From desert beats to digital worlds, Gorillaz truly lit up the Co-op Live arena Manchester. Loud, loose and unstoppable, last night 21st March the Co-op Live felt less like a concert arena and more like stepping into an otherworldly realm.
An amazing opening from Omar Souleyman provided a hypnotic, high energy electronic dabke music set. Souleyman who sings with absolute solidity and mostly in Arabic and Kurdish, brought his energetic and impressive stage presence to Manchester. Soon, everyone was fully in the mood for the evening ahead. What a true support does, Souleyman warmed and hyped up the crowd - and before you knew it, there were arms in the air - people on their feet! What a perfect opener.
Gorillaz then went on to deliver a visually striking genre-smashing performance at full throttle.
Gorillaz took that energy that Souleyman had helped create and expanded it into something far more expansive. Created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz have always existed in that space between the real and the imagined, a virtual band with a very tangible cultural footprint. But live, that concept becomes something else entirely.
From the opening moments, the scale was undeniable. Towering visuals, shifting animations, and a full live band created a rich, textured soundscape that felt as physical as it did visual. The interplay between the animated world and the musicians on stage blurred constantly, one moment you’re inside the screen, the next you’re pulled back by the weight of the bass vibrating through you. Albarn held it all together with a kind of quiet authority, never overstated, never forced. There’s a looseness to his presence that allows the show to breathe, to evolve in real time, rather than feel tightly controlled. It’s a rare thing at this scale. I have to admit I’m much more at home in smaller, more intimate venues, and I wasn’t sure how this would all land in a large-scale arena. But somehow it really worked. The space never swallowed the performance, instead it amplified it.
The arena felt alive without ever feeling impersonal. Every visual, every beat, every moment still felt immediate, almost intimate, even amongst thousands of fans. Gorillaz main set features the album opener and title track The Mountain. With a backdrop of stunning illustrated sketch style visuals from Hewlett we soon hear the wondrous The Happy Dictator. Then we are treated to Tranz, from their Humanz era, with Tomorrow Comes Today, and 19-2000 from their self-titled debut. With the tour supporting its new record The Mountain does take up quite a bit of headspace and there were guest appearance’s from IDLES’ Joe Talbot, Yasiin Bey, Kara Jackson, Bootie Brown and Posdnuos. The crowd were also delighted with a posthumous feature from the man that is Mark E. Smith. The new material was presented with enthusiasm and gusto and I didn’t sense any frustration in this from an audience who might crave the classics. Tracks like Feel Good Inc. and Clint Eastwood were embraced with a kind of collective recognition that went beyond nostalgia. They felt current, alive, songs that haven’t aged so much as adapted, continuing to resonate across generations.
What stood out most, though, was the feeling in the room. There was no distance. No sense of performance versus audience. Just thousands of people moving within the same atmosphere, connected, present, and for a while, free from whatever they’d walked in carrying. And somewhere in that, I noticed a shift in myself. I stopped thinking. No analysing (something I happily let go of as can be my day-to-day work) no over-processing, just being there. Present. Singing, moving, smiling, even hugging strangers. That balance, between escape and presence, is where Gorillaz are at their most powerful. They don’t just take you out of your world, they alter how you return to it.
Walking out into the night, there was a different energy. Not dramatic, not loud, just a quiet buzz.
Today, it’s still with me. That’s the power of Gorillaz.
Gorillaz - The Mountain Tour 2026 continues here https://gorillaz.com/
Reviewer - Mary Fogg
On - 21st March 2026
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