Gorillaz

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

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words and pictures by James Watkins

Damon Albarn returned to the West Midlands with his monstrous creation, Gorillaz, for the party of the year.

Playing to a lively all-ages crowd, Gorillaz thrilled fans with their Plastic Beach World Tour, sending revellers into a frenzy of emotions.

Albarn was joined on stage by Mick Jones and Paul Simonon (The Clash) as his cartoon collective powered their way through a set that mixed up multiple music genres.

Gorillaz were in party mode

Opening with a giant screen movie featuring the bands cartoon line-up of 2-D, Noodle, Murdoc and Russell, the show started with a finely tuned performance of Welcome To The World, featuring Snoop Dogg, before Damon Albarn and the band joined the already crammed stage and full orchestra to belt out a lively version of Last Living Souls.

The fun started in earnest with early single 19-2000, featuring a guest solo performance by Roses Gabor.

Other guest performers topping the bill included 60′s legend, Bobby Womack – who joined Albarn on-stage a number of times with their version of Stylo being memorable indeed.

90′s rap sensations De La Soul, who performed Feel Good, and The Fall frontman Mark E. Smith, who performed a classic version of Glitter Freeze, also sent the crowd wild.

Standout tracks came thick and fast, including Superfast Jellyfish, White Flag and Dare, before the curtain came down with an encore that featured fan favourites Clint Eastwood and Demon Days.

Albarn thanked the Midlands for supporting the Gorillaz over the years and said they were glad to be back in the heart of the country.