Gorillaz, Arena Birmingham - review

A simple voice reached out via radio waves to mark the start of their bumper set.

"Hello? Can anybody hear me?" it shouted as the crowd were whipped up into a frenzy, before a single person stepped onstage.

Gorillaz was founded by vocalist Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett - and has always been a difficult concept to realise onstage. The band consists of four animated members - 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs.

The members and their virtual world have always been explored through music videos - and through the help of technology, this world was made a reality to the amazement of the crowd at Arena Birmingham.

At times the live music simply washed away due to the amazement of the visuals created on stage. These characters and their world were blown up on gigantic LED screens that delivered seamless imagery - it was as if they were really there.

This immersion was heightened even further by the fact that the virtual characters interacted frequently with the real world - whether that be playing instruments that could be heard in real life, mouthing along to lyrics you could hear, or simply reacting to those words.

Although this virtual reality was the main focus of the evening - there was still as much of a spectacle onstage as there was on the screens.

True to the tour's name, there were many humans onstage that created the sound for the evening. Enigmatic vocalist Damon Albarn was joined by a whopping six backing vocalists, a mini orchestra, keyboardist, guitarist, bassist and a percussion section.

This monumental gathering of musicians was a force to be reckoned with - and packed Gorillaz' iconic hits with heaps of depth.

From the first notes of opening track M1 A1 the audience was hooked by the pristine instrumentals.

The orchestra made songs such as Rhinestone Eyes, Saturnz Barz and Hong Kong sound simply haunting - while the guitars and bass lines cause the whole room to erupt into dance through El Manana and Dirty Harry.

The set itself spanned Gorillaz impressive almost-20-year career - from early hits such as Out of Body and Garage Palace, to radio favourites On Melancholy Hill and Stylo.

The eclectic set and utilisation of a variety of instruments really highlighted the journey that the outfit has embarked upon - a plethora of genres were covered, and each sounded mastered entirely.

There wasn't just a variety of instruments on offer to be astounded by - Albarn invited a variety of special guests onstage to lend their vocal talents to a number of songs,.

Soulful Pauline Black lent her strong vocals to Charger, before hip-hop trio De La Soul got the party started with their part in Superfast Jellyfish. Jame Principle and Zebra Katz delivered a dazzling dance extravaganza during Sex Murder Party and Little Simz blew the crowd away through Garage Palace.

Vince Staples and Peven Everett contributed to lucid hits Ascension and Strobelite - bathed in psychedelic imagery and flashing strobes.

At the centre of this exhibition is former Blur front-man Albarn - who displays a remarkable amount of energy through the entire set lunging across the stage or into the crowd at a moments' notice.

This energy culminated in a stellar performance of smash hit Feel Good Inc, in which there was not a single stationary body in the room as the crowd rose and fell like a wave in a storm.

A rousing encore followed encompassing fan-favourites Kids With Guns, Clint Eastwood, Don't Get Lost In Heaven and Demon Dayz in one final burst of technological excellence and musical brilliance that left the entirety of Arena Birmingham breathless.

Gorillaz have brought their futuristic concept to life in a spectacular fashion, accompanied by an impressive back catalogue of huge hits delivered flawlessly.

Gorillaz didn't just take Birmingham into the future, they took us out of this world.