way out of the arena I found myself stepping over plenty of discarded cups, and somehow an empty glass bottle of vodka that I would have thought would be a physically impossible thing to smuggle in, and also rather foolish as who'd want a bottle of spirits before a concert? The dodgy t-shirts outside cost an outrageous £10, it had started to rain and my phone internet stubbornly refused to load anything, so after a pretty decent show I found myself compounded with misfortune to negate any remaining good vibes. I purchased a bottle of still Vimto and arrived at New Street station to discover my train had been hopelessly delayed, and just to kick me in the balls a bit harder I noted that all three trains that could have taken me back toward Wolverhampton had been delayed to pretty much the same time, meaning that I couldn't even get back to Wolves and enjoy the security of knowing I was nearly home and could relax in a pub. There were plenty of people who were messed around by this, although considering it was a Saturday night it could have been much worse. Luckily I used the time writing up the notes that form the basis of this review, which I finally am writing up properly over three and a half weeks later, so at least it wasn't completely in vain, and I led the howl of rage when my train very briefly changed to cancelled on the board, before reverting back to its original 30 minute delay. I'm not quite sure what could cause all the trains to be delayed, and due to the lack of information offered I may never find out, although I suspect that the line to Wolves was closed altogether and that we ultimately diverted to Walsall, not that I could really tell as it was dark.

A vague mention of overhead wire problems was all I heard, so perhaps I was lucky to have made it back at all, and surprisingly even got a seat on the train despite the mounting crowds. Being shafted for my second night in a row travelling to/from Birmingham extinguished all remaining desire to revisit the Botanical Gardens, and I was glad to eventually get a refund for that so I wouldn't have to endure further Christmas travel misery. I'm pleased to note that my ears weren't whistling, and looking through Gorillaz tracks omitted besides Dare, I'm most disappointed that Pirate Jet still hadn't made the cut, as it's a glorious tune that had been unappreciated by the ignorant Glastonbury 2010 crowd. Also it would have been particularly good to hear To Binge and O Green World, although to be fair I have got to enjoy them in the past. Thinking about it all Gorillaz had to do was play Dare, O Green World, To Binge and Pirate Jet and I would have been 100% happy, so it's quite a revelation to see how close they'd came to a set both heavy on the new material while also servicing the greatest moments of their past. Also much as for The Prodigy I felt that the cavernous size of the NIA had really detracted from the atmosphere, so a different venue would have been a great help too. Gorillaz really need to raise their game for album number five or offer an intriguing show to lure me back, and I found this concert completely overshadowed by Euros Childs, as I'd been listening to his House Arrest album pretty much non-stop since. I'm just glad that the inclusion of M1 A1 and Punk and a taster of new material had provided enough joy to justify this third viewing, but only just!
Setlist
M1 A1
Last Living Souls
Rhinestone Eyes
Tomorrow Comes Today
Every Planet We Reach Is Dead
19-2000
Charger
Superfast Jellyfish
On Melancholy Hill
El Mañana
Saturnz Barz
Dirty Harry
Intro: I Switched My Robot Off
Ascension
Strobelite
Interlude: Elevator Going Up
Andromeda
Interlude: Penthouse
Sex Murder Party
Out Of Body
Garage Palace
Punk
Broken
Stylo
Feel Good Inc.
We Got The Power
Hong Kong
Kids With Guns
Clint Eastwood
Don't Get Lost In Heaven
Demon Days

Mark: 7.5/10