Super fast jellyfish

On October 6, 2010 I had the privilege of seeing the Gorillaz perform live at the Agganis arena. The Gorillaz have performed (not toured, PERFORMED) about 21 times total. So, as you can imagine, their latest Escape to the Plastic Beach World Tour is a pretty big deal. When a concert is a big deal, and it isn't always, I buy a tshirt. So, notably, I bought a tshirt AND a poster.

The Gorillaz started in 1998, though my husband would dispute this because their first song came out in 2001. So, anyway, in 1998 Damon Almarn and Jamie Hewlitt created both the Gorillaz music as well as fictional world filled with characters and adventures. The four "band members" are the cartoons 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel

 

The music itself is a mix of  Hip Hop, Pop, alternative rock, and electronic. In addition to the front man vocalist Damon, there are usually a billion musicians on stage plus notable collaborators. For example, the track listing for their latest album The Plastic Beach is as follows

1.	"Orchestral Intro (Feat. sinfonia ViVA)"	1:09
2.	"Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (Feat. Snoop Dogg & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)"	3:35
3.	"White Flag (Feat. Bashy, Kano, & Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music)"	3:43
4.	"Rhinestone Eyes"	3:20
5.	"Stylo (Feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def)"	4:30
6.	"Superfast Jellyfish (Feat. De La Soul & Gruff Rhys)"	2:54
7.	"Empire Ants (Feat. Little Dragon)"	4:43
8.	"Glitter Freeze (Feat. Mark E. Smith)"	4:03
9.	"Some Kind of Nature (Feat. Lou Reed)"	2:59
10.	"On Melancholy Hill"	3:53
11.	"Broken"	3:17
12.	"Sweepstakes (Feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)"	5:20
13.	"Plastic Beach (Feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)"	3:47
14.	"To Binge (Feat. Yukimi Nagano)"	3:55
15.	"Cloud of Unknowing (Feat. Bobby Womack & sinfonia ViVA)"	3:06
16.	"Pirate Jet"

(wikipedia.com)

Let us break this down
Snoop D-o-double G --No introduction needed

So dapper! This, of course, is just a video screen during the concert and not, in fact, an 100 ft snoop dogg guest appearance.

Bashy and Kano and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music (featured on the track "White Flag")

Bashy and Kano were actually there

Mick Jones and Paul Simonon: from the band, The Clash (They were actually there, as well)

Lou Reed: from the band, The Velvet Underground

Mos Def: hip hop artist

 

Bobby Womack: now a solo artist who's musical style ranges from R&B to Rock and Roll to Gospel (He was actually there)

 De La Soul & Gruff Rhys: Hip hop artist and Welsh musician respectively. (De La Soul actually there)

As shown, there were always a million people on stage and there was the screen showing a combination of the actual music videos or an animated story related to the song being played. It was a very engaging and magical show all around.

Let us conclude with another picture of Snoop