Gorillaz finally made it to Belfast — and instead of rolling out a greatest hits set, they came in with something very different. Support came from Argentine rapper, singer and songwriter Trueno, and I’ve never seen an opening act get a reaction like that from a Belfast crowd. They took to him like it was his own show.
Then at 20:45, Gorillaz arrived on stage in front of a huge screen. The crowd went wild as each character appeared. Straight away with The Mountain, followed by The Happy Dictator and Tranz, you knew what kind of night this was going to be. No easing in, just straight into the new record.
Credit: Luke Dyson
From there, an instrumental interlude (“Interlude: Dark Pop”) gave way to Tomorrow Comes Today, Re-Hash and 19-2000, just enough of the early material without it taking over the night. IDLES frontman Joe Talbot then appeared for The God of Lying, opening with “Damon Albarn as I live and breathe,” — one of the first real lift moments.
That led into The Moon Cave and El Mañana, before another short interlude (“Intro: Madam”) set up On Melancholy Hill — a moment that really settled the room. Damon Albarn paused to say he’d “always dreamt of coming back to Belfast,” and the reaction back from the crowd said everything.
A lot of the new material comes from a place of real loss, and you can feel that at times. It’s not heavy in a bleak way, but there’s something running underneath it, more about trying to make sense of things than dwelling on them.
The Empty Dream Machine and Delirium kept things moving before Andromeda lifted the energy again, leading into Stylo with Yasiin Bey. One of the standout moments came with Damascus, the Mark E. Smith intro dropping into Yasiin Bey, easily one of the highlights of the night.
Credit: Luke Dyson
From there, Dirty Harry with Bootie Brown brought a huge reaction, before the night hit its most emotional point with The Shadowy Light. Phones lit up across the arena, and even the band seemed genuinely moved. That was the moment everything properly clicked.
The Sad God closed the main set, keeping things rooted in the newer material. The encore carried that feeling through — The Hardest Thing moving into Orange County with Kara Jackson was genuinely moving and felt completely seamless.
Trueno returned for The Manifesto, keeping that collaborative feel right to the end. Then came the payoff. The biggest reaction of the night came when Pos from De La Soul appeared for Feel Good Inc. — the place went wild. It felt like he’d been holding it all in backstage just to let go in that moment. Into Clint Eastwood, and somehow the energy went up another level again.
Credit: Luke Dyson
For a band playing Belfast this late into their career, this could have easily been a catch-up, a run through the hits. It wasn’t. This felt like a band pushing forward, even on a first visit to the city. They didn’t come to look back, they came to show where they’re at.
One of those nights you don’t really want to end.
Credit: Luke Dyson
