The Target Center seemed like an odd venue for a Gorillaz show. The arena’s cavernous interior seems better suited to basketball games and Lady GaGa concerts, but I soon realized that the Target Center was better suited to accommodate the sheer number of musicians on the stage. Most Gorillaz fans are familiar with the demented animated characters that make up the “band”, but in a live setting Gorillaz is an eclectic music collective. Last night’s performance included a string ensemble, a brass band, a group of Arab-American musicians, two former members of The Clash, hip-hop artists De La Soul, soul artist Bobby Womack, and, of course, frontman and creator Damon Albarn. The combination of the live show and the animated clips projected on the giant screen behind the musicians generated an exhilarating sensory overload that I can’t recall experiencing at any previous concert.
The whole concert was great, but a few performances stroked my pleasure center just right: a propulsive rendition of “Dare”, a brass interlude during “Broken” that shouldn’t work but somehow does, a bouncy but bittersweet delivery of “On Melancholy Hill”, and a majestic finale in the form of “Demon Days” where the backup singers somehow manage to invoke the grandeur of a church choir.
It’s probably too much to hope for another Gorillaz tour of this scope, but I hope Albarn gives it some thought. He’s one of the few musicians working today who can put together such a sweeping effort and make it look easy.
