Since first announcing the release of Humanz, it would be an extreme understatement to say that Gorillaz have been busy. A launch party at Printworks, a sold out tour and even a festival – Demon Dayz. The one-off event at the Dreamland theme-park in Margate, Kent sold out almost immediately, but those lucky enough to attend enjoyed set from almost everyone who featured on the new album, as well as a stunning two hour long performance from the band themselves, featuring a huge cadre of featured players.
It will certainly go down as one of the landmark musical events of 2017, and if you weren’t there, a painful memory gap, take it from me. While watching live footage of an event which you missed out on can sometimes result in near lethal levels of retro-active FOMO, Damon Albarn and company’s headline set has to be seen to be believed. Fortunately, thanks to Red Bull TV, that’s possible.
You can watch the full video here (for understandable reasons embedding isn’t allowed) and believe me, it’s well worth your time. Humanz collaborators Popcaan, Vince Staples, De La Soul, Dany Brownm Kali Uchis, Kilo Kish and many others all step up to perform on the tracks they featured on, and then Shaun Ryder turns up to lend his voice to one of their most famous, time tested tunes – Dare. Little Simz also makes an appearance to lay some bars down over a previously unheard track, and, amazingly, Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and Savages singer Jehnny Beth tag in play on We’ve Got the Power.
Perhaps the most mind blowing moment comes with the encore though. After finishing out the main set, Albarn returns for the 2D solo track Sleeping Powder (the only Gorillaz track to be fully released post-Humanz) and then the band launches into full versions of the band’s two most famous tracks – Feel Good Inc and Clint Eastwood. The former features De La Soul, as in the original recording, while Clint Eastwood features guest verses from Little Simz and Kano. This is followed up with the sombre Don’t Get Lost in Heaven before the show is closed out proper with the Demon Days track itself, leaving the crowd in stunned awe.
While Humanz is rumoured to be the last full Gorillaz release, Albarn has claimed that there are somewhere around 45 songs which didn’t make it onto the album, and that he plans to keep the band active for at least the next 18 months. Demon Dayz may have come and gone, but there’s plenty of primate action to look forward to before this final, astonishing blaze of glory fades into embers.
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