Gorillaz Live was the first concert tour by the British
alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...
, in support of their
self-titled debut album.
Personnel
*
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...
– lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar, piano, acoustic guitar,
melodica
*Junior Dan – bass guitar
*Roberto Occhipinti – bass guitar (only during North American tour, replacing Junior Dan)
*
Simon Katz
Simon Katz (born 16 May 1971) is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work with the band Jamiroquai from 1995 to 2000. Katz was a recipient of the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocal ...
– lead guitar
*
Cass Browne – drums, percussion, drum machine
*
Mike Smith – keyboards
*
Darren Galea "DJ D-Zire" – turntables
*
Phi Life Cypher – vocals on "
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
" and "
Rock the House
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
" (Non-North American tour dates)
*
Jamal Gray – vocals on "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House" (only during North American tour)
*
D12
D12 (an initialism for The Dirty Dozen) was an American hip hop collective from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1996, the group achieved mainstream success with its lineup of ''de facto'' leader Eminem, Proof, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, Kuniva and Swift ...
– vocals on "
911
911 or 9/11 may refer to:
Dates
* AD 911
* 911 BC
* September 11
** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001
** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende
* November 9
Numbers
* 911 ...
" (New York City only)
*
Sweetie Irie
Dean Bent (born January 1971), better known as Sweetie Irie, is an English reggae singer and deejay.
Early life
Sweetie Irie began working on local sound systems as a teenager.
Career
He gained the attention of Angus Gaye of Aswad ...
– vocals on "Clint Eastwood (Ed Case Refix)"
*
Haruka Kuroda
is a Japanese actress and presenter. She provided the voice of Noodle from Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz from 2000 to 2017.
She performed on all the Phase One tour dates as Noodle: She performed Noodl ...
– backing vocals, speaking voice of
Noodle (miming playing the second guitar to look like Noodle with the helmet; intermissions)
*
Remi Kabaka Jr. – speaking voice of
Russel (intermissions)
*
Phil Cornwell – speaking voice of
Murdoc (intermissions)
*Nelson De Freitas – speaking voice of
2-D (intermissions)
Opening acts
Dan Nakamura
Daniel M. Nakamura better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer from San Francisco, California. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark.
Early life
Nakamura was bo ...
(select dates)
Visuals and production
The logistics of an animated band going on tour proved problematic, with
Jamie Hewlett
Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is an English comic book creator, illustrator, music video director, and songwriter. He is the co-creator of the comic book ''Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin and co-creator of the virtual band Gorilla ...
saying in a mid-2001 interview: "We've come to realize that we've come up with something that's a bit ahead of its time and the technology doesn't exist to do everything we want to do, so the live show was something we had to really think hard about." As a compromise between having a live and virtual stage presence, the band's musicians played behind a giant cinema screen, which projected music videos and visuals to the crowd. Lead singer Damon Albarn later expressed discomfort at this setup, confessing that he "was frustrated" behind the screen. Later still, Albarn called the screens "obtuse", believing the human element of the band necessitated a change. In a 2010 interview, Albarn voiced distaste at the concept of hiding collaborators behind a screen on the then-upcoming
Escape to Plastic Beach Tour: "I couldn't entertain the idea of putting Lou Reed or Bobby Womack behind a screen. I'm not that daft." Gorillaz Live was ultimately the only tour to have the musicians silhouetted behind a screen.
The voice actors of the virtual band toured alongside the real band, speaking to the crowd and each other in-between songs. However, according to Haruka Kuroda, budgeting issues prevented most of the voice actors from participating in the concert's international legs; Kuroda was the only voice actor to tour with the band beyond Europe.
Set list
The following setlist is obtained from the concert held in London on 22 March 2001. It is not a representation of all shows on the tour.
# "M1 A1"
# "
Tomorrow Comes Today
"Tomorrow Comes Today" is a song from British alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz's self-titled debut album '' Gorillaz'' and was their first release when issued as an EP in November 2000. The first three songs from the EP ended up on th ...
"
# "Slow Country"
# "
5/4"
# "Starshine"
# "Man Research (Clapper)"
# "Sound Check (Gravity)"
# "Latin Simone (¿Qué Pasa Contigo?)"
# "Re-Hash"
# "
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
"
(featuring Phi Life Cypher)
# "
Rock the House
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
"
(featuring Phi Life Cypher)
# "Dracula"
# "
19-2000
"19-2000", sometimes written "19/2000", is a song from the British virtual band Gorillaz' self-titled debut album ''Gorillaz''. It was the second single from the album, released on 25 June 2001 in the United Kingdom. "19-2000" reached number si ...
"
# "Punk"
;Encore
#
"Clint Eastwood" (featuring Sweetie Irie
Dean Bent (born January 1971), better known as Sweetie Irie, is an English reggae singer and deejay.
Early life
Sweetie Irie began working on local sound systems as a teenager.
Career
He gained the attention of Angus Gaye of Aswad ...
)
Tour dates
Notes
References
{{Gorillaz
Gorillaz concert tours
2001 concert tours
2002 concert tours