Both Orillaz are 25. In 2000, this cartoon-packed project seemed like something fun for Damon Albarn to do between Blur albums, hiding behind Jamie Hewlett’s comic book animations, but they’ve outdone Blur almost everywhere except the UK. The number of kids in the audience is a testament to Gorillaz’s self-assured abilities—an ever-changing vehicle for Albarn’s constant curiosity.
Gorillaz are marking the occasion with an immersive exhibition, a Kong House, and four ERA-specific performances. This second night brings back the days of 2005’s Demons. A co-production with Dangerous Mice, it’s still the most satisfying expression of the Gorillaz concept: focused on both its themes (innocence and violence) and its personnel (rappers and rap adage). Dressed like a hip vicar, Albarn does double duty as boss and dutiful host, though the original vocal cast is inevitably depleted. The late MF Doom and Awol Shaun Ryder make only on-screen appearances, while Skye Edwards replaces Martin Topley on Bird. Thank goodness for the old-school stand-in. Bootie Brown enters Dirty Harry like a red-and-white fireworks display before de la Soul Boom and Cackle through Feel Good Inc.
However, a straightforward replication doesn’t make sense. Beneath the Hewlett Helter-Skelter videos, The Band, Corir and String Quartet give the songs new mass and drama. Oh, Green World builds to a stunning frenzy, and the climactic journey of the title track blooms magnificently. As stained glass windows fill the screen and a London community gospel choir chants the cathartic refrain, “Towards the Sun,” Albarn’s vicar’s tools suddenly make sense. The coding of the three contemporary B-sides, while admirably disciplined, is a little anticlimactic. The Hong Kong of Lights, featuring guzheng virtuoso Qing du, ends the night on a melancholic question mark rather than an exclamation point.
And again, despite the singles, Demon Days isn’t exactly a party record. This product of the Bush and Blair years was billed as a “world in a state of night,” drawing inspiration from the horror soundtrack and the crisis pop that was on special. The show opens with a montage of Wartorn Newsreel and sporadically drenches the crowd in hellish red light. For obvious reasons, the album’s haunting protest against humanity’s appetite for destruction – both people and planet – sounds no less fitting tonight. Demon Days is here again.
