Gorillaz brought out The Clash bassist Paul Simonon and rappers De La Soul while performing their third album Plastic Beach in full at their House Of Kong event in London.
The semi-fictional band, created by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett, opened with Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach at the Copper Box Arena at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with Snoop Dogg’s guest vocal played over the PA.
Gorillaz then launched into one of the album’s most popular songs in Rhinestone Eyes,and the band followed it up with lead single Stylo, as guest vocalist, the late Bobby Womack, was displayed on screen to rapturous applause.
Albarn told the crowd: “Thank you very much for being a lovely audience.”
Other poignant moments saw Glitter Freeze and Some Kind Of Nature played, with cartoon versions of the late Mark E Smith and Lou Reed respectively, displayed during the songs they feature on.
The highlight of the evening was the album’s title track, which saw Simonon pound out his recognisable bass beats on the song.
Plastic Beach came after Albarn had restarted it, telling the audience: “It’s just about the feeling when we start the first note.”
Superfast Jellyfish saw the band bring rap group De La Soul and Super Furry Animals singer Gruff Rhys, while rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def joined them for Stylo.
Last Saturday saw the band play their acclaimed second album Demon Days in full, which features some of the band’s best known songs such as Dare, Dirty Harry and Feel Good Inc, having performed their self-titled debut on the Friday.
They will round off their run of four gigs at the venue with a “mystery show” on Wednesday, which has been rumoured to be a preview of new music, with the House Of Kong exhibition hinting at a forthcoming LP.
The band is officially made up of fictional characters 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle, who are projected onto a screen during their concerts.
Gorillaz have had five UK top 10 singles and two UK number one albums, merging rap, punk, funk, soul, pop and numerous other sounds.
