Ryan McNee has reviewed Gorillaz live at M&S Bank Arena on Sunday 29th March, celebrating new album The Mountain with iconic visuals, fan favourites, and special guest Trueno.
I’ve been a fan of the Gorillaz for as long as I can remember, my first CD was a copy of their self-titled debut from HMV in the city centre, although I’d bought it a few years after release. I’d been looking forward to this one and judging by how quickly and enthusiastically everyone started snapping up tickets when the M&S Bank Arena show was announced, so was half of Liverpool. Liverpool has always been a city that lives and breathes music, but this felt different. This felt like an event.
From early on in the evening fans of all ages filled the surrounding area of the docks, Liverpool staple ‘The Baltic Fleet’ is where we chose to get ready for the show, a great historical pub and ‘go-to’ in this part of the city centre. The refreshing mix of long-time followers who’ve been there since the early 2000s, alongside newer listeners of younger age groups pulled in by the band’s ever-evolving sound really helped to establish the collective nature of the event. That’s the magic of Gorillaz: they don’t just attract a crowd, they unite one. Having seen the Gorillaz before at Primavera a few years ago I knew this feeling would continue from well before the set started – all the way to the taxi home.
Opening with material from their latest record “The Mountain”, the show wasted no time setting its tone. The visuals—vast, immersive, and almost hypnotic—wrapped around the arena in a way that felt less like a backdrop and more like a living, breathing extension of the music. It’s something Gorillaz have always excelled at, but here it felt elevated. The combination of animation, abstract imagery and live footage of band members immersed in the songs they were bringing to life all worked to truly fill the space of our city’s largest venue.
The visual experience was no replacement for the sound however. Being able to physically see each element adding to the varied and at times massive sound really established how much goes into the music of Gorillaz, it can be easy to forget just how many elements go into such a unique sonic experience until you see each band member in action and can attach that to the interesting tones, vocal backing and percussion that fill out the Gorillaz sound.
The flow of the set really worked to present the feeling of one continuous piece too, the transitions between songs that have become classics to fresher releases with hints of eastern musical elements reminiscent of some of The Beatles’ more experimental tracks was seamless. But in no way did this reduce the impact of the landing when another beloved track was struck up.
‘19/2000’ brought a surge of nostalgia that rippled through the crowd early on, while ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’ and ‘Tranz’ reminded everyone just how deep the Gorillaz catalogue runs. Two stand-out crowd favourites as the show progressed to its’ halfway mark were ‘On Melancholy Hill’ and recently released ‘The Hardest Thing’, the fact these releases fall 15 years apart and both received a lot of love from the scouse crowd really demonstrates how consistently Gorillaz have hit the mark.
Then came ‘Feel Good Inc.’— arguably one of the most recognisable tracks of the 21st century — and the arena erupted, no surprises there. Over 11,000 scousers got behind the entire set, but for this one they knew every word.
Gorillaz have the unique ability to constantly shift and defy an expectation only to provide something bigger. Working from almost psychedelic meshes of global musical elements into high energy, big-beat movements. Special guests only added to that sense of spontaneity.
From hip-hop influences to soulful collaborations, each appearance brought a new dimension to the set. It never felt overcrowded or ‘gimmicky’ , just a natural extension of the Gorillaz universe, which has always thrived on collaboration and reinvention.
Despite all the scale and spectacle, there were moments of intimacy.
Frontman, Damon Albarn kept the between-song chatter to a minimum, because the connection had already been established through the music. A mention of a Scouser Albarn had known in the past and a description of him as a ‘musical soul’, went down well. So did Albarn’s positioning directly on the barrier for some of the set, the front rows lapped it up, but everyone in the arena was in on the party.
By the time the show reached its closing stretch, there was a sense that something special had unfolded. ‘Clint Eastwood’ brought everything to a head—voices raised, energy peaking, the entire arena moving as one. It’s rare to see a crowd that fully locked in, but Liverpool delivered. The ‘Clint refix’ with Sweetie Irie surprised everyone and brought the room up even further.
It didn’t feel one bit like a Sunday night after the arena filled out, there was a feeling of wanting more yet shared contentment with what has just been experienced that only a special few musical acts can deliver.
I’ve seen them twice and both times it’s been the same, brilliant.
Ryan McNee
Photo Credit: Luke Dyson (luke@lukedyson.com)
