Gorillaz @ Burswood Dome,Perth (06/12/10)

Tue 7th Dec, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s Gorillaz concept was certainly intriguing when first introduced to the public in the late 90s. When the issues of live performances were first broached, Albarn and co. endured a few hits and misses in being able to successfully transcribe their aesthetic to an audience. With their Plastic Beach record now securely tucked under their belts and a world tour that has attracted rave reviews, Monday night’s concert at the Burswood Dome would be the litmus gig for the Australian tour.

Opening support, Little Dragon had the unfortunate position of playing to a half empty Dome; a venue which can be disastrous, even for a world class band when the Dome is at capacity! What felt like a cavernous nuclear bunker did no favours for Little Dragon’s electro pop with the synth bass pulses physically rattling the portable bleacher seats, however, vocalist Yukimi Nagano’s vocals pulled through sweetly, saving the mix from being a bass heavy sodden mush.

Hip hop legends De La Soul were up next, for a rather short set of old school beats and delivered like a true set of legends. Their endearing engagement with the crowd along with a far superior mix (abetted by a significantly larger crowd) notched the vibe up a gear for the all important Gorillaz set.

When show time came, so did the massive screen and sharp HD projections! A short clip of the ‘animated’ Murdoc and co. got things under way whilst a several-piece string section sauntered on stage and began a moody overture before the rest of the band took their positions and Bang! there was Snoop on the screen welcoming everyone to the Plastic Beach.

An impressive intro it must be said, but by about three or four tracks in, things seemed a bit strange. Perhaps it was the synching of the Stylo video clip to the band’s performance that was the trigger, but it became difficult to focus on the production as a cohesive performance. The video projections were impressive, but dominated the show entirely, smothering the antics on stage. It was difficult to decide whether to watch the stage, or the screen, and when watching one, whatever was happening on the other was missed.

That there were up to 25 musicians on stage at any one time was also perplexing. The presence of The Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simonon on guitar and bass respectively was little more than eye-candy, since their sound was drowned out by backing tracks, sequencers and synthesisers. A revolving door of guest vocalists from Bobby Womack to De La Soul and Yukimi from Little Dragon kept the show bouncing along with a tasty selection of tracks from the Gorillaz catalogue keeping fans on their feet or at least their shimmys shaking for the duration of the show.

During the songs where the projections were more subtle, the show truly took flight. The ability to discipline the eyes on the band properly was rewarded with a stage jam-packed full of performers having a grand old time with wide grins, high fives all round and an example of where the focus should have remained for the gig.

A band engaging a large audience successfully is the key to a great show and Gorillaz had this in spades (and having a truckload of catchy pop music helps), but the dominant force of the projections drove a deep cut between the show being a live act with projections and a film with a backing band – too much of the latter and not enough of the former. Don’t misunderstand, the concert was enjoyable and professionalism oozed out the band’s pores however the imbalance with the whole audio/visual approach was a continual issue that plagued some tracks and beautifully enhanced others.

This was a complete sensory overload show to the nth degree but Gorillaz might have forgotten how many senses their audience has.