The build-up to the first UK tour in five years for Gorillaz saw the band perform some of their very best songs amid a range of tracks from their latest album.
The Mountain took centre stage for the Damon Albarn-fronted outfit, which performed two warm-up shows in Bradford. A full tour from Gorillaz of the UK is set to take place later this month, the first time the band has done so since Song Machine: Volume One was released. No songs from it or follow-up album, Cracker Island, made an appearance in the setlist for the show in Bradford last night (March 14), but songs from Humanz and The Now Now featured in the set.
A total of twenty-one songs were performed by the band, with Bootie Brown and Kara Jackson featuring in the encore for performances of Orange Country and Dirty Harry. A full setlist for the show can be found below.
- The Mountain
- The Happy Dictator
- Tranz
- Tomorrow Comes Today
- 19-2000
- Rhinestone Eyes
- The Moon Cave
- El Mañana
- On Melancholy Hill
- Stylo
- The Empty Dream Machine
- Delirium
- Andromeda
- Damascus
- Feel Good Inc.
- The Shadowy Light
- The Sad God
- The Hardest Thing
- Orange County (with Kara Jackson)
- Dirty Harry (with Bootie Brown)
- Clint Eastwood
A full tour of the UK is set to take place, including two dates at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena and a summer show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Sparks will open the show. A full list of shows can be found below.
- March 20 – Co-op Live Arena, Manchester
- March 21 – Co-op Live Arena, Manchester
- March 22 – BP Pulse Live, Birmingham
- March 24 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
- March 25 – First Direct Bank Arena, Leeds
- March 27 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff
- March 28 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
- March 29 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
- March 31 – The SSE Arena, Belfast
- April 1 – 3Arena, Dublin
- April 2 – 3Arena, Dublin
- June 20 – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Further dates, including a headline set at Primavera Sound Barcelona and Rock for People, will also take place this summer. The tour is set to conclude on December 3 in Santiago, Chile. In a five-star review of the album, Cult Following described The Mountain as a return to form for the Albarn-fronted group, who made the most of archival tapes and fresh collaborations.
The review reads: “Albarn is keen to curate, and The Mountain is the most successful example of that for him to date. From posthumous appearances which feel like worthy inclusions to the sharp writing style Albarn has brought to this round of Gorillaz songs, it’s hard to feel like The Mountain is anything but a borderline masterstroke. The likes of Delerium and Damascus reinvent what the collective stands for. How well timed it is for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the group to bring about one of its best albums.”
