Watch Gorillaz Debut 3 Songs, Bring Out A Slew Of Guests At London Show For NHS Workers
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Gorillaz played the first of two free shows for NHS workers at the O2 arena in London tonight. As you might expect given the band’s penchant for collaboration, it was a guest-heavy affair.
Early on in the show, the Cure’s Robert Smith emerged to perform “Strange Timez.” From there, the setlist was dotted with appearances from New Order’s Peter Hook (“Aries”), Popcaan (“Saturnz Barz”), Leee John (“The Lost Chord”), Fatoumata Diawara (“Désolé”), Shaun Ryder and Rowetta (“DARE”), slowthai and Slaves (“Momentary Bliss”), and Posdunos from De La Soul (“Feel Good Inc.”). There were also multiple appearances by EARTHGANG (“Opium” and “Stylo”) and Little Simz, who did “Garage Palace” and returned for “Clint Eastwood” with Sweetie Irie.
Furthermore, in the middle of the set Gorillaz debuted three new collaborations in a row: “Meanwhile” with Jelani Blackman, “Jimmy Jimmy” with AJ Tracey, and “De Ja Vu” with Alicai Harley. Damon Albarn recently said Gorillaz have been working on “carnival-themed” music, and YouTube captions suggest these new songs are from an EP called Carnival.
Watch footage of some of those performances below.
“Strange Timez” with Robert Smith:
“Aries” with Peter Hook:
“Opium” with EARTHGANG:
“Hong Kong” followed by “Stylo” with EARTHGANG:
“Désolé” with Fatoumata Diawara:
Despite being labeled as “Jimmy Jimmy,” this one is “Meanwhile” with Jelani Blackman:
And despite being labeled as “Meanwhile,” this one is “Jimmy Jimmy” with AJ Tracey:
The other new song, “De Ja Vu” with Alicai Harley:
SETLIST:
“M1 A1”
“Strange Timez” (with Robert Smith)
“Last Living Souls”
“Tranz”
“Aries” (with Peter Hook)
“Tomorrow Comes Today”
“Saturnz Barz” (with Popcaan)
“Rhinestone Eyes”
“Every Planet We Reach Is Dead”
“Kids With Guns”
“Fire Flies”
“The Lost Chord” (with Leee John)
“Désolé” (with Fatoumata Diawara)
“On Melancholy Hill”
“El Mañana”
“Andromeda”
“Opium” (with EARTHGANG)
“Meanwhile” (with Jelani Blackman)
“Jimmy Jimmy” (with AJ Tracey)
“De Ja Vu” (with Alicai Harley)
“Garage Palace” (with Little Simz)
“DARE” (with Shaun Ryder and Rowetta)
“19-2000”
“Dirty Harry”
“Momentary Bliss” (with slowthai & Slaves)
“Plastic Beach”
Encore:
“Hong Kong”
“Stylo” (with EARTHGANG)
“Feel Good Inc.” (with Posdunos)
“Clint Eastwood” (with Little Simz & Sweetie Irie)
“Don’t Get Lost In Heaven”
“Demon Days”