Fans and critics have been responding to Gorillaz’ headline spot on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage last night, with early opinions split on the success of the show.
Gorillaz were late additions to the festival’s 40th anniversary after U2’s forced cancellation, and provided a guest-laden show for the crowd. Damon Albarn at times appeared to struggle to command the audience as he had done so brilliantly when Blur topped the bill last year, and The Guardian’s Dorian Lynskey suggested it took time for Gorillaz’ main-man to get the crowd going. ‘…festival-goers continue to drift away at alarming rates,’ he wrote. ‘Disaster strikes when Albarn urges the crowd to sing along to ‘Pirate Jet’, a sombre album track about environmental blight. When few take up his offer, Albarn’s face falls and he mouths a desperate “please”.
The ballad ‘To Binge‘ is devastatingly tender, while ‘Feel Good Inc‘ and ‘Clint Eastwood‘ (the latter featuring a masterful cameo from Snoop Dogg) are joyously cathartic. ‘Clint Eastwood’s‘ chorus sounds strangely relevant: “I felt useless but not for long.” Albarn holds his microphone out to the crowd and, after a rocky, risk-taking night, finally gets his singalong.’
The BBC also quoted a fan who was less than enthused with the perfomance, saying: “It took a while to get going. Nothing happened for a long time. We gave up – we were a bit bored. Then in the last 10 minutes they brought out all the songs everyone wanted to hear.”
However, writing on qthemsuic.com, JD was more positive about the gig as a whole, but echoed the belief that the encore was the obvious highlight: ‘The encore is fantastic and delivers the hits half the audience has been hanging on for, as well as a tribute to Dennis Hopper whose channeling of Jack Kerouac soundtracked ‘Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head‘. ‘Feel Good Inc‘ sends the audience into a frenzy and by the time Snoop Dogg steals the entire show on the closing ‘Clint Eastwood‘ it’s apparent that Damon has pulled it off again.’
Muse are set to headline the Pyramid Stage tonight, with expectations high for a memorable performance from one of the best live acts in the world.
Amazing and authentic performance. Easily the best of the night due to the imagery.
The only thing that sucked was the audience itself. If you are a fan, more than two of a band’s most mainstream hits (Good final placement however) should be treats. The issues of today are not the thoughtful and supremely giving “entertainers”, but the majority of fools and debauchery-seekers meant to receive it. We are largely and arguably an impatient, ignorant (in terms of wisdom and/or seeking wisdom) and stupid form of people. “Casablanca” may not have been a landmark film if it had been made today. The Gorillaz Live is a landmark musical experience in itself. Criticize how the music sounded that night, not the reaction of 140,000 people standing out in the sun all day, after previously buying tickets to see Bono.
Btw, NOTHING was too different than Coachella and Roundhouse (which had stellar reviews). Actually only notable improvements were made to the songs themselves. The band had energy and even the tracklisting was amazing. Too many music critics would choose to follow their friends, or in this case, complete strangers, off cliffs.
It was a great gig. All power to Mark E Smith – among some amazing guest vocalists he blew them all away (for my money anyway!).
I would have happily sung along to Pirate Jet but the words were appearing on the screen about a second too. late. That or
I wasn’t at Glasto but watched it on t.v and absolutely loved their performance. It was so differnent from other acts, the feel of it-the sound they created aswell with all those musicians playing together was fantastic. It was the first time I’d heard most of the songs from Plastic Beach and thought the were very melodic. 10/10 performance for me. The visuals, the collabs, the musicians-everything brilliant!
I was there, and i was bored along with nearly everyone else. This wasnt a gorillaz concert, it was glastonbury. Everyone else had the crowd going, even Rolf Harris. The most boring act of the night = Gorillaz. People pay money to be entertained. When he tried to get everyione to chant something about a purple cup, quite frankly it was embarrassing. Albarn has his head firmly planted up his backside and someone needs to tell him. Who ever booked that pile of pretencious poo to headline needs their head read.